RE FU GI UM
life in motion
GIUSEPPE CAROSINI ALEKSANDRA GOJNIĆ
Politecnico di Milano Scuola di Architettura Urbanistica Ingegneria delle Costruzioni Master of Science in Architecture
R E F U G I U M - Life in Motion
Supervisor : Massimiliano Spadoni
Authors: Giuseppe Amedeo Carosini, 814274 Aleksandra Gojnić, 814781
December 2016
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS To our friends who kept a sense of humor when we had lost ours. To our families, for their unconditional support and care. To each other, for the patience and love during this tough journey.
Home - Warsan Shire no one leaves home unless home is the mouth of a shark you only run for the border when you see the whole city running as well your neighbours running faster than you breath bloody in their throats the boy you went to school with who kissed you dizzy behind the old tin factory is holding a gun bigger than his body you only leave home when home won't let you stay. no one leaves home unless home chases you fire under feet hot blood in your belly it's not something you ever thought of doing until the blade burnt threats into your neck and even then you carried the anthem under your breath only tearing up your passport in an airport toilets sobbing as each mouthful of paper made it clear that you wouldn't be going back. you have to understand, that no one puts their children in a boat unless the water is safer than the land no one burns their palms under trains beneath carriages no one spends days and nights in the stomach of a truck feeding on newspaper unless the miles traveled means something more than journey. no one crawls under fences no one wants to be beaten, pitied no one chooses refugee camps or strip searches where your body is left aching, or prison, because prison is safer than a city of fire and one prison guard in the night is better than a truckload of men who look like your father no one could take it no one could stomach it no one skin would be tough enough
ABSTRACT
The major problem which we face as architects when confronting this plight on a global level is that the reasons for people becoming refugees are often outside of our scope of work. This is due to the fact that they are produced by political, economical, natural disaster, famine, civil war or other reasons. It is also not our place to work with a god complex, prescribing a predetermined formula on how different cultures and different countries should deal with the influx of refugees within their cities, as again the number of role players from outside our field are too high. The scope of our work therefore falls between this. The focus on the Journey taken by the refugee to get from point A to point B. This is the part of the refugee’s struggle that is often most traumatic, with human trafficking, exploitation, rape, sinking boats and closed borders just some of the many obstacles that they face.
- AS ARCHITECTS WE MAKE A STAND -
The solution lead to us taking the JOURNEY out of this migration and projecting this as a line encompassing the globe. This line utilizes the data analyzed as well as the lessons learned from the existing refugee camps in order to formulate a Utopic critique of the current crisis, geo-political contestations and lack of large scale intervention within the realm of architecture and urbanism. A series of doors will allow the refugees enter the structure and at the same time exit it, as long as the inhabitants behind the door are kind enough to unlock it.
11 REFUGIUM
The refugee crisis is an omnipresent polemic that is widespread throughout local and international news. Particularly within the recent war that has struck Syria, the influx of migrating refugees has hit an all time high, topping that even of the migration of refugees seen during WW2. With currently over 60 million people displaced within their own countries and globally, the problem is one of the most crucial facing humanity at this point in time. There is yet a further relevance to the situation which has now become too large to ignore. It is a problem that has not been dealt with on a historic level, with very little theory or concept developed around a larger solution to many of the issues that refugees face, further more there are predicted to be over 250 million people who will become refugees within the next 20 years.
03
REFUGEE
CRISIS
01
STATISTICAL NIGHTMARE A look at the insurmountable data extending from the past to future of this ever evolving problem.
WHO IS A REFUGEE?
WHAT IS THEIR CRISIS?
refugee /rɛfjʊˈdʒi/
meaning: a person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster. From: French réfugié ‘gone in search of refuge’, past participle of ( se) réfugier, from refuge (see refuge).
crisis
/ἄπειρον/ or danger.
meaning: - a time of intense difficulty
-the turning point of a disease when an important
change takes place, indicating either recovery or death.
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PRESENT
20 REFUGIUM
THE CURRENT STATE OF AFFAIRS
alien /ˈeɪlɪən/ -a foreigner, especially one who is not a naturalized citizen of the country where he or she is living. allocate /ˈaləkeɪt/ - distribute according to a plan or set apart for a purpose. asylum /əˈsʌɪləm/ -the protection granted by a state to someone who has left their home country as a political refugee.
One of the largest topics of discussion globally is without a doubt the current refugee crisis. The migration of Syrian refugees fleeing civil war and unlivable conditions within their country make up much of this spotlight. The statistics of refugees globally are much aligned with this, with Syrians making up the largest group of refugees by nationality with over 6.6 million Syrians internally and externally displaced. This though is not where the crisis stops. We are currently witnessing the largest and most rapid escalation ever in the number of people being forced from their homes globally since WWll. Iraq, Afghanistan, and Ukraine are embroiled in war, large swathes of Sub-Saharan Africa are wrought with persecution and disaster as is much of Southeast Asia. Much is made of the influx of millions of refugees to Europe, where people are caught in such a state of desperation that they are willing to take on the perilous journey to reach the EU, full knowing that there are many who never make it. The tragedy here though, although not to be diminished, is only telling of part of the story. Refugee camps worldwide are bursting at the seams and have become places of disenchantment and squalor. Hundreds of thousands of people are lost to human trafficking or abducted and sold into slavery. The refugee crisis is also something that will not ‘blow over’ with the passing of time, it is a fundamental issue that is threating to exponentially increase unless thought is given to this issue and the issues around it are highlighted in their entirety.
Globally war is often seen as the number one generating factor of refugees but as climate change catches up with the human race, so too are the number of climatic refugees ever on the rise. This trend is so much so that the number of environmental refugees by 2050 will far outweigh that of refugees of any other cause. This is not a problem that is something that can be solved overnight, but needs to be addressed with the utmost urgency or the consequences will cripple the world in its entirety. Current political policies are one of the main issues that need to be addressed in order to generate viable alternatives to what ultimately is a crisis that revolves around the utmost care in procedural planning in order to reduce the impacts of the problem. Further than reading highly charged headlines in newspapers or watching politically motivated clips on the news often depicting refugees as a problem, intensifying xenophobia among the populous, the refugee crisis needs to fundamentally studied and understood by all. Europe itself has been quick to shut its doors to refugees, forgetting how after WW2 many of its own people were taken in as refugees by many of the countries that are seeking refuge on its doorstep now. The crisis is an extremely complex issue which will be objectively unpacked and analyzed in order to derive possible potentialities to work within when it comes to solving this problem.
People displaced worldwide
Germany 47,555
Sweden 33,025
France 20,640
Total claims granted by country
Italy 20,630
Switzerland 15,575
UK 14,065
21 STATISTICAL NIGHTMARE
60
MIL ION
DISPLACED PEOPLE The current epoch - Largest Refugee Crisis to date since WWll. With over 60 million accounted for displaced people, the population of potential refugees is identical to that of the entire population of Italy - Figure below. The countries currently hosting the largest number of refugees in Europe by official granted claims barely scratches the surface of this problem.
A PROBLEM WITH INFINITE BEGINNINGS
A GLOBAL CRISIS
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The source of refugees is near impossible to determine as the cause, origin and destination of refugees are always in a constant state of flux. Numbers of refugees from different parts of the globe vary depending on the current situation or conditions which would force someone into exile in the first place. The graphic on the right is a great example of this. Here one can see a comparative diagram, exploring the number of refugees by country throughout the world. The exhaustive list is testament to the fact that the starting point of this problem is an equation without a solution. Since the establishment of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on 14 December 1950, numerous policies have been put in place and formed in order to create discourse and give structure to the complexities of these issues. The term refugee is often used in two different contexts: 1) in everyday usage it refers to a displaced person who flees their home or country of origin, 2) in a more specific context it refers to a displaced person who was given refugee status in the country of asylum. In between these two stages the person may have been an asylum seeker. The UNHCR has developed a set of basic rights to which a person who has officially been granted the status of refugee is entitled to.
1.
RIGHT OF RETURN
Even in a supposedly “post-conflict” environment, it is not a simple process for refugees to return home. The UN Pinheiro Principles are guided by the idea that people not only have the right to return home, but also the right to the same property. It seeks to return to the pre-conflict status quo and ensure that no one profits from violence. Yet this is a very complex issue and every situation is different; conflict is a highly transformative force and the pre-war status-quo can never be reestablished completely, even if that were desirable (it may have caused the conflict in the first place). Therefore, the following are of particular importance to the right to return.
2.
RIGHT TO NON-REFOULEMENT Non-refoulement is the right not to be returned to a place of persecution and is the foundation for international refugee law. The right to non-refoulement differs from the right to asylum. To respect the right to asylum, states must not deport genuine refugees. In contrast, the right to non-refoulement allows states to transfer genuine refugees to third party countries with respectable human rights records. The portable procedural model, emphasizes the right to non-refoulement by guaranteeing refugees three procedural rights (to a verbal hearing, to legal counsel, and to judicial review of detention decisions) and ensuring those rights in the constitution. This proposal attempts to strike a balance between the interest of national governments and the interests of refugees.
3.
RIGHT TO FAMILY REUNIFICATION Family reunification (which can also be a form of resettlement) is a recognized reason for immigration in many countries. Divided families have the right to be reunited if a family member with permanent right of residency applies for the reunification and can prove the people on the application were a family unit before arrival and wish to live as a family unit since separation. If the application is successful this enables the rest of the family to immigrate to that country as well.
4.
RIGHT TO TRAVEL Those states that signed the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees are obliged to issue travel documents (i.e. “Convention Travel Document”) to refugees lawfully residing in their territory. It is a valid travel document in place of a passport, however, it cannot be used to travel to the country of origin, i.e. from where the refugee fled.
5.
RESTRICTION OF ONWARD MOVEMENT Once refugees or asylum seekers have found a safe place and protection of a state or territory outside their territory of origin they are discouraged from leaving again and seeking protection in another country. If they do move onward into a second country of asylum this movement is also called “irregular movement” by the UNHCR. UNHCR support in the second country may be less than in the first country and they can even be returned to the first country.
