Iraq 2014
Iraq 2014
“No one I met wanted to be a burden. Every refugee family I spoke to wanted to contribute, to stand on their own feet, to provide for themselves and not to be dependent. Walking through the camps, I saw a busy, active people, resourceful and enterprising, people who had started grocery stores, barber shops, salons, bakeries. Like my fellow Afghans, these people were proud. They did not wish to be seen as a monolithic community of dependent victims.”
In 2014, Khaled travelled to northern Iraq to meet Syrian families living in Kawergosk and Darashakran refugee camps and in the city of Erbil. Khaled was raising vital awareness and funds for UNHCR’s Syria crisis appeal. He wrote an opinion piece for the New York Times, a feature article published in several countries including in The Independent in the UK, a blog for The Guardian and carried out multiple live interviews from the field with all major news networks.
Darashakran refugee camp, Kurdistan Region of Iraq, March 2014.
© UNHCR/B. Sokol
Iraq/Syrian Refugees Alan, 14, a top student, does homework in his family's tent in Darashakran refugee camp, Kurdistan Region of Iraq on 22 March 2014. The teenager and his family fled from Syria and arrived in Darashakran a little over a month ago. The day after their arrival, Alan began attending school, and says of education, "it is everything to me." 15 March 2014 marked the 3rd anniversary of the Syria crisis. In recognition of this tragic milestone, best-selling author, former refugee and UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador, Khaled Hosseini, recently traveled with UNHCR in the Kurdish region of Iraq meeting some of the 2.5 million + Syrian refugees whose lives and families have been torn apart by the ongoing conflict. As the war in Syria rages on into its 4th year, and Syrians will soon replace Afghans as the world's largest refugee population, Khaled has been spending time with families, learning about what their lives were like back in Syria (security and economic stresses), the reasons behind their final decision to flee, how they are adjusting to life as a refugee, and how UNHCR is supporting Syrian refugees in Iraq and the region. This is Khaled's fifth field mission to see the UN Refugee Agency's frontline emergency work (previous missions to Afghanistan and Chad) and to help shine a spotlight on the individual human stories behind the vast refugee numbers, helping to build a bridge of emotional connection to the public at home at this key moment in what has become the defining humanitarian crisis of a generation. UNHCR/B.Sokol/March 2014
© UNHCR/B. Sokol
The family is grateful for their shelter within the camp, and is thankful for the provision of healthcare and education. But fleeing has been an undeniably painful process. Mohammed was forced to leave Alan's mother in Syria. As Alan told Khaled, "Home means mother to me."
© UNHCR/B. Sokol
Iraq/Syrian Refugees Khaled Hosseini, Goodwill Ambassador for UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, meets with Syrian refugee Amina and her daughter in Kawergosk refugee camp, Kurdistan Region of Iraq on 23 March 2014. Amina's youngest baby was born 3 months premature in Iraq. As a vulnerable case the family was housed in a new type UNHCR pilot scheme shelter, to which she attributes the survival of her baby. Despite her husband being disabled by polio as a child, he still works as a watchman to support his family 15 March 2014 marked the 3rd anniversary of the Syria crisis. In recognition of this tragic milestone, best-selling author, former refugee and UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador, Khaled Hosseini, recently traveled with UNHCR in the Kurdish region of Iraq meeting some of the 2.5 million + Syrian refugees whose lives and families have been torn apart by the ongoing conflict. As the war in Syria rages on into its 4th year, and Syrians will soon replace Afghans as the world's largest refugee population, Khaled has been spending time with families, learning about what their lives were like back in Syria (security and economic stresses), the reasons behind their final decision to flee, how they are adjusting to life as a refugee, and how UNHCR is supporting Syrian refugees in Iraq and the region. This is Khaled's fifth field mission to see the UN Refugee Agency's frontline emergency work (previous missions to Afghanistan and Chad) and to help shine a spotlight on the individual human stories behind the vast refugee numbers, helping to build a bridge of emotional connection to the public at home at this key moment in what has become the defining humanitarian crisis of a generation. UNHCR/B.Sokol/March 2014
© UNHCR/B. Sokol
Iraq/Syrian Refugees Khaled Hosseini, Goodwill Ambassador for UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, poses for a portrait with 21 year old Naleen in the beauty salon she operates in Kawergosk refugee camp, Kurdistan Region of Iraq on 23 March 2014. The mother of three runs a well-respected business which provides necessary income for her family, as her husband was inured in a mortar attack in Syria and is unable to work. 15 March 2014 marked the 3rd anniversary of the Syria crisis. In recognition of this tragic milestone, best-selling author, former refugee and UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador, Khaled Hosseini, recently traveled with UNHCR in the Kurdish region of Iraq meeting some of the 2.5 million + Syrian refugees whose lives and families have been torn apart by the ongoing conflict. As the war in Syria rages on into its 4th year, and Syrians will soon replace Afghans as the world's largest refugee population, Khaled has been spending time with families, learning about what their lives were like back in Syria (security and economic stresses), the reasons behind their final decision to flee, how they are adjusting to life as a refugee, and how UNHCR is supporting Syrian refugees in Iraq and the region. This is Khaled's fifth field mission to see the UN Refugee Agency's frontline emergency work (previous missions to Afghanistan and Chad) and to help shine a spotlight on the individual human stories behind the vast refugee numbers, helping to build a bridge of emotional connection to the public at home at this key moment in what has become the defining humanitarian crisis of a generation. UNHCR/B.Sokol/March 2014
© UNHCR/B. Sokol
Payman is a talented writer. The 16-year-old Syrian refugee was a top student before she and her family were forced to flee their home. There's no secondary school in Kawergosk refugee camp where she now lives and she misses attending class dearly, so much so that she weeps when talking about it.
© UNHCR/B. Sokol