we have a problem and we would like your
help in trying to fix it we are
documentary photographers and we
recently returned from refugee camps on
Chios Island in Greece we partner with
NGOs to document their work and this was
our second trip to the islands of Syria
we were there during the bitterly cold
winter in January and then again during
the blistering summer in July to
document the lives of people living
inside the camps the United Nations has
called the global refugee crisis the
greatest humanitarian crisis of our time
you’ve likely heard the statistic that
65 million people have been forcibly
displaced due to conflict or persecution
that equates to 24 people being forced
to flee their homes every minute at that
massive rate of violence and destruction
by the time that we finish this talk
over 400 more people somewhere around
the world are likely to become refugees
here’s the problem the global refugee
crisis continues unabated but much of
the world’s attention has moved on to
other topics many of those topics are
important but let’s face it many of them
are not how can you help these
individuals need people like you to use
your voices to speak on their behalf
how number one by being aware of the
situation and then secondly we hope you
will use your compassion and turn it
into action to help the most vulnerable
people today we’d like to bring you
inside the suit a refugee camp we have a
very hard time comprehending what 65
million people means those numbers are
staggering to us and when you hear
numbers and statistics like that it
becomes all too easy and comfortable to
forget that these are human lives men
women and children and not just
numerical data when we try to comprehend
issues like that it’s important that we
are able to break it down as
photographers to break it down we start
one face at a time there are two refugee
camps on the island of Chios this
which you can see here and the vile
refugee camp we do not have any photos
of the vile refugee camp because it is
located on a military base and when we
were there we were specifically warned
by the camp authorities that if we took
photos of the camp or facilities we
would be arrested immediately in years
past refugees would travel to the
desired destination country and would
seek asylum once they reached their
target destination however in May of
2016 the European Union signed a
referendum that forces refugees to be
processed in the country where they
first land that means that refugees
landing in Greece but wanting to go
elsewhere have to remain in Greece while
their asylum application is either
approved or rejected this map shows you
where the island of Chios is relative to
the rest of Greece and Turkey it is one
of the islands located closest to the
Turkish coast which is why it has become
a hot spot for refugee boat landings
this is a complex global issue and there
is no clear solution however the
fundamental factor to remember is that
we’re talking about human beings we’d
like to introduce you to a few of these
individuals this is a far Johanna
they fled Afghanistan seeking safety
with their six-year-old daughter Selina
and their one-year-old son Mahadi when
we were in the camps the one recurring
request that we got from many people is
that we tell their story to others many
want many hope that there might be
individuals out there that can help them
with their personal situations and
others they simply want the world to
know that they’re trying to find safety
and they are not terrorists the man in
the blue jacket and the blue baseball
hat is Issa who’s from syria and goes by
the nickname bkd when we first met him
he introduced himself by saying yo man
what’s up in near perfect English with
hints of a Brooklyn accent we’d like you
to meet him Syrian refugee
aka known as BKG badass curse dude are
you here alone no certainly with my
family how many people is that we’re
five me and my mom my brother and my two
sisters my brother’s 23 my sister is 24
and my other sisters 25 and my mom took
me to the war the war and the struggle
and the things that are going on in our
country and we almost lose our life for
like several times that’s why we live
yes sir I was in school living my normal
life just it’s like I had a dream on my
mind like my father wants to sure he
passed his way he told me like he didn’t
he told he told my mom I should be a
doctor cuz when he passed away I was
only one month old so the war came they
had like to put my dream on hold for
like five years cuz I was 12 I was
actually TV and people mostly family
guide the Simpsons and classic Americans
if there was something that your mother
would want to tell what you like just
like opened the borders open your heart
for us we like we flee from like a
country that like everything we used to
have is gone we lost our house our our
friends our home everything we used to
have is gone and we just stick it like
we’re just seeking for peace and for a
safe place and like there’s a live in
peace man that’s when we only want like
it’s our new life and like to give us
the the chance and the potentials to
become like to have a great future for
us
in case you missed it BK d stands for a