Myanmar Vietnam Packistan Butan Sri Lanka China Bangladesh India Nepal Thailand Indonesia Cambodia
Colombia El Salvador Venezuela Haiti Mexico Turkey Palestine Armenia Iraq Iran DR Congo CAR Burundi Eritrea Sudan Western Sahara South Sudan Mali Nigeria Ivory Coast Mauritania Guinea Zimbabwe Egypt Ghana Somalia Ethiopia Senegal Rwanda Afghanistan* Syria*
* Scaled down by a factor of 10
23 STATISTICAL NIGHTMARE
Ukraine Croatia Bosnia Serbia Russia
54 PER CENT
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3.2
MILLION ASYLUM-SEEKERS By end 2015, about 3.2million people were waiting for a decision on their application for asylum.
107,100 RESETTLEMENT
In 2015 UNHCR submitted 134,000 refugees to States for resettlement. According to government statistics, States admitted 107,100 refugees for resettlement during the year, with or without UNHCR’s assisstance. The USA accepted the highest number - 66,500.
TOP HOST
More than half (54%) of all refugees worldwide come from just three countries the Syrian Arab Rebuplic (4,9 million),Afghanistan (2,7 million), and Somalia (1,1million)
201,400 REFUGEES RETURNED
During 2015, only 201,400 refugees returned to their countries of origin. Most returned to Afghanistan (61,400), Sudan (39,500), Somalia (32,300), or the Central African Republic (21,600).
51
PER CENT Children below 18 years of age constituted about half of the refugee population in 2015, up from 41 per cent in 2009 and the same as in 2014. 1. TURKEY - 2.5 MILLION 2. PAKISTAN - 1.6 MILLION 3. LEBANON - 11 MILLION 4. IRAN - 979,400 5. ETHIOPIA - 736,199 6. JORDAN - 664,100
For the second consecutive year, Turkey hosted the largest number of refugees worldwide, with 2,5 million people.
2.0
MILLION ASYLUM APPLICATIONS Asylum-seekers submitted a record high number of new applications for asylum or refugee status - estimated at 2 million. With 441,900 asylum claims, Germany was the world’s largest recipient of new individual applications followed by the USA (172,700), Sweden (156,400), and the Russian Federation (152,500).
98,400
UNACCOMPANIED OR SEPARATED CHILDREN Unaccompanied or separated children in 78 countries - mainly Afghans, Eritreans, Syrians, and Somalis - lodged some 98,400 asylum applications in 2015. This was the highest number on record since UNHCR started collecting such data in 2006.
within the Union. Countries like Italy and Greece as such have been left to deal with the problem as waves of refugees arrive on their shores.
A disparity of ideas and lack of planning, has only aided to intensify the current problems.
The astronomical rise of refugees in the past few years has been met with shortsighted planning and policy making, which has served little more than to exasperate the current problem. Following a top down approach, zero concrete solutions have filtered through these bureaucratic processes. Europe itself, the most publicized destination of the current wave of refugees has found itself at a cross roads. A United front, dealing with the problem and generating viable solutions together has been far from the actual outcomes, with many countries suddenly intensifying borders with their neighbors
12.4 MILLION
The rate at which people are forced to flee their homes is staggering, with as many as 24 people displaced per minute globally in 2015. People by and large do not want to leave their homes, families and livelihoods but are instead forced into this volatile status of becoming a refugee. Much ado is made about the migration of refugees to Europe, but one of the most important statistics that is overlooked is that 86 percent of refugees are actually hosted in developing countries. This means that countries that are more often then not, struggling to deal with existential problems within their own country are now left to deal with large influxes of people who are in desperate need for assistance and put a greater strain on the already fragile state of these places.
24
86
PER CENT
An estimated 12,4 million people were newly displaced due to conflict or persecution in 2015.This included 8,6 million individuals displaced within the borders of their own country and 1,8 million newly displaced refugees. The others were new applicants for the asylum.
Developing regions hosted 86% of the world’s refugees under UNHCR’s mandate. At 13,9 million people , this was the highest figure in more than two decades. The least developed countries provided asylum to 4.2 million refugees or about 26 per cent of the global total.
3.7
183/1000
MILLION UNHCR estimates that at least 10 million people globally were stateless at the end of 2015. However, data recorded by the governments and communicated to UNHCR were limited to 3.7 million stateless individuals in 78 countries.
PERSONS EVERY MINUTE On average 24 people worldwide were displaced from their homes every minute of every day during 2015 - some 34,000 people per day. This compares to 30 per minute in 2014 and 6 per minute in 2005.
REFUGEES/ INHABITANTS
Lebanon hosted the largest number of refugees in relation to its national population with 183 refugees per 1,000 inhabitants. Jordan (87) and Nauru (50) ranked second and third, respectively.
25 STATISTICAL NIGHTMARE
A STATISTICAL NIGHTMARE
Xenophobia has run rampant, fueled through negative publications from global and local news outlets, turning many local populations against the influx of refugees. This has been seen in the decision for England to vote for Brexit, with migration one of the most pressing concerns for the UK.
7th
26 REFUGIUM
UK’s rank in EU in terms of total number of asylum applications
25,771
Asylum application in Europe - 2010 to 2014 Top ten countries by number of asylum - seekers GERMANY FRANCE SWEDEN ITALY UK SWITZERLAND BELGIUM AUSTRIA NETHERLANDS HUNGARY 0
100k
200k
300k
400k
500k
Asylum application in Europe - 2010 to 2014 Number of asylum seekers per 1000 inhabitants SWEDEN MALTA LUXEMBOURG
Asylum application in UK up until June 2015.
SWITZERLAND MONTENEGRO NORWAY AUSTRIA
41%
Positive decisions on asylum applications in UK for year ending June 2015.
84,132 Asylum application in UK at its peak, in 2002.
CYPRUS GERMANY UK 0
5
10
15
20
Asylum beneficiaries within the EU. Origin of nationalities seeking protection Afghanistan Eritrea
Other
Russia Pakistan Somalia
Syria
Stateless Iran Iraq
-Afghanistan 8% -Eritrea 8% -Syria 37% -Iraq 5% -Iran 4% -Stateless 4% -Somalia 3% -Pakistan 3% -Russia 2% Other 26%
25
Official resettlement and other admission programmes for Syrian refugees
800k
10
8
7 6 5
2
4
3
Asylum applications in Germany in July as 93 percent increase over July 2014.
1 Canada - 11,300 2 USA - 16,286 3 Brazil - 7,380 4 Spain - 130 5 Italy - 350 6 Austria - 1500 7 Germany - 35000 8 Switzerland - 3500 9 Belgium - 475 10 UK - 187 11 Ireland - 610 12 Norway - 9000 13 Sweden - 2700 14 FInland - 1150
Syrian refugees hosted in the Middle East LEBANON
IRAQ
65%
Increase in EU applications over previous 12 months
9
11
37,531 Total number of asylum applications to EU for year ending in June 2015
13
1
Asylum-seekers and refugees expected to arrive in Germany this year
755k
14
12
JORDAN
TURKEY
EGYPT 0
500000
1000000
1500000
2000000
27 STATISTICAL NIGHTMARE
In contrast Germany has publicly welcomed the influx of refugees, working to help relieve the pressure of the unrelenting flow towards Europe, promising to welcome up to 1 million refugees into their country.
PEOPLE IN MOTION A global look at the flows of migrants. The long journeys undertaken by these migrants lead to temporary camps along their routes, often preceding what becomes a semipermanent refugee settlement.
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CAUSE AND EFFECT: The longevity of conflict allows it to be visually mapped and analyzed with regards to its affects on migration and the formation of refugee camps. - Conflict Zones
- Refugee Camps
- Economic Migrants
- Refugees
29 STATISTICAL NIGHTMARE
FORCED TO FLEE, BUT WHERE TO GO?
In today’s world there are worrying misconceptions about refugee movements. As seen through the statistical analysis over 80 percent of displaced people globally are hosted within developing countries. The current fear portrayed by the media regarding the ‘floods’ of refugees towards industrialized countries in Europe are superficially inflated when looked at in contrast to the number of people internally displaced within war torn countries, or the number of displaced people seeking asylum within developing countries. It is these poorer countries that have been left to deal with an issue that they are far from capable of coping with. This is seen in stark contrast when comparing Pakistan, who host one of the worlds largest refugee populations compared to that of Germany, the industrialized country with the largest refugee population. Pakistan has an economic impact with 710 refugees for each US dollar of its per capita GDP due to this influx while Germany sees an impact only of 17 refugees for each dollar of per capita GDP.
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“The world is failing these people, leaving them to wait out the instability back home and put their lives on hold indefinitely.”
António Guterres, 2011
This sentiment can be seen in the two maps on the right. A strong trend is quickly evident where there is an immediate correlation between the patterns shown between ‘Countries of Asylum’ and the ‘Countries of Departure’. Although Europe or North America can be seen as evident countries of asylum, the weighted volume of asylum countries are, as seen more often than not, those surrounding the country of departure itself. The movement through the country of departure to one of asylum is on of the most difficult in terms of mobility of a refugee. This has lead to the large volume of internally displaced people within who often find themselves still trapped within the confines of the very crisis that they are trying to escape. asylum seeker -a person who has left their home country as a political refugee and is seeking asylum in another. border /ˈbɔːdə/ -a line separating two countries, administrative divisions, or other areas. chaos /ˈkeɪɒs/ -complete disorder and confusion. convention refugee -a person who meets the refugee definition in the 1951 Geneva Convention relating to the Status of Refugees.
There is now a global imperative to create an equitable solution to the problem of mobility and hosting refugees. If left as is, forcibly displaced people will face further hardship and marginalization without support. A global system of parity is required so they can work, send their children to school, and have access to basic services. The situation as is can only perpetuate and fester as tensions rise between indigenous populations of developing countries and refugees all competing for and relying on the same limited services on offer.
