The trial into the deaths of 71 migrants found in an abandoned truck in Austria in 2015 has opened. The horrific scope of the incident shocked Europe during the height of the migrant crisis.
The defendants stand accused of human trafficking and torture. Four of them - three Bulgarians and an Afghan national - have been charged with "homicide with particularly cruelty" and face life in prison. The 30-year-old Afghan is thought to be the ringleader of the group.
All men have been in custody for almost two years, bar one man who remains one the run and will be tried in absentia.
Hungarian prosecutors claim the group was part of a larger ring that smuggled some 1,200 people into Germany and Austria during the height of Europe's migrant crisis in 2015.
Five of the 11 men charged with trafficking and torturing refugees stand before the court as their trial begins in HungaryImage: Reuters/B. Szabo
Refugees were "often carried in closed, dark and airless vans unsuitable for passenger transport, in crowded, inhumane, excruciating conditions," according to the prosecution.
The process is expected to last until at least the end of the year and could extend into 2018.
A horrific discovery
The discovery highlighted the plight of hundreds of thousands of refugees faced during Europe's migrant crisis and prompted widespread revulsion and anger directed at merciless traffickers.
Prosecutors collected around 59,000 pages of evidence detailing the horrific discovery on the side of a motorway in Burgenland, where police found 71 bodies crammed inside a 14-square-meter cargo container.
Among the dead were 59 men, eight women and four children. All the victims hailed from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.
Dead-end Balkan
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Investigators found that victims had "suffocated in horrendous conditions" shortly after they were picked up near the Serbian-Hungarian border.
The incident also prompted the countries to open up their border along the western Balkan migrant route into Western Europe. That Balkan route has since been shut.
Intercepted phone conversations between the smugglers revealed that the truck's driver could hear the migrants screaming in the back, but was ordered by the alleged Afghan ringleader to ignore the suffocating people keep driving. "If they die... drop them off in a forest in Germany," he reportedly said.
Investigators also found that the group loaded another 67 migrants into a freezer truck to drive to Austria just a day after authorities found the 71 bodies in the first truck. The migrants in the second vehicle were able to kick open the back doors and escape with their lives.
dm/sms (AFP, Reuters, dpa)
World Refugee Day: Iconic images of the refugee crisis
Photographs of the massive migrant influx to Europe in 2015 and 2016 circulated around the world and influenced public opinion. Migration and its related suffering have never been as comprehensively documented as today.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/A. Messinis
The goal: Survival
A journey combined with misery as well as dangers for the body and the soul: In their escape from war and suffering, hundreds of thousands of people, mostly from Syria, traveled to Greece from Turkey in 2015 and 2016. There are still around 10,000 people stranded on the islands of Lesbos, Chios and Samos. More than 6,000 new arrivals were recorded this year from January to May.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/A. Messinis
On foot to Europe
In 2015 and 2016, more than a million people tried to reach Western Europe from Greece or Turkey over the Balkan route - through Macedonia, Serbia and Hungary. The stream of refugees stopped only when the route was officially closed and many countries sealed their borders. Today, most refugees opt for the dangerous Mediterranean route from Libya to Europe.
Image: Getty Images/J. Mitchell
Global dismay
This picture shook the world. The body of three-year-old Aylan Kurdi from Syria washed up on a beach in Turkey in September 2015. The photograph was widely circulated in social networks and became a symbol of the refugee crisis. Europe could not look away anymore.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/DHA
Chaos and despair
Last-minute rush: Thousands of refugees tried to get into overcrowded buses and trains in Croatia after it became known that the route through Europe would not remain open for long. In October 2015, Hungary closed its borders and installed container camps, where refugees would be kept for the duration of their asylum process.
Image: Getty Images/J. J. Mitchell
Unscrupulous reporting
A Hungarian journalist caused uproar in September 2015 after she tripped a Syrian man who was trying to run from the police at Roszke, near the Hungarian border with Serbia. At the peak of the crisis, the tone against refugees became coarser. In Germany, attacks on refugee homes increased.
Image: Reuters/M. Djurica
No open borders
The official closure of the Balkan route in March 2016 led to tumultuous scenes at border crossings. Thousands of refugees were stranded and there were reports of brutal violence. Many tried to circumvent border crossings, like these refugees at the Greek-Macedonian border shortly after borders were closed.
A child covered in blood and dust: the photograph of five-year-old Omran shocked the public when it was released in 2016. It became an allegory of the horror of the Syrian civil war and the suffering of the Syrian people. One year later, new pictures of the boy circulated on the internet, showing him much happier. Assad supporters say the picture last year was planted for propaganda purposes.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Aleppo Media Center
The unknown new home
A Syrian man carries his daughter in the rain at the Greek-Macedonian border in Idomeni. He hopes for security for his family in Europe. According to the Dublin regulation, asylum can be applied only in the country where the refugee first entered Europe. Many who travel further on are sent back. Above all, Greece and Italy carry the largest burden.
Image: Reuters/Y. Behrakis
Hope for support
Germany remains the top destination, although the refugee and asylum policy in Germany has become more restrictive following the massive influx. No country in Europe has taken in as many refugees as Germany, which took in 1.2 million since the influx began in 2015. Chancellor Angela Merkel was an icon for many of the newcomers.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Hoppe
Emergency situation in the camps
In France's north, authorities clean up the infamous "jungle" in Calais. The camp caught fire during the evacuation in October 2016. Around 6,500 residents were distributed among other shelters in France. Half a year later, aid organizations reported many minor refugees living as homeless people around Calais.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/E. Laurent
Drowning in the Mediterranean
NGO and government rescue ships are constantly on the lookout for migrant boats in distress. Despite extreme danger during their voyage, many refugees, fleeing poverty or conflict in the home countries, expect to find a better future in Europe. The overcrowded boats and rubber dinghies often capsize. In 2017 alone, 1,800 people died in the crossing. In 2016, 5,000 people lost their lives.
Image: picture alliance/AP Photo/E. Morenatti
No justice in Libya
Hundreds of thousands of refugees from Sub Saharan Africa and the Middle East wait in Libyan detention camps to cross the Mediterranean. Human smugglers and traffickers control the business. The conditions in the camps are reportedly catastrophic, human rights organizations say. Eyewitnesses report of slavery and forced prostitution. Still, the inmates never give up the dream of coming to Europe.
Image: Narciso Contreras, courtesy by Fondation Carmignac