bad Kurdish dude BK D is an intelligent
and articulate man and due to factors
completely beyond his control he has
received only a seventh grade education
his mother was embarrassed to speak to
us on camera because she didn’t want to
be seen having to live in a tent with
her family in a refugee camp the harsh
living conditions inadequate housing
limited medical services and other unmet
basic human needs take its physical
mental and emotional toll on all
refugees in chios and elsewhere people
struggle to maintain a sense of dignity
as the days in the months wear them down
when we were there in the winter this
man had been living in this tent for
months there were four men living in
this tent you can see three of the beds
lined up right there to see how tightly
packed it is seven men were living in
this compartment in a larger tent you
can see the pillows lined up on the
right wall to see how overcrowded it is
this room was made up of thin fiber
board walls there’s no privacy or
security they have a blanket for a door
because this room is part of a larger
open structure with many other rooms it
is always noisy there are always people
outside on the other side of the wall it
is expected that the suta refugee camp
will be dismantled and all the residents
will be moved to the vile camp by the
end of this year we’re giving you a view
into the pseudo camp but all refugee
camps around the world face many of the
same any of the same problems as we see
here every single day before being
categorized as a nameless generic
refugee AB Razak was a computer software
programmer and website designer who
speaks five languages and multiple
computer languages he was living in the
pseudo refugee camp and was hoping to go
to any country that would be considered
safe
the graffiti on the wall behind him says
we are refugees no Isis no Turkey no
stay here please we need help
open minds open hearts open the border
when we were there during the summer we
also sat with another man
Ahmed sitting in his tent that was bacon
in the midday Sun it was about 90
degrees Fahrenheit inside his tent and
we had set up a panoramic camera so that
you could go inside and have a look
around to our people with this running
really until teleport okay yes you run
to the airport that’s far yes how long
have you been in yes all of these other
people are here now no no people
that’s very smart you’re jealous
sorry smart good luck I hope things work
out for you dear lawyer the reason why
something as small as hanging shelves
made out of fruit cartons as meaningful
is because rats and even snakes can be
found throughout the camps making the
individuals lives even more difficult
the rats will go into people’s camps
boldly looking for food every day three
times a day residents line up at the
food distribution area outside of the
camp when you’re a refugee refugee much
of your life is spent waiting your turn
people receive monthly ration cards for
both food and non-food items these
documents are incredibly important when
you have nothing this is where you get
your drinking water sanitation is a
constant challenge and risk to camp
inhabitants this is the men’s shower and
bathroom sink there is no door to
protect it from the elements so in the
winter when it is cold and freezing
there is no comfort oftentimes there is
no hot water anyway one of the residents
told us that he would have to take a
shower at 4 a.m. in the morning because
it was just too cold outside and that
was the only time that they had hot
water people struggle to maintain a
semblance of dignity as the days and the
months wear them down this is a
makeshift barber shop that was set up
under a tarp with a broken mirror in an
electric heater for warmth
everyday tasks are made significantly
more difficult due to the lack of
services and basic infrastructure in the
camps here
a woman is washing her clothes in the
outdoor communal sink she washes each
piece by hand in the cold cold water
women are highly vulnerable to the
dangers of fleeing their home land as
well as once they are detained in a camp
or in a new country another resident a
17 year old unaccompanied minor told us
if you tell our stories to other people
and they do nothing and they’re just sad
it does not help us we need people to
take action and to help us thousands
upon thousands of refugees have
descended upon Greece’s Shores over the
years overwhelming much of the country
and its resources nevertheless Greece
has stepped up and taken responsibility
to help however it can Greece is far
from perfect but at least they’re doing
something when so many other nations are
not this past winter in Greece was
brutal and unforgiving temperatures fell
to below freezing and many many people
had to endure lengthy miserable
hardships for many people winterizing
their tank meant merely lifting it a
couple of inches off the ground onto
wooden shipping pallets and covering
their tents with plastic UNHCR tarps it
doesn’t work sadly current reports
indicate that the UNHCR and local
authorities are no better prepared for
the coming winter than they were for the
less – this is a communal tent where
there were 10 people living in it 7
single men and a father with his two