- Country of Departure
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- Country of Asylum
EXPORTING FEFUGEES
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# OF TIMES IN TOP 20
36 32 7 15 2 15 30 8 8 11 13 9 13 31 3 9 2 25 15 3 4 36 3 12 17 4 2 14 24 8 4 12 10 16 22 15 12 28 4 3 16 33 4 1 11 8 2 35 36 30 5
RANK 2-5
RANK 6-10
RANK 11-20
19 8 19 0 8 19 1 8 19 2 83 19 84 19 85 19 86 19 8 19 7 8 19 8 89 19 90 19 91 19 92 19 93 19 9 19 4 95 19 9 19 6 9 19 7 98 19 9 20 9 00 20 0 20 1 0 20 2 0 20 3 0 20 4 0 20 5 0 20 6 07 20 08 20 09 20 1 20 0 11 20 12 20 1 20 3 14 20 15
RANK 1
AFGHANISTAN ANGOLA ARMENIA AZERBAIJAN BHUTAN BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA BURUNDI CAMBODIA CENTRAL AFRICAN REP. CHAD CHINA COLOMBIA CROATIA DEM. REP. OF CONGO EAST TIMOR EL SALVADOR EQUATORIAL GUINEA ERITREA ETHIOPIA GUATEMALA IRAN IRAQ IVORY COAST LAOS LIBERIA MALI MAURITANIA MOZAMBIQUE MYANMAR NAMIBIA NICARAGUA PAKISTAN PHILIPPINES RUSSIA RWANDA SERBIA SIERRA LEONE SOMALIA SOUTH AFRICA SOUTH SUDAN SRI LANKA SUDAN SYRIA TOGO TURKEY UGANDA UKRAINE UNKNOWN ORIGIN VIETNAM WESTERN SAHARA YEMEN
15 20 4 1 20 3 1 20 2 1 20 1 1 20 10 20 09 20 8 0 20 7 0 20 6 0 20 5 0 20 04 20 3 0 20 2 0 20 1 0 20 00 20 9 9 19 8 9 19 7 9 19 6 9 19 5 9 19 4 9 19 3 9 19 2 9 19 1 9 19 0 9 19 9 8 19 8 8 19 7 8 19 6 8 19 5 8 19 4 8 19 83 19 2 8 19 1 8 19 80 19
IMPORT/EXPORT
Syria was the top origin country in 2015 with 4.5 milions refugees. Refugees from South Sudan increased An additional 7.6 milion Syrians- or more than fivefold- from 114.500 in 40 percent of the populationare as sub-Saharan Africa’s largest host country. Most new The movement of refugees between countries is likened 2013 to 616.200 in 2014-due to the internally displaced outbreak of civil war. arrivals are from neighboring countries such as South to that of imports and exports of goods. The staggering
numbers of people moving between countries is in a constant state of flux, with countries who formerly were a major source of refugees finding their roles inverted. This can be seen in examples such as Ethiopia, once a major source of refugees, who now find themselves
Sudan and Eritrea. In 2015 Turkey topped the host rankings for the first time in 3 decades, where as previously the position had been perennially held by either Iran or Pakistan
IMPORTING FEFUGEES RANK 2-5
RANK 6-10
RANK 11-20
15 20 4 1 20 3 1 20 2 1 20 1 1 20 0 1 20 09 20 8 0 20 7 0 20 6 0 20 5 0 2004 20 3 0 20 02 20 1 0 20 00 20 9 9 19 8 9 19 7 9 19 6 9 19 95 19 4 9 19 93 19 2 9 19 1 9 19 0 9 19 9 8 19 8 8 19 7 8 19 6 8 19 5 8 19 4 8 19 83 19 2 8 19 1 8 19 0 8 19 CONGO COSTA RICA CROATIA DEM. REP. OF CONGO EQUADOR EGYPT ETHIOPIA FRANCE GERMANY GUATEMALA GUINEA HONDURAS INDIA INDONESIA IRAN IRAQ IVORY COAST JORDAN KENYA LEBANON MALAWI MALAYSIA MEXICO NEPAL NETHERLANDS NIGERIA PAKISTAN RUSSIA RWANDA SAUDI ARABIA SERBIA SOMALIA SOUTH SUDAN SUDAN SWEDEN SYRIA TANZANIA THAILAND
19 8 19 0 8 19 1 8 19 2 83 19 84 19 85 19 86 19 8 19 7 8 19 8 89 19 90 19 91 19 92 19 9 19 3 9 19 4 95 19 9 19 6 9 19 7 9 19 8 9 20 9 00 20 0 20 1 0 20 2 0 20 3 0 20 4 0 20 5 0 20 6 07 20 08 20 09 20 1 20 0 11 20 12 20 1 20 3 14 20 15
TURKEY UGANDA UNITED KINGDOM UNITED STATES VENEZUELA YEMEN ZAMBIA ZIMBABWE
Ethiopia, once a major source of refugees as citizens fled its 1974-1991 civil war, is now sud-Saharian Africa’s largest host country. Most new arrivals are from South Sudan and Eritrea.
# OF TIMES IN TOP 20
1 20 1 14 4 7 7 15 4 15 13 36 1 3 3 32 1 2 25 24 35 5 14 3 24 1 36 4 8 10 24 3 7 6 12 2 4 1 36 4 1 12 13 11 4 34 11 7 29 9 4 30 18 36 7 8 13 4
AFGHANISTAN ALGERIA ANGOLA ARMENIA AUSTRALIA AZERBAIJAN BANGLADESH BURUNDI CAMEROON CANADA CHAD CHINA
Turkey topped the host rankings in 2015 more than 1.8 milion Syrian refugees within its borders. For three decades prior, either Iran or Pakistan had held the peak spot.
33 STATISTICAL NIGHTMARE
RANK 1
ITS A GLOBAL REFUGEE CRISIS THE MAJOR EFFECTED REGIONS “A crisis is never really a crisis until it is your own.”
34 REFUGIUM
BALKANS The Balkans have become a passageway. Countries such as Serbia and Macedonia have become inundated with refugees, with 7000 and 400000 people moving through these two areas in less than two months respectively. [United Nations] The origin of the refugees are many, stemming from areas such as Afghanistan, Syria and Kosovo. The Balkans have become a major stopping point for refugees trying to enter Western Europe. The high influx of migrants though has caused a bottle neck effect in the region. With many European countries closing their borders such as Hungary and Austria, the flood of refugees is abruptly halted, and what was once seen as a passageway has now developed into a series of ‘temporary’ refugee camps in both border towns and capital cities such as Belgrade.
MIDDLE EAST When a refugee crisis erupts it is almost always that the neighboring countries of the region bear the brunt of the initial ingress. This can be enormously taxing. Especially onto countries which may not be in much better condition themselves, or lack the capacity to deal with such a large influx of troubled persons. This couldn’t ring truer for the Middle East, where years of war and fighting from countries such as Iraq and now Syria have taken a toll on neighboring countries. Jordan’s unemployment rates have doubled while refugees now make up over 20 percent of Lebanon’s current population. This has had a knock on effect, with countries such as Turkey entirely shutting its border with Syria. This often has disastrous effects for migrants seeking refuge, turning them back
SOUTH EAST ASIA Much is made of the terrible crossing of the Mediterranean sea, but the little publicized escape of the Rohingya people from Bangladesh and Myanmar to places like Malaysia and Indonesia are just as tragic. After being denied basic human rights, the Rohingya people have been forced to flee, but many of them have been stuck at sea for large periods of time as host countries have barred or turned back smugglers boats.
The largest of the current crisis and the most widely publicized is that of the crossings of Mediterranean to reach Europe. War raging all across North Africa, and the proximity of the ‘promised land’ of Europe, where Italy and Greece have become the landing points, are the only hope and salvation for many refugees. The huge influx of over 150000 people trying to gain access to Europe this way has had devastation repercussions with over 2000 people dying at sea. Poverty in countries neighboring problem states make them unfit destinations for migrants, while other perils are rife within this journey as human trafficking has become a multi million dollar industry.
EASTERN EUROPE Ravaged by civil war, Ukraine has become a hotbed of conflict recently. Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians have been forced to flee conflict. Europe is statistically the favored choice for refugees, but many states such as Italy, Poland and Germany have declined asylum applications as they are already inundated with other refugees from around the world. Thus Russia has been forced to take on the refugees from this crisis. This catastrophe has had huge economic repercussions on the region and not nearly enough funds have been raised from the United Nations in order to help to address the refugee crisis financially.
35 STATISTICAL NIGHTMARE
MEDITERRANEAN SEA -
TELLING BOTH SIDES OF THE STORY How crisis becomes a tool for media manipulation
It can be seen without a doubt the the media today influences our opinions. Technological advancements continue to enhance and evolve media outlets, and these constant changes and availability of new media platforms means that the speed at which news travels around the world is unprecedented. The majority of populations who have access to any type of news and information can easily be swayed by attention grabbing headlines. As a result of this, people tend to be easily influenced by these representations. Therefore, the media can greatly influence our opinions with an acute immediacy and it plays an ever-increasing role in shaping governmental policymaking.
36 REFUGIUM
An example of this is how the current refugee crisis has triggered many debates surrounding the reactions of governmental agencies from various countries and what they can do in order to help the masses of people desperately seeking safety. This crisis is a perfect example of how easily public opinions can be shaped and influenced by the media. Society today only knows what they are told through the various media sources, and if something is not represented as important in the media then it is soon forgotten about. In this case one can see instances where some newspaper headlines rapidly change from one extreme to another, first headlines demanding to “send in the army” and then to “welcome with open arms”. Even subtle differences in phrasing of “migrant” and “refugee” are constantly used interchangeably, despite having completely different definitions. This does not stop the public hanging on every word that the media provided them with, we only know what is communicated to us through the media. This just goes to show how much of a powerful weapon the media and how it chooses to portray topics really is. This can be seen in an example such as the shocking image of the washed up body of three-year old Aylan Kurdi, which led many people to express great disgust at the perceived lack of effort of some governments, regardless of whether they actually are assisting refugees or not. Even though this image has been widely circulated around the globe and has caused much public outcry, many people accused the newspaper of deliberately distorting facts in order to ‘morally blackmail the public’. Either way, it still shows the influence the media has over the information we know.
crisis /ˈkrʌɪsɪs/ -a time of intense difficulty or danger. deterioration /dɪˌtɪərɪəˈreɪʃn/ -the process of becoming progressively worse. displace /dɪsˈpleɪs/ -force (someone) to leave their home, typically because of war, persecution, or natural disaster.
The media has both positive and negative influences. It can help make a person more aware of what is happening on a local, national and global level, or it can warp one’s perspective of the truth. We only know the information that is given to us, and depending on how that information is portrayed society will form certain ideas. The media has the ability to control the topics we discuss in daily life, and once something is out of sight - within the media - it is out of mind and we move on to the next topic implanted into our information resources.
‘I don’t think there is an answer that can be achieved simply b y taking more and more r efugees. This is a disgrace. That we are letting people die and seeing dead bodies on the beaches, when together, Europe is such a wealthy place. We should be able to fashion a response.
We simply must find a durable resettlement solution. A failure to do so will result in tremendous harm being done to this group of men, women and children.
