Syrian sufferings on photos in Serbia

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The exhibition of photographs from Syria by Ibrahim Malla has opened in Serbia’s southern city of Nis after touring the world and as a part of marking 140 years of the local Red Cross organisation.

Malla has taken a number of moving photos in Syria torn apart by a civil war lasting for over seven years.

“Brother and sister see rice after a year. Sister calls on her brother: we have five kilos of rice, we have sugar and pasta,” Malla recollected one of many scenes he took a photo of in the region then controlled by the ISIS.

He said he wanted to tell the story about the Red Cross volunteers, especially because 64 of them died on duty in Syria, the highest number of the organisations’ casualties on a single mission, he said.

Nis Red Cross’ volunteers can also be seen at Malla’s photos, since he covered the Syrian story including the refugees’ ordeal on a part of the so-called Balkan route that passed through Serbia as well.

“This is my way to help Syria. I don’t want to carry weapons, my camera is my gun. I want to help these people,” Malla said.