“S is 31 years old. He arrived in Italy a little over a month ago, having made an exhausting journey on foot from Pakistan to Milan, via the Balkan route. To make the journey even harder, one of his feet was horribly broken and went untreated."

“It Smells of Kerosene”.
“It smells of kerosene”, said Luca, our nurse aboard the Open Arms vessel.
The same kerosene that causes terrible burns to so many who try to cross the Mediterranean.
We laid everything inside it out on the deck.
A Lakers top. A couple of chargers. Clothes, shoes, some hair accessories.
Where is its owner? Will they be able to save themselves from this terrible journey?
We don’t know their name or story. We can only imagine what they went through: abandoned adrift, like their backpack.
In this backpack that still smells of kerosene, there is a world of memories, of projects, of hopes and dreams. A one-way ticket to an unknown future.
Photo Credit: Jean-Marc Joseph