Hungary is under enormous pressure, whether or not the EU will succeed in pushing a new EU asylum and migrant system down the throats of the central European countries, including ours. The EU wants us all to remain puppets.
I
will build a great wall -- and nobody builds walls better t han me, believe me --and I'll build them very inexpensively. I will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and I will make Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words.
It is vital that Europe welcomes asylum seekers with dignity. We will however though send back to their countries those who do not need help. Refugees are victims of the same terrorist system.
The EU owe me $3bn!!!
If the EU does not grant visa liberalization for Turkish citizens, Ankara will no longer respect the March agreement on migrants. The EU governments are not honest. Turkey still hosts three million people.
If Europe fails on the question of refugees, then it won’t be the Europe we wished for, Europe as a whole needs to move. Germany is a strong country, the motivation with which we should approach these things has to be: We have handled so much. We can handle it!
Solving the humanitarian prob-l ems in Syria necessitates not only emergency aid, but also needs to eliminate their root cause. China has paid close attention to the refugee issue in Europe and the Mediterranean and sympathizes with the refugees.The Chinese government will further provide assistance to refugees in relevant
37 STATISTICAL NIGHTMARE
Talking a thin line
Walking a thin line
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PAST/ PRESENT/ FUTURE Statistically we have already shown that we are in one of the worst moments in human history with regards to a global humanitarian crisis. There are 60 million displaced people in the world, another stateless child is born every 10 minutes, and three million people have no access to water, food, housing, work, education, and are caught in legal limbo. ...This is nothing new though...
39 STATISTICAL NIGHTMARE
We have been here before. A spectacular global opera of deja vu has gripped up as all, yet as designers we are often some of the most guilty in failing to recognize this. Failing to learn from events of such magnitude from the past, has lead us to little more than beautifying on the surface what is a more fundamental problem. The rise of the “Designer Refugee Camp” is a superfluous gimmick providing ‘temporary shelter’ to a problem that is far more permanent. Austerity runs rife, as governments push for barren, frugal attempts at refugee camps to deter future asylum seekers. This all goes on while global spending runs rampant on global positioning systems to monitor refugee movement or creating weapons to bomb the very countries afresh from where the refugees originate.
We have ultimately failed at papering over the cracks of this crisis, and looking at what the future holds, the walls are about to come tumbling down.
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PAST
HISTORY OF AN EVER EXISTING PROBLEM
As the single largest migration of refugees to Europe since WWII, the scale of the current crisis is without question. There have been many other events historically leading up to this which have not garnered the same exposure. The precedent set of such historic moments is invaluable in terms of understanding and finding a viable solution to dealing with our current problems. The following is a brief summary of these major events.
The 1950s and 60’s were dominated with events culminating in Asia and Africa. The partition of India and Pakistan in 1947 was the first of these events, resulting in 14 million people displaced from the Indian subcontinent. Africa was the melting pot of multiple wars of independence that were prevalent within central Africa during this time. Countries such as the Congo, Nigeria, Angola and Algeria were some of the hardest hit. The Algerian war of Independence was responsible for at least 1.2 million people displaced, where as the Biafran war in Nigeria displaced 2 million people. Xenophobia uprooted many ethnic communities even long after the wars had passed through these regions.
1940 to 1960 Post-World War II With 9 major events occurring during this period, 81.6 million were displaced.
1960 to 2000 Post-World War II With 32 major events occurring during this period, 46.5 million were displaced.
Looking at the adjacent graph it is quick to see that WWII was responsible for the largest displacement of people in recent history. Ethnic Germans were expelled from the Soviet Union, while millions of others fled to escape the brutal rule of Joseph Stalin. Millions more were greatly affected by the events of the Holocaust. The UNHCR was established by Allied forces after the war, in 1950, in order to provide aid for the current and all future refugees and people fleeing conflict.
The single largest event during this period was undoubtedly the Bangladesh war of Independence. 10 million Bengalis, mostly of Hindu faith, had to escape the violence of mass killings, rape, looting and arson. This led to the vast migration of refugees from East Bengal to India. Concurrently to this, the Vietnam war was to be another major catalyst for refugee migration with over 2.7 million Vietnamese fighters migrating from the South to the North of Vietnam between 1965 and 1972.
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1940 - 2000
Ten largest refugee crisis events throughout history.
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0 Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan WWII Rhodesian Rebellion Partition of Pakistan and India Invasion of Ethiopia Establishment of Jewish State Invasion of Eritrea Post WWII (Russia/Ukraine/Belarus) Cambodian Civil War Post WWII (Germany/USSR/Poland) Iran-Iraq War Post WWII (European Nations)
Chinese Cultural Revolution Nagorno - Karabakh North Vietnam Formation of Communism Iraqi Suppression of Rebels Hungarian Uprising Ethnic Cleansing Croatia Algerian War of Independence Chechnya declares Independence Hutu coup d’etat Civil war in Mozambique Arab Israeli War Burmese Expulsion Biafran War Civil War in Tajikistan Bangladesh War of Independence Secessionist fighting in Georgia Vietnam War Rwandan Genocide Uganda Expulsion Order Russian Suppression of Chechnya Laotian Civil war Fall of Yugoslavia Burmese Expulsion Vietnam War NATO Air-strikes in Serbia
43 STATISTICAL NIGHTMARE
Civil Wars in Central America
44 REFUGIUM
The Cold War and its resulting proxy wars were the largest talking point of this era, but by no means the only determinate cause of refugees. Millions of people were displaced in the middle east from countries such as Afghanistan. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 caused 6.3million refugees alone, many of them migrating to neighboring Iran and Pakistan. North Africa was effected through Soviet Invasion as well and consequently the Ogaden war broke out, displacing over 1 million people. The Cold War also had a knock on effect in many Eastern European countries. As the power of the former Soviet Union started to wane, ethnic and nationalist communities within the former Eastern Bloc began to catalyze. The mass movement of people started, with migration between Armenia and Azerbaijan as well as within Georgia and Tajikistan.
“Berlin is the testicles of the West, every time I want the West to scream, I squeeze on Berlin.” Nikita Khrushchev, 1962
displaced. 1940 TO 2000 ENVIRONMENTAL REFUGEES Looking at the 8 major events occurring during this period, 81.6 million were effected. The Earth’s climate is changing at a rate that has exceeded most scientific forecasts. Some families and communities have already started to suffer from disasters and the consequences of climate change, forced to leave their homes in search of a new beginning. Natural disasters are often difficult to predict and even when predicted there is very little one can do to escape the devastation which they can bring. Environmental refugees draw a different kind of problem, as unlike wars, the duration of the event is often very brief but the impact of the disaster itself can be felt for generations to come. The Yangtze River Flood in China is an ideal example of this. The flood itself came after 3 years of exhaustive famine in the area, after which a month of torrential rain killed 4 million people furthermore effecting 51 million people by destroying the rice crops and creating famine and disease which ultimately killed even larger numbers of the population.
Central America, specifically the areas of Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala were rife with Civil War between 1981 and 1989, seeing more than 2 million people being displaced to countries such as Belize, Costa Rica and Mexico. The early 1990s were an extremely turbulent period globally in terms of refugees. Europe was awash with conflict in the early 90’s. The fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the Croatian War of Independence and the Civil War in Tajikistan created 2 million refugees alone. Simultaneously Asia was a hotbed of confrontation within the 90’s. The Iraqi oppression of rebel movement displaced 1.82 million people while the events of the expulsion of people from Burma along with the end of the Vietnam war created another million refugees. Africa underwent the largest of its refugee crisis at this time. The 16 year civil war in Mozambique creating 5.7 million refugees while in 1994 one of the darkest stains in African history, the Rwandan genocide displaced 3.5 million people. One of the final events of the 1990’s was that of the Kosovo war, where after the NATO bombing, over 1 million people, both Serbian and Albanian were
Betti Malek—pictured on May 17, 1945—was one of numerous child refugees brought from Belgium to England after the Germans seized Antwerp in 1940.
40000000
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800000
700000
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200000
100000
0 Indian Ocean Tsunami (2004) Yellow River Flood (1938) Bhola Cyclone (1970) Haiti Earthquake (2010) Typhoon Nina (1975) Tangshan Earthquake (1976) Haiyuan Earthquake (1920)
Great Kanto Earthquake
REPETITION: Certain nations have had more misfortune than others. Below we examine how these refugee disasters both man made and natural occur with varying frequency on continental and national levels.
6
- CHINA
3
- RUSSIA
45 STATISTICAL NIGHTMARE
China Floods
- VIETNAM
2
- IRAQ - RWANDA - BANGLADESH - BURMA
Asia
Asia
Europe Europe
Africa
Africa
South America
South Americ
46 REFUGIUM
FUTURE
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48 REFUGIUM
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THE FUTURE IS NOT SO BRIGHT: The Refugee crisis is not something that is inherently new to us as a problem, as it has plagued humanity within different epochs of history. The future of the issue is something that is not self healing either. In fact the future looks extremely bleak, as the number of refugees, mostly predicted as environmental refugees, is expected to skyrocket 10 fold within the next 50 years. If serious thought is not put into the solution of this problem and strategies are not put into place on a global level, then the future of humanity certainly is in jeopardy. Policies of borders need to challenged, along with the way we handle refugees, as well as city and place making within our current urban fabric.