children rainwater and melted snow would
seep into the fabric walls and also come
into the tent from underneath leaving
everything inside the tents cold and wet
if you’ve ever slept in a tent overnight
you know that when you wake up in the
morning everything inside your tent is
dripping wet with condensation and if
you were gonna cover your tents in
plastic tarps to winterize them
there is no way for the tents to dry out
during the day which means that
everything is wet and cold day after day
dunya was four months pregnant when this
photo was taken and she was living in a
tent with her husband Amin all of their
possessions are behind them a few
blankets and a few clothes and like
everywhere else in the camp their tent
was cold and wet their floor is covered
with blankets to protect them from the
water that seeps in underneath here in
the vestibule of their tent you can see
the only items that they have for
cooking and eating dunya somehow has to
care for herself and her unborn child in
these conditions there’s a saying that
the only thing necessary for the triumph
of evil is that good men and women do
nothing do we turn our backs or open our
arms to the most vulnerable people today
we have the incredible gift of not
living in a conflict or disaster zone
ourselves it could happen to us just as
easily if the circumstances were
different so how can you help these
individuals need people like you to use
your words and actions to speak on their
behalf
we’d like to end on a positive note so
we’re going to share some more photos of
one-year-old Mahadi whose family you met
at the beginning here he is with his
father Zafar we each have to decide what
side of history we want to be on what
we’re asking is that you use your
compassion and you demonstrate your
compassion and action to help the most
vulnerable people today if you want to
help refugees now donate money your time
and resources to groups active in
locations where there is need if you
want to help with longer-term solutions
support organizations such as Amnesty
International and Human Rights Watch who
are trying to change policy find your
legislators who are supportive of
refugees and basic human rights and
support them equally importantly reach
out to your legislators who are fighting
against refugees and tell them that you
want your country to do its fair share
and addressing this crisis tell them
diversity makes us stronger not weaker
tell them you are not afraid we don’t
think we are naively optimistic on the
future but perhaps we all should start
being just a little bit more thank you
very much
[Applause]
help in trying to fix it we are
documentary photographers and we
recently returned from refugee camps on
Chios Island in Greece we partner with
NGOs to document their work and this was
our second trip to the islands of Syria
we were there during the bitterly cold
winter in January and then again during
the blistering summer in July to
document the lives of people living
inside the camps the United Nations has
called the global refugee crisis the
greatest humanitarian crisis of our time
you’ve likely heard the statistic that
65 million people have been forcibly
displaced due to conflict or persecution
that equates to 24 people being forced
to flee their homes every minute at that
massive rate of violence and destruction
by the time that we finish this talk
over 400 more people somewhere around
the world are likely to become refugees
here’s the problem the global refugee
crisis continues unabated but much of
the world’s attention has moved on to
other topics many of those topics are
important but let’s face it many of them
are not how can you help these
individuals need people like you to use
your voices to speak on their behalf
how number one by being aware of the
situation and then secondly we hope you
will use your compassion and turn it
into action to help the most vulnerable
people today we’d like to bring you
inside the suit a refugee camp we have a
very hard time comprehending what 65
million people means those numbers are
staggering to us and when you hear
numbers and statistics like that it
becomes all too easy and comfortable to
forget that these are human lives men
women and children and not just
numerical data when we try to comprehend
issues like that it’s important that we
are able to break it down as
photographers to break it down we start
one face at a time there are two refugee
camps on the island of Chios this
which you can see here and the vile
refugee camp we do not have any photos
of the vile refugee camp because it is
located on a military base and when we
were there we were specifically warned
by the camp authorities that if we took
photos of the camp or facilities we
would be arrested immediately in years
past refugees would travel to the
desired destination country and would
seek asylum once they reached their
target destination however in May of
2016 the European Union signed a
referendum that forces refugees to be
processed in the country where they
first land that means that refugees
landing in Greece but wanting to go
elsewhere have to remain in Greece while
their asylum application is either
approved or rejected this map shows you
