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At the border: Masza's family in Belarus by Filip Singer
The economic straits, job shortages and no means of support force many citizens of the former Soviet Union republics, Vietnam or Africa to leave their home countries and seek better opportunities in the “New Europe.” The money they earn and send back home is, in many cases, the only source of income their families have. These migrants live and work illegally in the new member states of the European Union, surviving in a foreign culture, on the brink of law, frequently rejected by and alienated from the society. They usually do not see their partners and children for years. The work they find is mostly physical, jobs they take are those nobody else is willing to do. They make no plans because in their world there is no future. They live day by day.
Masha's husband, Andrei, lives in Bobrujsk, a small town in Belarus. His wife, Masha has been living and working in Poland since a long time. Her long absence has destroyed their marriage and they are now divorced. Their daughter, Sasha, has been living with her grandparents.
Andrei lives in a one of the “panelaks“ (prefabricated apartment buildings) in a housing development. After experiencing a lifestyle in a European Union country, he finds it difficult to get used to the grey reality of Lukashenko's regime in Belarus – Europe's last totalitarian state.
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