Refugee crisis is a pressing problem for modern society, 68.5 million people around the world have been forced from home. According to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNCHR), among them there are nearly 25.4 million refugees, over half of whom are under the age of 18. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported in March that deaths on the three main Mediterranean Sea routes have already reached 311 individuals.
However, numbers do not always shock, they can cause instead unexpected reactions. It’s the case of the refugee memorial in Liverpool, a list of more than 30,000 names of people who have died at sea attempting to reach Europe. The list, created by the artist Banu Cennetoğlu to increase a sense of sympathy for these victims, has instead attracted violent actions. After removing and scratching it more than once, anonymous people wrote on that: “Invaders not refugees”.
Source: BBC
The reporter Sara Albo investigated on this issue, interviewing not only Liverpool citizens and refugees, but also the MP Louise Ellman and the author Nitasha Kaul, who explains why xenophobia is increasing all around the world.
Liverpool seems to forget its heritage, as the city which is now “rejecting” refugees has always been a city of arrivals and departure. The great British emigration between 1830 and 1930 indeed inspired Anthony Gormley to create “Another place” in Crosby Beach, one of the main attraction near Liverpool.
However, this documentary shows another side of the story, through the voices of Sola Arts, which is an example of integration and humanity.