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49 STATISTICAL NIGHTMARE
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63
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n
FUTURE OF AN EVER EVOLVING PROBLEM
2050 - 3050
50 REFUGIUM
As a global society we have already been shown to be far out of our depth with dealing with the current refugee crisis. The current population of refugees though pales in comparison to what is predicted for the future of this dilemma. 60 million globally displaced people are expected to swell to as many as 250 million by 2050 based on the exponential rate at which these numbers have progressed over the past few years, compounded by the ever present problems provided by global warming, contributing to the production of environmental refugees. Taking a hypothetical look at the future, based on data that supports the plausibility of such events, a hypothetical summary of some of the major crisis which could come into play is provided. 2050 NUCLEAR TERRORISM WASHINGTON Radical Islam and its resentment of the West continue to produce new Jihadists. In addition, underground groups ranging from those angry at the first world’s neglect, to anarcho-primitivists, have sprung up. By 2050, at least one terrorist nuclear attack on a major world city has been conducted by one of these groups. Large amounts of nuclear material had been missing from Russia since the 1990s and some inevitably fell into the wrong hands. Being orders of magnitude greater than 9/11, the effects of this attack leave a deep psychological scar on many people alive today. 2050 -2060 FISHING CRISIS GLOBAL By far the greatest impact from global warming has been in the seas and oceans, where changes in heat content, oxygen levels and other biogeochemical properties have devastated marine ecosystems. Globally, the average body size of fish has declined by up to 24 per cent compared with 2000. About half of this shrinkage has come from changes in distribution and abundance,
the remainder from changes in physiology. The tropics have been the worst affected regions. The plentifulness of global fish stock are a thing of the past with many species already extinct and many others now protected. The 17% of the global population that relied on fish as their primary source of sustanance have been greatly effected. 2056 HURRICANE KATE MEDITERRANEAN In Europe, food riots have continued to spread. Temperatures that were previously found only in North Africa and the Middle East have become the norm in central and southern parts of the continent. Britain now has a Mediterranean climate and is engaged in a food-sharing process with its neighbour Ireland. Rising sea levels, erosion and storm surges are wreaking havoc on the coastline. The first hurricane to hit the mediterranean region as a result of this climate change devastates coastal villages creating nearly 1 million European refugees. 2060 -2100 WATER WARS NORTH AFRICA Rapid population growth and industrial expansion is having a major impact on food, water and energy supplies. During the early 2000s, there were six billion people on Earth. By 2030, there are an additional two billion, most of them from poor countries. Humanity’s footprint is such that it now requires the equivalent of two whole Earths to sustain itself in the long term. Farmland, fresh water and natural resources are becoming scarcer by the day. However, this exponential progress was dwarfed by the sheer volume of water required by an ever-expanding global economy, which now included the burgeoning middle classes of China and India. The world was adding an extra 80 million people each year – equivalent to the entire population of Germany. By 2017, Yemen was in a state of emergency, with its capital almost entirely depleted of groundwater. Significant regional instability began to affect the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia, as water resources became weapons of war.
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0 Nuclear Terrorism (Washington) Fishing Crisis Hurricane Kate (Mediterranean)
Rising Sea Level (Global)
War on Water (North Africa)
Tibetan Uprising Fukoshima Tsunami
Holland Deluge
DELUGE: Rising sea levels as a result of the polar ice caps melting due to global warming is an ever present threat. A large portion of the world coastal cities would be lost to such a cataclysmic event, displacing unforeseen amounts of people. Environmental refugees will be by and large one of the greatest disasters of the future humankind.
51 STATISTICAL NIGHTMARE
Persectution of Whites (South Africa)
Amid this turmoil, even greater advances were being made in desalination. It was acknowledged that present trends in capacity – though impressive compared to earlier decades – were insufficient to satisfy global demand and therefore a major, fundamental breakthrough would be needed on a large scale. 2063 TIBETAN UPRISING TIBET In light of the unfolding crisis in Europe, this constitutes a significant shift in power and resources, which inevitably results in friction with the other superpowers. One side effect of this, however, is the increasing flow of immigrants and refugees attracted by Russia’s new-found abundance and wealth. Many are fleeing resource conflicts throughout Eurasia. Due to its sheer size, it is virtually impossible for Russia to fully close its borders. This is a particular issue with those fleeing the drought-stricken Tibetan Plateau of Western China, who after a failed uprising against China itself has been left decimated in terms of infrastructure and public services.
NEW STRATEGIES ARE NEEDED GLOBALLY In light of some of the catastrophes that mankind will undoubtedly face going forward, it is a lack of preparation and collaboration into how we deal with such events that leads to such devastating consequences, which often go on for many years after the catalytic event has already past. This strange thinking can be found in mans readiness for an event that potentially could not happen, with an extensive evacuation plan in place for the slopes and hill towns of Mount Vesuvius by the Italian government, which has full contingency plans in place already for such an event. This compared to the monsoons in South East Asia, which generate refugees on an annual basis in the region, yet the maximum level of planning that is done to help support this polemic is to open public buildings such as schools as makeshift shelters. It is within these contrasting approaches a major flaw can be seen. The crisis of refugees has not been approached from a planning perspective, further than laws and legislature that often exasperate the situation rather than help to mitigate the problem.
The people of Bangladesh are no strangers to drastically changing climates. This annual deteriorating condition has become a quasi way of life for many of the countries rural populations.
TSUNAMI
STORMS
DROUGHT
FAMINE
TOXIC
EARTHQUAKES
REFUGEES
CATALYST: Global potentiality for disaster is constantly rising. Analysis of impending and current environmental threats highlights the areas most likely to have future refugee crisis.
53 STATISTICAL NIGHTMARE
VOLCANO
54 REFUGIUM
55 REFUGIUM
02
DANGEROUS JOURNEY This section is dedicated to the analysis of data, experiences and interviews of refugees during their Journey. The aim is better understanding the problematics of the journey itself, isolated from both starting and end point.
THIS IS ALL MONEY I’VE GOT. WHAT IS THE PLAN? I HAVE TO LEAVE OR I WILL DIE.
WE ARE LEAVING TOMORROW. DON’T ASK QUESTIONS.
THIS IS ULI. HE IS TRAPPED IN HIS WAR TORN HOME COUNTRY.
THE SMUGGLERS PUT ULRICH IN THE TRUCK WITH OTHER REFUGEES AND DROVE OFF.
56 REFUGIUM
THE PEOPLE WERE TRAPPED WITH NO POSSIBILITY TO LEAVE.
WHY DID THEY HAVE TO TIE OUR HANDS? SOMETHING IS TERRIBLY WRONG HERE!
THOSE WHO DID NOT PAY WILL DIE. THERE IS NO SPACE ON THE BOAT.
THE SMUGGLERS TOOK THE HOSTAGES TO A LONELY HOUSE WHERE THEY ASKED FOR MORE MONEY AND CALLED THE FAMILIES FOR RANSOM.
WE ARE GOING TO SINK!
HELP!
I FELL OFF! HELP! PLEASE HOLD ME! PLEASE!!!
THE BOAT SUNK. PEOPLE GOT SEPARATED IN THE WATER. SOME ARE ALREADY DROWNED. MEN ARE TRYING TO SAVE WOMEN AND CHILDREN.
THE POLICE CAME TO SAVE REFUGEES FROM WATER. ULI SURVIVED, BUT MANY OTHERS DID NOT. I WISH I DIED IN WAR. WHAT FUTURE CAN I EXPECT?
SURVIVORS WERE TAKEN TO THE REFUGEE CAMP...
I LIVE LIKE A CRIMINAL IN PRISON BEHIND THE FENCE ...
Refugee crises have very complex roots. The triggers for massive dislocation vary from natural disasters to those caused directly by men, either on a regional or national level, or as a part of greater geopolitical interest. The causes of why people become refugees, are out of a scope of an architect, considering previously mentioned complexity. Wars, persecutions, oppression and foreign interventions for a start, which force people to leave their homes, should be dealt with according to the international law and are puzzles of a broader picture where architects do not have influence. Unpredictable natural disasters such as tsunamis, volcanic eruptions or earthquakes, cannot be prevented by architects either. On the other side of the refugee dislocation ‘‘equation’’ there is, however, destination, wrapped with its own policies, cultural and ethnic complexities. The influx of foreign citizens could be greeted with discrimination, hostility and neglect. In some cases, the host government and citizens would be welcoming and helpful during the integration of refugees, but this is not guaranteed 2015 witnessed both of these cases around the world;
Hungary, for example built a fence on their border with Serbia, preventing the refugees from entering their territory. Australian navy was reported by Amnesty International for ‘‘illegally forcing refugees to return to countries where they would be in danger”, shooting at the boats. Meanwhile, Lebanon and Jordan hosted most of the refugees from surrounding countries, and refugees located there have found understanding from the local citizens. However, the public and government in countries hit by influx of refugees are divided and confronted in attitudes. Germany so far has accepted 800 000 refugees and asylum seekers, and while having a clear program for their integration, the nation is not united in the approach of refugees treatment. The reasons for accepting foreign refugees could be pure ethical or practical, such as ‘‘replacing the aging population’’ according to David Cameron, ex Prime Minister of United Kingdom (from the interview with Andrew Marr, September 2015). The treatment of Destination therefore is as complex as the starting point, including cultural or religious similarities, government orientation (left or right), historical relationships, etc. This is absolutely out of a scope of architects and designers. The missing link between starting point and destination is Journey, which we believe, is where people are faced with the most difficult and testing situations of their lives. Violation of human rights and administrative regulations are just some of the obstacles refugees face during their Journey from destroyed countries. Journey is however left to be dealt with by refugees alone.
57 DANGEROUS JOURNEY
WHY IS THE JOURNEY IN THE CENTER OF ATTENTION?
The Journey for most of us, is an act of traveling from one place to another. But for a refugee, it represents a struggle, uncertainty, overcoming numerous obstacles to reach safe ground.
The Journey for most of us is an act of traveling from one place to another. But for a refugee, it represents a struggle, uncertainty, overcoming numerouus obstacles to reach the safe ground. Every year, thousands of people die crossing international borders— perishing in oceans, rivers, and deserts, and at the hands of soldiers, border security personnel, and unauthorized vigilante groups. According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) some 60,000 migrants have died in transit since 2000. Experts warn that this could be a third of the true death toll. If properly accounted for, migrant deaths might easily rival terrorism deaths—the Institute for Economics and Peace’s Global Terrorism index reported that some 107,000 people have died in terror attacks in roughly the same time period.
58 REFUGIUM
Unlike terror victims, who often die in cities, and whose deaths are widely covered in local and national media, migrants often die in remote places, without documentation or witnesses who are willing or able to come forth, and their bodies are often undiscovered or too decomposed to identify. Countless bodies are never found, countless missing persons are never reported; fatal journeys lost from all record. For example, in May 2015, mass graves of unidentified migrants were found in smuggler camps in Thailand and Malaysia. On April 21 2015, the IOM reported that the known death toll in the Mediterranean was 30 times the previous year’s total by the same date. Yet, unlike counter-terrorism efforts, the response to the crisis of migrant deaths and efforts to make the journey safer has not enjoyed a commensurate degree of international coordination and cooperation.
It is estimated that 5400 people died during 2015, 200 more than in 2014. The number of deaths in first months of 2016 has not declined and has reached 4715 victims by the beginning of December when this book was published. Most of those who survive the journey have dealt with the issues that can cause death or leave lifelong physical and mental consequences.
economic migrant -a person who moves countries in order to take up a job or seek a better economic future. flee /fliː/ -run away from a place or situation of danger. foreign national -a person who is neither a citizen nor a permanent resident.
