Tag: refugee

Video game: Papers, Please (2013)

Described as a “dystopian document thriller,” Papers, Please is a 2013 video game designed by Lucas Pope and published by 3090 across several platforms. Playing as an immigration inspector, the game unfolds through increasingly bureaucratic duties of processing paperwork at the border of fictional Artstotzka. Sorting through passports, immigration documents, and personal information, the player …

Read more

Limbo (2020)

A gently emotional story about a group of asylum seekers awaiting for their results on a fictional remote Scottish island. Among them is Omar, a young Syrian musician burdened by the weight of his grandfather’s oud, which he has carried all the way from his homeland. By Director Ben Shamrock, it received many accolades, including …

Read more

Exodus (2016) & Exodus: The Journey Continues (2017)

In Exodus, FRONTLINE told the epic, first-hand stories of refugees and migrants fleeing countries including Syria, Afghanistan and The Gambia, who made dangerous journeys across 26 countries in search of safety and a better life. The initial two-hour special relied on camera and smartphone footage filmed by refugees and migrants themselves — from inside a …

Read more

The Good Postman (2016)

Directed by  Tonislav Hristov, this film follows Ivan, the local postman in a quiet Bulgarian community on the Turkish border, as he decides to run for mayor. He then campaigns to bring the aging village to life by welcoming refugees. Some in the community support Ivan, while others resist his campaign. The film highlights the …

Read more

The Power of Cartoons in Global Education: An Interview with Christian Clark

Conducted by Sumita S. Chakravarty  A former cartoonist and two-time Emmy-award winning writer for the Children’s Television Workshop flagship show, Sesame Street, Christian Clark works for the United Nations where he has more than 25 years of experience in communications, advocacy and public information, leading campaigns for the BBC and the UN in North America, …

Read more

European citizens want information on migration – not higher walls

Despite being bombarded with headlines about the “migrant crisis” facing Europe, little is really known about how European citizens perceive and experience migration in their daily lives. As part of our ongoing research we’ve found that rather than linking “irregular” migration with fears of terrorism, EU citizens have a more nuanced position on border security. The people …

Read more

List of academic conferences on migration (2016-2017)

2016–17 “MIGRATION AND COMMUNICATION FLOWS: RETHINKING BORDERS, CONFLICT AND IDENTITY THROUGH THE DIGITAL” November 2-3 2017 – Bilbao, Spain “We are faced with a crisis of humanity, and the only exit from this crisis is to recognize our growing interdependence as a species and to find new ways to live together in solidarity and cooperation, …

Read more

List of academic articles on migration (1981 to 2016)

2011-2016 Scott Blinder and William L. Allen. “Constructing Immigrants: Portrayals of Migrant Groups in British National Newspapers, 2010–2012.” International Migration Review. Spring 2016. Shepard, Mark. “Minor Urbanism: Everyday Entanglements of Technology and Urban Life”Continuum: Journal of Media and Cultural Studies, 2013 (v 27, no. 4), 483 – 494 BECK, Ulrich AND DANIEL LEVY, “COSMOPOLITANIZED NATIONS: RE-IMAGINING COLLECTIVITY IN WORLD RISK …

Read more

List of academic books on migration (1890s to 2012)

2011-12 CELIK, IPEK A. IN PERMANENT CRISIS: ETHNICITY IN CONTEMPORARY EUROPEAN MEDIA AND CINEMA. ANN ARBOR: UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN PRESS, 2015. MARTIN, Susan. A NATION OF IMMIGRANTS. CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2012. MOORE, KERRY, BERNHARD GROSS AND TERRY THREADGOLD. EDS. MIGRATIONS AND THE MEDIA. NY: PETER LANG, 2012. JONES, Amelia. SEEING DIFFERENTLY: A HISTORY AND THEORY OF IDENTIFICATION AND THE VISUAL …

Read more

Hamsa (2016)

“Hamsa is a documentary and educational platform with an audacious goal: motivate viewers to alleviate the Syrian refugee crisis. The short documentary highlights one family’s struggles after reaching Germany, and allows those watching to put a face to the global issues. Hamsa is a Syrian refugee and mother of three who migrated with her husband from …

