Muslim men of the hanger gather for prayer: Photo by Martin Edström.
Refugees stranded in Malta: Reportage by Martin Edström.
Malta. An old World War II hangar, rusted to the core — but now home to about two hundred refugees. They live here. They fled their African homelands to find a new life in Europe, and landed on the barren rock of Malta. Due to international regulations, many of them get stuck here for years. Some never leave. They keep praying beneath the hanger gate, at the very border of Europe. Hangar of Hal Far is a series of images that documents the lives of these people, stranded in the middle of the Mediterranean.
Martin Edström is an award-winning Swedish photographer, specialising both in documentary and travel photography. His documentary portfolio includes stories on HIV/AIDS, climate change, third world relief, and the Peruvian Amazon. His portfolio, weblog and contact details are online: martinedstrom.se
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[...] of the Independent World Report also arrived this week, featuring my Chagos comic, as well as a moving photo journalism piece on African immigrants who are permanently stranded in Malta after abortive efforts to get to europe [...]