Caught in limbo between the terror on one side and hope on the other, refugees suffer serious violation of their human rights. With no legal protection and obstacles they meet on the way, people are forced to find their own means to overcome them. The vulnerability of such migration is that it creates an opportunity for other parties to exploit them along the way. This includes smugglers, armed groups, officials and ‘ordinary’ citizens. More than half of refugees are extorted in some way. There are countless testimonials about sexual assault of women and children, violence, human trafficking and abduction. The Journey of refugees is a humanitarian crisis; threatening in terms of health, safety or well being of this group of people. In many cases
Weather change could be fatal for the refugees ‘‘on route’’: Tens of thousands, including the very young and the very old, find themselves trapped in the open as the skies darken and the first night frosts take hold. Hypothermia, pneumonia and opportunistic diseases are the main threats, along with the growing desperation of refugees trying to save the lives of their families. Life in movement is difficult facing all these obstacles and life threatening situations. Among those, there are the legal obstacles consisting of borders and policies imposed by the states that are on the refugee routes. One such regulation, in force in European Union, is the Dublin Regulation. This states that an asylum seeker has to apply for asylum in the first EU country he or she entered and the EU Member State is responsible to examine the application of the person seeking international protection. According to European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE) and UNHCR the current system fails in
providing fair, efficient and effective protection. Around 2008, those refugees transferred under Dublin were not always able to access an asylum procedure. This put people at risk of being returned to persecution. On the other hand, these first member states upon arrival become overburdened by the number of refugees which they do not have capacities to handle. The aforementioned obstacles are just a small piece of the puzzle, Dangerous Journey, people are willing to take. Some routes are determined by the combination of these factors, and their different intensities. To analyze them properly, the factors defining the journey are divided into the following categories: I Natural obstacles. Such as deserts, water bodies and mountains. These vast uncontrolled areas, not suitable for human stay are often a deadly and vulnerable phase of a refugees journey. II Man-made obstacles. This category includes all acts in physical or administrative form executed by humans, in both legal and illegal manner: borders, walls, inefficient policies, third party (smugglers and corrupt officials) exploiting refugees resulting in violations of human rights.
DESTINATION
START
Journey for refugees today represents a complicated trajectory, full of obstacles on every corner.
59 DANGEROUS JOURNEY
there are no shelters, clean water and sanitation along the way. Swedish photographer Magnus Wennman in his collection ‘‘Where the children sleep’’ documented the terrible conditions in which refugee children live; some sleeping in the streets, a sick child resting on an old mattress at the train station... Improvised refugee camps showed to lack facilities to make the journey bearable.
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3770
787
321
133
103
Mediterranean
South Eastern Asia
US - Mexico Border
Europe
North Africa and Sahara
95 Horn of Africa
Cen
79
ntral America
50 Carribean
46 South East Africa
30
15
Middle East
East Asia
Notes: Numbers on the left refer only to deaths about which IOM is aware: for most regions, the data represents a minimum of the actual number of migrant deaths. The comprehensiveness and quality of the data varies by region. Precise values presented reflect the data available to IOM and do not claim to represent the exact number of dead and missing migrants in each region; all figures are approximate.
61 DANGEROUS JOURNEY
The info-graphic on the left displays numbers of the recorded deaths broken down by region during 2015. It is visible that 84 percent of cases belong to regions of Mediterranean and South Asia. Data is collected by Missing Migrant Project, launched in 2013 by International Organization for Migration (IOM) due to the lack of data on migrants deaths. A joint initiative of IOM’s Global Migration Data Analysis Centre (GMDAC) and Media and Communications Division (MCD), the project aims to track deaths around the world during migration and maintains a publicly accessible online database. While aiming to be as comprehensive as possible, data, particularly in some regions, is severely lacking and figures contained in the database are minimum numbers and far from complete. These data difficulties are due to the nature of deaths during clandestine migration that leaves many – possibly the majority – undetected and unreported. Compiled and analyzed at GMDAC, data is collected from a variety of sources, including authorities – mainly coast guards, sheriff’s offices, medical examiners and consulates – and interviews with survivors of shipwrecks, media reports, NGOs and UNHCR.
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PREDATOR NATURE
The refugee routes often include deserts, vast mountains and water-bodies. Crossing them illegally brings more risks than the elements alone. The journey through deserts and seas are similar in many ways - huge uncontrolled human-unfriendly areas where unscrupulous people rule. Many of the refugees begin their journey in the backs of trucks, which smugglers use to transport them through the desert or on old outdated and overcrowded boats. Being at sea carries a wide range of risks, some applicable to persons at sea generally, and others specific to unauthorized travel. The general risks of being at sea include bad weather, rough seas and poor visibility. The dangers associated with such conditions are heightened for irregular migrants for various reasons. While faced by all sea vessels, migrant boats are at greater risk of losing direction or running out of supplies of food or, more devastatingly, drinking water. Often every space on a boat used to carry unauthorized refugees is reserved for additional paying passengers rather than food, water or fuel; furthermore, these boats are more likely to get lost as they may be operated by inexperienced captains with little to no navigation equipment on board. Migrant boats tend to be of very low quality, increasingly so since the likelihood of confiscation has increased with stricter surveillance. Since the boat will presumably be lost, smugglers have an incentive to invest as little as possible in the boat itself. Those who cross from West Africa to the Canary Islands may quite easily miss the mark and drift out to the Atlantic. Boats that run out of fuel can drift for weeks, passengers dying slowly of dehydration, starvation, hypothermia or sun stroke. These boats are also at greater risk of shipwreck and capsizing due to overcrowding, inexperienced crew and captain, and substandard quality of the boats, which means that leaks and motor failure occur frequently. Indonesian fishing boats, for example, designed for shorter journeys and lighter loads have typically been used to carry those hoping to seek asylum in Australia. The number of passengers carried may vary from fewer than 10 to several hundred [Phillips and Spinks, 2013], and some analysts claim that the type of vessel used may shift in response to operational changes in interdiction policies. For example, policies of seizing or scuttling boats deemed not to be seaworthy by border authorities may encourage the use of poorly maintained vessels that are considered to be expendable and therefore contain little or no safety equipment [Barker, 2013]. Stepping up prosecutions of human smugglers has also been associated with the use of inexperienced crews, often Indonesian minors, since these low-level operatives are the most likely to be apprehended [Barker, 2013; Weber and Grewcock, 2011].
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Daily, hundreds of people are trying to cross the Mediterranean, Mexican Gulf, South Eastern waters or Bay of Bengal to reach safe land going through vast tracts of the Sahara, Chihuahua and Sonora Deserts.
The tragic loss of 50 lives in December 2010, many of them women and children, when a boat carrying asylum-seekers broke up on rocks on Christmas Island, was attributed in part to the lack of a competent crew. It must also be acknowledged that refugees and migrants at times endanger their own lives and those of others by sabotaging their own boats in desperate attempts to prevent their return to the country of origin. Thus there was an explosion on a vessel that was under the control of the Australian navy near Ashmore Reef which caused the death of five asylum-seekers and injured other passengers and military personnel in 2009.
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In addition to the troubles at sea, crossing the desert is also rife with dangers. The routes leading from the Horn of Africa and West Africa to Libya (and other North African destinations) necessarily pass through the desert, either the Sahara or the Algerian desert, depending on which routes refugees follow. This leaves refugees vulnerable. When deaths do occur, they are usually due to the perilous nature of desert crossing, and also to migrants’ contact with unscrupulous smugglers, traffickers, certain state officials and, in some cases, violent non - state actors. The same analogy is applied to the journey over Chihuahua and Sonora desert. The fauna there is as tough as the flora — desert centipedes, bark scorpions, collared lizards and diamondback rattlesnakes: creatures with rugged skin and the ability to cope with extreme temperatures.
humanitarian /hjʊˌmanɪˈtɛːrɪən/ -concerned with or seeking to promote human welfare. internally displaced person (idp) -someone who is forced to flee his or her home but who remains within his or her country’s borders. They are often referred to as refugees, although they do not fall within the current legal definition of a refugee. immigrant /ˈɪm.ɪ.ɡrən/ -a person who has settled permanently in another country. Immigrants choose to move, whereas refugees are forced to flee. migrant /ˈmʌɪɡr(ə)nt/ -a person who moves from one place to another in order to find work or better living conditions.
The desert climate, particularly the cold nights, reportedly lead to sickness among refugees. For some, the lack of medical treatment and their general level of exhaustion may lead to deteriorating health and, eventually, death. The human body shuts down slowly, over the course of a few days or, in some cases, hours. In his award-winning book “The Devil’s Highway,” which follows the case of the Yuma 14, Luis Alberto Urrea describes the steps in gripping detail. “Your temperature redlines — you hit 41, 42, 43 degrees. Your body panics and dilates all blood capillaries near the surface, hoping to flood your skin with blood to cool it off. You blush. Your eyes turn red: Blood vessels burst, and later, the tissue of the whites literally cooks until it goes pink, then a well-done crimson.” If refugees and migrants become sick, it is not unusual for smugglers to dump them in the desert in order to prevent the sickness from spreading to the rest. Refugees die in deserts from a combination of mistreatment, indifference, misadventure and lack of preparedness. They may also suffer violence in the desert through banditry, at the hands of State officials and smugglers, or vehicle accidents due to overcrowding, bad roads and dangerous driving. However, as most, but not all, migrants move through deserts under the aegis of smugglers or independent transporters, their deaths cannot be merely seen as accidents.
Refugees in an overcrowded boat waiting for help in Mediterranean.
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Syrian refugees walk through a dust storm at the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan.
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2014
2015
2016
South East Asia
750
789
61
Horn of Africa
265
108
80
North Africa/Sahara
324
374
483
US - Mexico border
230
333
219
Carribean
68
50
3308
3770
3165
5424
4038
Mediterranean
4945
The info-graphics above are showing approximate numbers of deaths in waters worldwide. The accuracy varies considerably by region, with the Mediterranean perhaps being the most documented, given the swivel of the world’s eye on it in the past few years. Even so, figures are uncertain and are estimates. With no passenger lists, with boats sinking without the knowledge of authorities and bodies washing up on shore with no identifying information, it is next to impossible to have a precise count. Along the US- Mexico border, the numbers are produced only for the US -side by the patrol, while the death data on the Mexican side are not consolidated by the authorities. In Africa, however, there is almost no information; the data is collected from media reports and is a huge underestimation of real numbers. Similarly the regions of Bengal Bay and Andaman sea where the numbers presented are a vague estimate on lives lost during the crossing.