Read more

A New Documentary Takes us Inside Australia’s Refugee Detainment Camps

“Over the last few years, the Australian government has been leaning hard into an anti-refugee plan known as “the Pacific Solution.” Created to stop the arrival of boats filled with asylum seekers from countries like Indonesia, Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan, the Pacific Solution is a program that reads like something out of Donald Trump’s playbook: …

Read more

What the Refugee Crisis tells us about Journalism

“Take any crisis that makes the headlines — the flow of refugees in the Middle East, Europe and the Horn of Africa; outbreaks of deadly or devastating viruses such as Ebola or Zika; drought emergencies in Ethiopiaand Malawi. Does journalism help to explain them? Or solve them? These questions were asked at the Polis conference of the London School of Economics on 21 April. The …

Read more

Caitlin Moran asks “What is a Refugee?”

Journalist and author Caitlin Moran recently took to her YouTube channel, Caitlin’s Moranifesto, to ask the questions “What is a Refugee?” and “Why should we be supporting them?” “Refugees,” Moran says, “are also preventing themselves from being weaponised in the future. How many people who can’t leave Syria and Afghanistan… will be coerced into joining Isis …

Read more

Light on the Sea

Light on the Sea: One Woman’s Story from the Front Lines of the Refugee Crisis This documentary takes us to the front lines of the world’s refugee crisis as Neda, a Syrian American, helps refugees coming from boats into Lesbos, Greece. No media spin. No politics. Just people who want to live. Credits: Directed and …

Read more

Fashion Photographer Turns Refugee Crisis Into Offensive High-End Fashion Shoot

“Hungarian fashion photographer Norbert Baksa has come under fire for a refugee-themed fashion photo shoot he conceptualized and shot at the Hungarian border. “Der Migrant,” which features models wearing headscarves and designer duds before a backdrop of barbed wire fences, was released on the photographer’s personal website and Twitter account last week to predictably less-than-stellar reviews. …

Read more

Stories of Migration: Contemporary Artists Interpret Diaspora

The George Washington University Museum April 16–September 4, 2016 In this juried and invitational exhibition, forty-four artists share personal and universal stories of migration—from historic events that scattered communities across continents to today’s accounts of migrants and refugees adapting to a new homeland. Co-organized with the Studio Art Quilt Associates and with assistance from GW’s Diaspora …

Read more

Redesigning Refugee Camps

“’An Alternative Handbook for Refugee Camp Design’ responds to increases in both the number of refugees worldwide and the number of years refugees spend in camps. While not all refugees live in camps, the focus of my research and design proposal is on camp models designed for 20,000 people (as per the UNHCR’s guidelines). Whereas …

Read more

Syrian Refugees Recreate Destroyed Monuments to Always Remember Their Culturally Rich Architecture

“From a vantage point here in Za’atari, a group of Syrian artists have taken it upon themselves to recreate miniature models of the monuments that have been ruined. In efforts to combat the feelings of outrage and helplessness, these painstaking recreations serve as an act of defiance. The original sites may be have been destroyed, …

Read more

The Problem With Refugee Camps (Architecture, Design, Planning)

“For decades our television screens have been dominated by images of ragged people, hopelessly isolated within political limbo as destitute refugees.  Movies describe refugee camps as exotic edge-of-the-earth locales full of victimized dark-skinned people.  Magazines and websites occasionally release an article on a brand new shelter technology, solar stove, or water pump that is expected …

Read more

Architectures of the Disaster

“45.2 million people are currently displaced by conflict and persecution,according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees(UNHCR). The number accords with the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees articulation of a refugee as: an individual who has fled their country “owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, …

Read more

What Does Poland Think of This Offensive Polish Magazine Cover About ‘Islam Raping Europe’?

