Photo Essay | Top Three | 6th Annual MPA

1st PLACE WINNER

FORGOTTEN CHILDREN OF IDOMENI by Velar Grant

More than one million people fleeing conflict poured into Europe, mainly through Greece, last year. The number of children on the move in Europe has been rising and children now account for more than one-third of all refugees and migrants – compared with just one in 10 in June 2015 – and many are travelling alone, according to UNICEF.  

Some 10,000 refugees and migrants remain camped out at an informal site at Greece’s northern border with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. The makeshift home is also home to an estimated 4,000 children, the majority of whom are under the age of five.

Without some reliable registration system is not possible to identify how many children are traveling alone. Most unaccompanied children claim that they are travelling with relatives, and probably that’s what they have been told to say so as not to show that they are travelling alone.

Doctors warn conditions in the camp are becoming dangerous for children. At least 10,000 unaccompanied child refugees have disappeared after arriving in Europe, EUROPOL claims in a recent report and many are feared to have fallen into the hands of organised trafficking networks.

Only the voluntary organizations are trying to locate these children, while the state is totally absent.

The United Nations first warned over a year ago that more people around the world had been forcibly displaced than at any time since World War II.

 

2nd PLACE WINNER

HAITI: CHOLERA IN THE TIME OF DISASTER by Giles Clarke

During the first week of October in 2016, one of the most powerful hurricanes in recent history ripped through the Caribbean, killing over 1600 in the region. Hurricane Matthew blasted through the western area of Haiti on the night of October 4th and within 18 hours had killed over 800 and injured thousands more.  

The coastal port of Les Cayes was one of the worst-hit towns where much of the basic infrastructure was instantly destroyed including one third of the existing Cholera Treatment Centers.

With food and medical supplies being looted on the roads into Les Cayes, the situation at the time was nothing short of desperate.

According to the World Health Organization figures released at the time of my visit, over a thousand new cases of cholera had been reported since the storm had passed.

In a nation still struggling in the aftermath of tragic 2010 earthquake, this new disaster only compounds to the ongoing misery being felt by an already badly-wounded population. 

These images were taken in and around Les Cayes ten days after the hurricane and depict just a small part of the growing human suffering and rapidly spreading disease. International Aid teams and Emergency Response Units were busy on the ground with the United Nations coordinating the majority of the relief supply efforts.

In a nation that is still struggling in the aftermath of tragic 2010 earthquake, this new disaster only compounds to the ongoing misery being felt by an already badly-wounded population.

 

3rd PLACE WINNER

BOARDWALK MORNINGS by Erik Lieber

The Coney Island Boardwalk is a fantastic location to photograph. Whether you like beautiful landscapes, compelling seascapes, or a diversity of people, the boardwalk has it all. I particularly love photographing life on the boardwalk in the morning hours, before the crowds arrive. The sparsity of people allows for an intimacy between photographer and subject.