1200
1000
800
600 400 2016 200
2016
2015 2014
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
2015
2016*
2015 in terms of accidents and deaths at sea, considering the The Mediterranean region is one of the most documented 2014 recent surge of popular interest in and increasing public awareness of an influx of migrants and refugees into the southern members of EU. The Union had activated a rescue operation called Mare Nostrum that was superseded by Frontex’s Operation Triton. The recent years have been the deadliest so far recorded. In October 2013 the world watched a horror when some 360 refugees lost their lives in the attempt to swim to the shores of Lampedusa; up to 500 migrants met their death at sea off Malta in only one day in September 2014 and around 800 people drowned in the last night of April when their boat sunk. *The chart contains Data for 2016 concluding with 16th October.
Heat
Sickness
Cold
Unknown
Train related
Starvation/Dehydration
Motor vehicle related
Drowning
Water related
Vehicle Accident
Other Undetermined Skeletal remains
%
2 1
7
11 14 16 18
Violence Suffocation
%
4
10 10
16 18 18 24
Figure B
Figure A
30 Figures A and B are presenting reported causes of migrant / refugees deaths in the desert of US - Mexico border (fiscal year 2008) and Africa ( 1 Jan–30 June 2016) retrospectively. Sickness, cold-or heat related issues if not causing death, can leave long lasting physical consequences. These include serious skin problems, gangrene, breathing difficulties and severe cases of diarrhea.
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2014 2016
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2015 2014
EXPERIENCES FROM THE EDGE
CROSSING THE SEA
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Louay Khalid fled from the violent outbreak in the Syrian Arab Republic via Lebanon and Egypt, eventually ending up in Libya. After working there for a year, he decided to leave the troubled country. Unable to return to his home country or to bring his family to Libya, Louay Khalid planned his crossing to Europe. However, he was completely unaware of the risks of the journey. The boat on which he crossed the Mediterranean tragically sank on 10 October 2013. After paying a smuggler 1,300 Libyan dinars (about USD 1,075) for the trip, Louay Khalid was locked in a house for about two weeks with around 450 other aspiring migrants. They were not allowed to leave the house and were told that if they did they would be shot. Eventually, they were loaded onto trucks before being stuffed onto a heavily overloaded boat that was steered by other migrants.
twice, urging the vessel to return. However, the migrants continued their journey until maritime police appeared. The police requested the vessel to stop its journey, but the vessel kept on moving, at which point, the police fired shots and began to “round” the vessel, throwing ropes to jam the engine fan. Even though passengers were crying and parents holding their children closely to them, the firing continued until the cabin broke down. During the commotion, two women gave birth. Finally, the police left. The following day, the migrants called the Red Cross in Lampedusa for help. When an airplane arrived after four hours, the people on board attempted so desperately to attract its attention that the vessel capsized. When the plane returned with life buoys, many of the people had already drowned. ‘‘I was wearing a life-jacket . . . that saved my life. The people who were inside the boat all died.’’
DESERT STRUGGLE
Shortly after departure, police approached the boat
The extremes of the Sonoran Desert have a dominant and prevailing influence over southern Arizona. It is not all picture-perfect, sand-duned desert, but more like the wilderness the Israelites sojourned through for 40 years after the Exodus from Egypt. There is scrub vegetation with lots of dirt, rocks and craggy mountains. Temperatures can dip way below freezing at night and soar into the 40s by day—and that’s just in winter. The biggest enemy of life in this wilderness are the elements. Those traveling by foot regularly die of dehydration, hypothermia/hyperthermia, sepsis from frostbite or infected, gangrenous foot blisters.
Drowned world: artist Jason deCaires Taylor ‘s extraordinary series of concrete sculptures representing desperate refugees
It’s hard enough to drive through the Arizona desert, where the sun is harsh and the distances immense. This is the story of Brenda. The interview took place in Nogales, Sonora, on the northern border of Mexico opposite Arizona. She was living in a shelter for deported people, where she told of her brief and difficult stay in the United States. She’d come all the way from southern Mexico, and crossed the border into Arizona in 2014. Then her group of migrants was spotted by the U.S. Border Patrol somewhere outside of Tucson. How did she escape? “I ran,” she said simply, but she was separated from her group, and was soon lost in the desert.
‘‘Once I saw the vessel . . . I could immediately tell that we were too many people. There were people everywhere you could look – people in the engine room, people on the mast even – literally everywhere.’’
“I kept seeing lights, I’d walk toward them but get no closer.” She was, she said, “dying of hunger.” And she might have actually died except that in all that vastness, she discovered a discarded cigarette lighter. She used it to light a brush fire so that she might be spotted by the Border Patrol helicopters flying over the area. The desert had become so intolerable that she was, she
“When people cross these mountain ranges here, those are huge mountains. And it takes awhile to get out there to do the recovery, and bring people back,” He knows from experience: Collecting bodies was the job of the last unit he supervised. “The way I always like to look at it is, the worst possible scenario already happened. That person lost their life. They’re gone. At least you can help them get back to where they belong to and help somebody somewhere have some resolution and have some closure for something that happened. There are always some bodies that are never claimed, though. “It’s like an ocean. And there’s just some people that are lost at sea that you’re never going to find” Driving along the border fence, one can see many signs of people who had tried to prepare themselves to cross it. The area was littered with empty water bottles.
“Don’t expose your life to the elements; It’s not worth the trouble”
admitted, all but begging the Border Patrol to come and remove her from the country. Arizona remains a major corridor for cross-border smuggling and migration, though much of the traffic has shifted eastward to Texas. Improved border fences in recent years have made it harder to bring vehicles across — some of the border fences are built using recycled train rails. Such fences do not stop people on foot; for them, the true barricade is nature. Some of the most severe territory is also some of the busiest: near the Tohono O’odham reservation that straddles the border whose the public safety director Malcolm Lewis explained a chart depicting scores of dead people found year by year on tribal land. “Our highest was 125, which is really a real burden on us because of the possi-
People also left signs that they were avoiding detection: a pair of overshoes made out of white carpet, which could hide tracks along the roadway. These carpet shoes were discarded right by some tire tracks. Yet the same people who try to hide from the authorities sometimes end up needing them, like Brenda, who set the fire to signal the Border Patrol in the desert. The Border Patrol says in the fiscal year of 2013, it rescued 2,346 people — from lost hikers to lost border crossers. As you one drives the border fence, there are yellow warning signs: “Don’t expose your life to the elements; It’s not worth the trouble,” written in Spanish.
‘‘Crossing the sea’’ summarizes the encounter given by Louay Khalid to IOM Malta’s Martine Cassar. It is adapted from the transcript of the original interview at the Hal Far Center, Malta, in April 2014. ‘‘Desert struggle’’ is adapted from the npr.org report (see references)
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Outside settled areas, southern Arizona features stark mountains and cactus-filled valleys, breathtakingly beautiful but difficult to survive in. In this landscape, she wandered for three days.
bility of it being a homicide,” he said. Investigators have to determine whether the deaths were caused by the elements, or by people. Tribal public safety officer Lt. Michael Ford, who has spent 17 years on this police force says:
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HUMANS AGAINST HUMANS
Borders are relative.
Big empires have fallen apart and the new have risen; the borders created by men have been changing constantly throughout history. Where the borders existed before, now there are none, or where there never have been, now are sprouting. The European Union is just one of the examples when it comes to open borders. Despite the diversity of 28 sovereign states, 29 different languages (24 official and 5 semi-official), and even 6 different religions, movement within the Union is free. However, hit by an influx of refugees, certain countries of the Union decided to close their borders based on national security and economic reasons, xenophobia and so called identity protection, leaving hundreds of refugees stuck and without the possibility to continue their journey. Meanwhile, in Asia, Thailand and Malaysia also closed their borders - those along the coast preventing boats of refugees from disembarking on their shores, leaving them at sea for weeks. These problems are deeply rooted in the mix of national sovereignty and human rights reflected in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948. It affirms that everyone has a right to leave a country, yet no one has a right to enter a country without its sovereign permission. They cannot be expelled, but there is no provision for them to enter a country legally, and the decision as to whether they are a refugee can only be made once they reach the country of asylum. Here we see an enormous invitation to - and an indirect funding scheme for - illegal border crossing and smuggling, leaving refugees in vulnerable and manipulative situations. Administration failed to provide proper response to the refugee problem and asylum seekers. In fact, after WWI International community approached a task of establishing an internationally recognized status for refugees and one of the first steps was providing them with papers that would enable them to travel. That led to creation of document called “Convention Travel Document” and was supposed to be issued by the state of arrival. However, the experience of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has shown that the Governments do not always issue these documents, making this system ineffective and problem-causing for already exhausted people.
permanent resident -a person who has been granted permanent resident status. person without status -a person who has not been granted permission to stay in the country, or has overstayed their visa.
Being left at a‘‘dead end’ without any protection, refugees and migrants have no other option, but to go through illegal channels of entering the country. That leads to serious violations of human rights, since most often smugglers do not spare their customers. Numerous reports show presence of human and organ trafficking, and according to the Independent magazine ‘‘human smugglers made a record profit last year [2015] of between $3bn and $6bn by exploiting the misery of refugees.’’ The exploitation of women and children along with their subsequent abuse, is reported widely, all as a result of human cruelty and ruthless smuggling industry.
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Unlike the natural barriers which are inevitable and have existed for thousands of years in the same place, the obstacles that human civilization has created are flexible and can change over time.
BORDERS
A border is a real or artificial line that separates geographic areas. Borders are political boundaries. They separate countries, states, provinces, counties, cities, and towns. A border outlines the area that a particular governing body controls. The government of a region can only create and enforce laws within its borders. In their earliest forms, borders were the edges of highly organized political empires such as the Chinese and Roman empires; later, they became the expressions of centrally-organized nation-states such as France and Germany, which tried to enforce their borders from adjacent land-based national groups and states. In all cases, the police power of states were/are critical to the creation and maintenance of borders. Throughout history, borders ranged from controlled but otherwise open, to restricted, to highly fortified and even militarized, and thus borders effectively close off areas in one way or another.
