More than 1000 people – often very young children – live in the sewers of the city of Bucharest in inhuman conditions, suffering hunger and without any kind of sanitation. Most of them are drug addicts, and women are preyed on by sex tourists. The local administration so far has not enabled any concrete program for recovering these people. This situation is the result of the policies of former communist ruler Nicolae Ceaucescu, who forbade contraception in the hopes of increasing Romania’s population. A very popular sentence among the boys of the sewers says: “ At ten years you are young, at twenty years you are old, at thirty years you are dead ”.
A man is portrayed after the use of aurolac drug near Gara de Nord in Bucharest, Romania on November 6, 2011. During the winter hundreds of persons, sleep in the basement of the city to find heat.
The interior of a sewer in Bucharest, Romania on November 6, 2011. During the winter hundreds of persons, sleep in the basement of the city to find heat.
A man called “Bruce Lee” and considered the boss of Gara de Nord, is portrayed in the sewers where he lives in Bucharest, Romania on November 6, 2011. During the winter hundreds of persons, sleep in the basement of the city to find heat.
A glove is leaning on an old mattress in a sewer of Gara de Nord in Bucharest, Romania on November 6, 2011. During the winter hundreds of persons, sleep in the basement of the city to find heat.
A man prepares a syringe of heroin in a sewer of Bucharest, Romania on November 12, 2011. During the winter hundreds of persons, sleep in the basement of the city to find heat.
A woman sleeps on a bench near Gara de Nord in Bucharest, Romania on November 6, 2011. During the winter hundreds of persons, sleep in the basement of the city to find heat.
A drug addict man shows the reproduction of a Nicolae Grigorescu painting near Gara de Nord in Bucharest, Romania on November 6, 2011. During the winter hundreds of persons, sleep in the basement of the city to find heat.
A woman with a gangrenous finger sleeps on a bench near Gara de Nord in Bucharest, Romania on November 6, 2011. During the winter hundreds of persons, sleep in the basement of the city to find heat.
The particular of a gangrenous finger of a woman who sleeps on a bench near Gara de Nord in Bucharest, Romania on November 6, 2011. During the winter hundreds of persons, sleep in the basement of the city to find heat.
A drug addict boy is portrayed near Gara de Nord in Bucharest, Romania on November 6, 2011. During the winter hundreds of persons, sleep in the basement of the city to find heat.
A picture of Costel is affixed on the wall of a sewer near Gara de Nord in Bucharest, Romania on November 6, 2011. During the winter hundreds of persons, sleep in the basement of the city to find heat.
Costel introduce himself in the sewer where he lives in Bucharest, Romania on November 6, 2011. During the winter hundreds of persons, sleep in the basement of the city to find heat.
Florentina uses aurolac drug near Gara de Nord in Bucharest, Romania on November 6, 2011. Aurolac is a toxic glu who caused hallucinations and alleviates the feeling of hunger and cold. During the winter hundreds of persons, sleep in the basement of the city to find heat.
People prepare aurolac drug near Gara de Nord in Bucharest, Romania on November 6, 2011. Aurolac is a toxic glu who caused hallucinations and alleviates the feeling of hunger and cold. During the winter hundreds of persons, sleep in the basement of the city to find heat.
A man called “Bruce Lee” and considered the boss of Gara de Nord, introduce himself in the sewer where he lives in Bucharest, Romania on November 6, 2011. During the winter hundreds of persons, sleep in the basement of the city to find heat.