“This week, the popular right-wing Polish magazine wSieci ran a cover that has offended a lot of people. Reason being: It features an image of a woman being grabbed at by numerous hairy arms, and the words: “The Islamic Rape of Europe.” The photograph—which, minus the hands, looks a lot like a stock image for …

Read more

Refugee Republic: Interactive Online Documentary

Set in the Domiz Syrian refugee camp in northern Iraq, Refugee Republic uses a mixture of illustration, photography, moving image, recorded sound and text to give viewers insight into the daily lives of the camp’s 58,000 refugees. The online experience was designed by Dutch agency Submarine Channel – a producer of web documentaries and motion comics – …

Read more

Selfies, Smartphones Bring Comfort To Migrants On Balkan Route

Maziad Aloush, a former school teacher fleeing the Syrian war, led his band of refugees through five countries—across the Mediterranean sea and through forests and around mountains—before they eventually disbanded near the border of Austria and Germany. Like so many of the hundreds of thousands of refugees pouring into Europe to escape war and deprivation, he …

Read more

How refugees are using Google Maps, social media to cross borders

Europe’s refugee crisis is growing more complicated by the day. European Union interior ministers are set to meet for emergency talks on Monday, after Germany was forced to reintroduce checks at its border with Austria to stem the continuing flow of refugees. But thousands of refugees determined to flee life-threatening situations at home continue to arrive …

Read more

Syrian Refugees: Canadians Relying On Social Media To Help Newcomers

HALIFAX — Val Macdonald says it only took a few minutes before a little red notification popped up on her Facebook page after posting about donations for a Syrian refugee family. The privately-sponsored refugees arrived in British Columbia’s Comox Valley in October, but they needed some essential items. Macdonald, who helps run the Syrian Refugee Support …

Read more

U.S. screening refugees’ social media accounts

Homeland Security is now trying to screen the social media accounts of Iraqi and Syrian refugee applicants, an agency chief said, as evidence emerges that immigration officers missed potential clues that foreign fighters left in cyberspace about their intentions. Leon Rodriguez, director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the agency that screens refugees, told C-SPAN …

Read more

Norway launches anti-refugee advertising campaign

Norway’s immigration authorities have launched an advertising campaign in print and social media to deter refugees from seeking asylum in the country, following the controversial campaigns launched in Denmark. The Norwegian directorate of immigration sent a message out on Twitter on Friday, and again on Monday morning, warning Afghans planning to cross the country’s northern …

Read more

Denmark advert in Lebanon newspapers warns off refugees

Denmark has placed advertisements in four Lebanese newspapers announcing tighter regulations and cuts in provisions for asylum seekers. The advertisement published on Monday said that social assistance for newly arrived refugees was being reduced by up to 50 percent. Those granted temporary protection would not have the right to family reunification for the first year …

Read more

Refugee Family Test

Refugee Action, an organization that “helps refugees who’ve survived some of the world’s worst regimes […] get the basic support they need to live again with dignity,” recently launched an online interactive test to show how policy is impacting families trying to reunite after arriving in the U.K. Click below on the image to take the …

Read more

The Global Struggle to Respond to the Worst Refugee Crisis in Generations

Eleven million people were uprooted by violence last year, most propelled by conflict in Syria, Iraq, Ukraine and Afghanistan. Conflict and extreme poverty have also pushed tens of thousands out of parts of sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia. Here’s a look at the international response to what has become the worst migration crisis since World War …

Read more

Lampedusa Review

a brave excursion into the dark waters of mass migration  Anders Lustgarten’s drama boldly contrasts the lives of a fisherman retrieving the bodies of refugees drowned at sea and a Chinese-British woman who collects debts for a payday loan company British theatre is full of plays about domestic politics. What makes Anders Lustgarten exceptional is …

Read more

Aggressive Anti-Immigrant Messaging for Refugees Headed to Christmas Island

There is a wide-ranging effort by Australia to discourage refugees from going to Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean. On the shores of Indonesia, billboard messages written in Dari let ‘boat people’ know that all illegal routes to Australia are closed to Afghans. Can these campaigns work on would-be migrants, when the conditions causing them to leave …

Read more

Well Founded Fear (2000)

Well Founded Fear (2000) This 2000 documentary is an unprecedented inside look at the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), award-winning filmmakers Shari Robertson and Michael Camerini take their cameras behind locked doors, where bureaucrats decide the fates of thousands of asylum-seekers each year. To be granted asylum, applicants must demonstrate a “well-founded fear” that their …

Read more