where the island of Chios is relative to
the rest of Greece and Turkey it is one
of the islands located closest to the
Turkish coast which is why it has become
a hot spot for refugee boat landings
this is a complex global issue and there
is no clear solution however the
fundamental factor to remember is that
we’re talking about human beings we’d
like to introduce you to a few of these
individuals this is a far Johanna
they fled Afghanistan seeking safety
with their six-year-old daughter Selina
and their one-year-old son Mahadi when
we were in the camps the one recurring
request that we got from many people is
that we tell their story to others many
want many hope that there might be
individuals out there that can help them
with their personal situations and
others they simply want the world to
know that they’re trying to find safety
and they are not terrorists the man in
the blue jacket and the blue baseball
hat is Issa who’s from syria and goes by
the nickname bkd when we first met him
he introduced himself by saying yo man
what’s up in near perfect English with
hints of a Brooklyn accent we’d like you
to meet him Syrian refugee
aka known as BKG badass curse dude are
you here alone no certainly with my
family how many people is that we’re
five me and my mom my brother and my two
sisters my brother’s 23 my sister is 24
and my other sisters 25 and my mom took
me to the war the war and the struggle
and the things that are going on in our
country and we almost lose our life for
like several times that’s why we live
yes sir I was in school living my normal
life just it’s like I had a dream on my
mind like my father wants to sure he
passed his way he told me like he didn’t
he told he told my mom I should be a
doctor cuz when he passed away I was
only one month old so the war came they
had like to put my dream on hold for
like five years cuz I was 12 I was
actually TV and people mostly family
guide the Simpsons and classic Americans
if there was something that your mother
would want to tell what you like just
like opened the borders open your heart
for us we like we flee from like a
country that like everything we used to
have is gone we lost our house our our
friends our home everything we used to
have is gone and we just stick it like
we’re just seeking for peace and for a
safe place and like there’s a live in
peace man that’s when we only want like
it’s our new life and like to give us
the the chance and the potentials to
become like to have a great future for
us
in case you missed it BK d stands for a
bad Kurdish dude BK D is an intelligent
and articulate man and due to factors
completely beyond his control he has
received only a seventh grade education
his mother was embarrassed to speak to
us on camera because she didn’t want to
be seen having to live in a tent with
her family in a refugee camp the harsh
living conditions inadequate housing
limited medical services and other unmet
basic human needs take its physical
mental and emotional toll on all
refugees in chios and elsewhere people
struggle to maintain a sense of dignity
as the days in the months wear them down
when we were there in the winter this
man had been living in this tent for
months there were four men living in
this tent you can see three of the beds
lined up right there to see how tightly
packed it is seven men were living in
this compartment in a larger tent you
can see the pillows lined up on the
right wall to see how overcrowded it is
this room was made up of thin fiber
board walls there’s no privacy or
security they have a blanket for a door
because this room is part of a larger
open structure with many other rooms it
is always noisy there are always people
outside on the other side of the wall it
is expected that the suta refugee camp
will be dismantled and all the residents
will be moved to the vile camp by the
end of this year we’re giving you a view
into the pseudo camp but all refugee
camps around the world face many of the
same any of the same problems as we see
here every single day before being
categorized as a nameless generic
refugee AB Razak was a computer software
programmer and website designer who
speaks five languages and multiple
computer languages he was living in the
pseudo refugee camp and was hoping to go
to any country that would be considered
safe
the graffiti on the wall behind him says
we are refugees no Isis no Turkey no
stay here please we need help
open minds open hearts open the border
when we were there during the summer we
also sat with another man
Ahmed sitting in his tent that was bacon
in the midday Sun it was about 90
degrees Fahrenheit inside his tent and
we had set up a panoramic camera so that
you could go inside and have a look
around to our people with this running
really until teleport okay yes you run
to the airport that’s far yes how long
have you been in yes all of these other
people are here now no no people
that’s very smart you’re jealous
sorry smart good luck I hope things work
out for you dear lawyer the reason why
something as small as hanging shelves
made out of fruit cartons as meaningful
is because rats and even snakes can be
found throughout the camps making the
individuals lives even more difficult
the rats will go into people’s camps
boldly looking for food every day three
times a day residents line up at the
food distribution area outside of the
camp when you’re a refugee refugee much
of your life is spent waiting your turn
people receive monthly ration cards for
both food and non-food items these
documents are incredibly important when
you have nothing this is where you get
your drinking water sanitation is a
constant challenge and risk to camp
inhabitants this is the men’s shower and
bathroom sink there is no door to
protect it from the elements so in the
winter when it is cold and freezing
there is no comfort oftentimes there is
no hot water anyway one of the residents
told us that he would have to take a
shower at 4 a.m. in the morning because
it was just too cold outside and that
was the only time that they had hot
water people struggle to maintain a
semblance of dignity as the days and the
months wear them down this is a
makeshift barber shop that was set up
under a tarp with a broken mirror in an
electric heater for warmth
everyday tasks are made significantly
more difficult due to the lack of
services and basic infrastructure in the
camps here
a woman is washing her clothes in the
outdoor communal sink she washes each
piece by hand in the cold cold water
women are highly vulnerable to the
dangers of fleeing their home land as
well as once they are detained in a camp
or in a new country another resident a
17 year old unaccompanied minor told us
if you tell our stories to other people
and they do nothing and they’re just sad
it does not help us we need people to
take action and to help us thousands
upon thousands of refugees have
descended upon Greece’s Shores over the
years overwhelming much of the country
and its resources nevertheless Greece
has stepped up and taken responsibility
to help however it can Greece is far
from perfect but at least they’re doing
something when so many other nations are
not this past winter in Greece was
brutal and unforgiving temperatures fell
to below freezing and many many people
had to endure lengthy miserable
hardships for many people winterizing
their tank meant merely lifting it a
couple of inches off the ground onto
wooden shipping pallets and covering
their tents with plastic UNHCR tarps it
doesn’t work sadly current reports
indicate that the UNHCR and local
authorities are no better prepared for
the coming winter than they were for the
less – this is a communal tent where
there were 10 people living in it 7
single men and a father with his two
children rainwater and melted snow would
seep into the fabric walls and also come
into the tent from underneath leaving
everything inside the tents cold and wet
if you’ve ever slept in a tent overnight
you know that when you wake up in the
morning everything inside your tent is
dripping wet with condensation and if
you were gonna cover your tents in
plastic tarps to winterize them
there is no way for the tents to dry out
during the day which means that
everything is wet and cold day after day
dunya was four months pregnant when this
photo was taken and she was living in a
tent with her husband Amin all of their
possessions are behind them a few
blankets and a few clothes and like
everywhere else in the camp their tent
was cold and wet their floor is covered
with blankets to protect them from the
water that seeps in underneath here in
the vestibule of their tent you can see
the only items that they have for
cooking and eating dunya somehow has to
care for herself and her unborn child in
these conditions there’s a saying that
the only thing necessary for the triumph
of evil is that good men and women do
nothing do we turn our backs or open our
arms to the most vulnerable people today
we have the incredible gift of not
living in a conflict or disaster zone
ourselves it could happen to us just as
easily if the circumstances were
different so how can you help these
individuals need people like you to use
your words and actions to speak on their
behalf
we’d like to end on a positive note so
we’re going to share some more photos of
one-year-old Mahadi whose family you met
at the beginning here he is with his
father Zafar we each have to decide what
side of history we want to be on what
we’re asking is that you use your
compassion and you demonstrate your
compassion and action to help the most
vulnerable people today if you want to
help refugees now donate money your time
and resources to groups active in
locations where there is need if you
want to help with longer-term solutions
support organizations such as Amnesty
International and Human Rights Watch who
are trying to change policy find your
legislators who are supportive of
refugees and basic human rights and
support them equally importantly reach
out to your legislators who are fighting
against refugees and tell them that you
want your country to do its fair share
and addressing this crisis tell them
diversity makes us stronger not weaker
tell them you are not afraid we don’t
think we are naively optimistic on the
future but perhaps we all should start
being just a little bit more thank you
very much
[Applause]
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