US - Mexico Most fortified borders
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US - Mexico Israel - Palestine Maginot line China wall
WALLED
FENCED
HARD
B
O
R
D
E
R
S
SOFT
OPEN
REGULATED
European Union Historical borders
EU - Non EU USA - Canada
Types of international borders
Geographically, international borders are expressed in varying degrees of severity: border markers, custom and immigration controls for passports and visas, fences, walls, border guards, and even national military troops. Border types can be classified into soft and hard borders. Soft borders include open and regulated and controlled frontiers. Hard borders, referred to in this paper as fortified borders, include: wire fenced borders, wire fenced and walled borders, walled borders and militarized borders. Today, the 145 land-based nation-states around the world (excluding the 50 island countries, or 26 percent of the 195 countries in the world) employ three major international border types: 15-28 countries (8-14 percent) have open borders; 88-75 countries (45-39 percent) have regulated or controlled borders; and 42 countries (22 percent) had/ have fortified borders. Borders change over time. They could be changed through violence or peacefully - when land is sold or after a conflict through international agreements. Sometimes, borders fall along natural boundaries like rivers or mountain ranges. For example, the boundary between France and Spain follows the crest of the Pyrenees mountains. For part of its length, the boundary between the United States and Mexico follows a river called the Rio Grande. The borders of four countries divide Africa’s Lake Chad: Niger, Chad, Cameroon, and Nigeria. When neighboring countries have similar wealth and political systems, their borders may be open and undefended. For example, citizens of the 28-country European Union may travel freely among any of the member states. Only five EU members—Bulgaria, Cyprus, Ireland,
Romania, and the United Kingdom—require travelers from other EU states to present a passport or ID card at the border.
guards. Citizens of most countries must have a passport and official permission to enter the borders of North Korea. North Koreans must also have official permission before they leave their secretive nation. Every country has its own rules about who may travel, work, and reside within its borders. Visas and work permits are government documents issued to non-citizens that limit the type of work or travel they may do in the country, and for how long.
Border between the Netherlands and Belgium: two neighboring countries have open borders. The line becomes an artistic installation fictively separating their identities.
On the opposite extreme, the Korean Demilitarized Zone—the border between communist North Korea and capitalist South Korea—is the most heavily militarized border in the world. The zone, which is 4 kilometers wide and 243 kilometers long, separates the two countries with barbed-wire fences, land mines, and armed
Closing borders for people fleeing conflicts or natural disasters contributes to creating places of congestion in front of the erected walls, fences or checkpoints, in many instances resulting in humanitarian crisis. The crowded conditions lead to shortages of food, shelter, water and sanitation. Left stranded without seeing a way to move forward, refugees are forced to find other ways of overcoming this obstacle: sometimes that means taking another route and often walking for weeks or hiring a smuggler. Border Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) and the Republic of Korea (South Korea): Demilitarized zone.
WALLS
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To wall is human and, if the story of the Garden of Eden is true, to exclude is divine.
Since the beginning of civilization, people have built walls to keep things in, or out. The ancient Egyptians constructed massive mud brick walls around their temples. The wavy walls that represented the primeval waters of chaos and served to ensure the purity of their sacred enclaves by keeping out everyone but the priests. The Roman emperor Hadrian, with his usual efficiency, commissioned a wall, backed by a series of defensive forts, to protect his empire’s northernmost frontier from a troublesome neighbor. Walls, it would seem, are part of the human story.
These physical walls feel like a throwback to antiquity. It is widely spoken of globalization, international markets and global villages. Barriers to trade and travel keep falling, and we can communicate with anyone instantly from nearly anywhere in the world. Borders themselves matter less and less. The contemporary angels and demons – multinational corporations, climate change, global terror networks, Hollywood movies, bird flu – are nation-less and border-less and care nothing about the lines we draw on our maps. Security fears and a widespread refusal to help refugees and migrants have fueled a new spate of wall-building across the world, with a third of the world’s countries constructing them along their borders. When the Berlin Wall was torn down a quarter-century ago, there were 16 border fences around the world. Today, there are 65 either completed or under construction, according to Quebec University expert Elisabeth Vallet. From Israel’s separation barrier (or ‘apartheid wall’ as it is known by the Palestinians), to the 4050 kilometers barbed-wire fence India is building around Bangladesh, to the enormous sand ‘berm’ that separates Morocco from rebel-held parts of the Western Sahara – walls and
Wall between Israel and Palestine as a Symbol of aggression. Palestinians climb over a section of Israel’s separation wall near Qalandia checkpoint between Ramallah to enter Jerusalem for Friday prayer in the al-Aqsa mosque compound, Islam’s third-holiest site, during the holy month of Ramadan.
fences are ever-more popular with politicians wanting to look tough on migration and security. In July 2015, Hungary’s right-wing government began building a four-meter-high fence along its border with Serbia to stem the flow of refugees from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. ‘We have only recently taken down walls in Europe; we should not be putting them up,’ was one EU spokes-person’s exasperated response.
‘‘I was struck every time at how a structure so simple as a wall or fence can have these profound psychological effects’’
In spite of the aggressive symbolism, it is not clear that walls are truly effective. ‘The one thing all these walls have in common is that their main function is theatre,’ said Marcello Di Cintio, author of ‘Walls: Travels Along the Barricades’. ‘You can’t dismiss that illusion, it’s important to people, but they provide the sense of security, not real security.’ The limits of their effectiveness are visible everywhere - not least, with the migrants and refugees sitting on top of the fence along the border with Morocco and the small Spanish enclave of Mellila, on the North African coast. Even the fearsome Berlin Wall with its trigger-happy sentries still leaked thousands of refugees even in its most forbidding years. Walls supporters claim that a few leaks are better than a flood. However, Di Cintio argues we must also consider the psychological effect the walls have. According to his research, elders of Tohono O’odham - Native American tribes started to die off in apparent grief because the fence on the Mexican border cut them off from their ceremonial sites. Their story carries shades of the ‘wall disease’ diagnosed by Berlin psychologist Dietfried Muller-Hegemann in the 1970s after he found heightened levels of depression, alcoholism and domestic abuse among those living in the shadow of the barricade. Di Cintio recalls his conversation with Bangladeshi farmers separated from their neighbors by a fence raised by India. Within a few months, he said, they had started expressing distrust and dislike for ‘those people’ on the other side. ‘I was struck every time at how a structure so simple as a wall or fence can have these profound psychological effects,’ says Di Cintio.
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Three other countries – Kenya, Saudi Arabia and Turkey – are all constructing border fences in a bid to keep out jihadist groups neighboring in Somalia, Iraq and Syria respectively. Seven miles of barrier have already been erected along the border at Reyhanli town in Hatay province - a main point for smuggling and border-crossing from Syria - the private Dogan news agency said. The fence in Turkey will eventually stretch for 28 miles along a key stretch of its border with Syria. But the Turkish wall pales into insignificance when compared to the multi-layered fence which will one day stretch 600 miles from Jordan to Kuwait along Saudi Arabia’s border with Iraq.
There have always been natural obstacles to the movement of plants and animals: climate, mountain ranges, oceans, but the pace of change with these obstructions offers a chance to adapt and therefore often ignites the flames of natural diversity. Human-wrought barriers however, whether they are suburban roads or international border walls, tend to have the opposite effect: They are sudden, defy nature’s logic, and, though some species may see benefits, the overall impact erodes biological diversity.
Walls, however, can significantly affect natural processes too. A research from College of Life Science at Peking University found that the Great Wall of China has altered the genetic structure of the same species of plants on both sides of the wall by blocking its natural gene flow, that aids in the evolution of a species. Another version of a contemporary ‘‘Chinese wall’’ - almost 5 meter high fence in the US- Mexico border is said to block the natural flow of flood water, which in turn disrupts plant life at a UNESCO biosphere reserve in southwestern Arizona, known as Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument.
‘‘The fences can curtail animals mobility, fragment populations and cause direct mortality.”
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Review of European, Comparative and International Environmental Law, October 2016
When the Berlin Wall was torn down a quarter-century ago, there were 16 border fences around the world. Today, there are 65 either completed or under construction.
The walls do little to address the roots of insecurity and migration – global asylum applications and terrorist attacks have risen hugely despite the flurry of wall-building. They are mostly effective against the poorest and most desperate, says Reece Jones, a University of Hawaii professor and author of ‘Border Walls: Security and the War on Terror in the United States, India and Israel’. Like the French Maginot Line—a defensive system built in the 1930s that the Nazis merely avoided while invading France in World War II—a border wall can sometimes be sidestepped with an alternative route, albeit one that is often more dangerous. Jones states that, “The substantial increase in deaths at borders is the predictable result, since it funnels immigrants to more dangerous routes through the deserts of the US southwest or on rickety boats across the Mediterranean.’’ The experience showed that the walls are not efficient against the drug threat. ‘Well-funded drug cartels and terrorist groups are not affected by walls at all because they have the resources to enter by safer methods, most likely using fake documents,’ Jones claims. In 2015 Mexican police discovered an 800 meters long underground canal for drugs transportation extending from a house in Tijuana to San Diego. The canal was equipped with a rail car system, lined with metal beams to prevent collapse and ventilated. With the rising poverty and effects of climate change people will migrate no matter what the nature of the wall is - there is always an alternative, but often dangerous route. The choice is left to the governments to make - either to continue building barricades or to seek for a more future-oriented and sustainable solution.
The wall between United States and Mexico is not one continuous structure, but a grouping of relatively short physical walls, secured in between with a “virtual fence” which includes a system of sensors and cameras.
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The Moroccan Wall of Western Sahara is an approximately 2,700 km (1,700 mi) long structure, mostly a sand wall (or “berm”), running through Western Sahara and the southeastern portion of Morocco. It separates[1] the Moroccan occupied, and controlled, areas (Southern Provinces) and the Polisario-controlled areas (Free Zone, nominally Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic) that lies along its eastern and southern border.
THE WORLD’S WALLS
built or under construction
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planned
1980
Since 1980 Morocco has constructed a system of 2735 km of sand and stone walls in the Sahara. In 2015 it began fencing off its border with Algeria.
Morocco
1990s
2002
India has built a Israel has US - Mexico fence along the largely fenced Line of Control off its borders in Kashmir with Lebanon, between IndianSyria, Egypt and Pakistaniand Jordan. It is administered also building a territories barrier around the occupied West Bank.
India
Israel
2003
2005
Botswana has Brasil erected 480 km long fence with Zimbabwe due to the biggest immigration problem since its independence from Britain.
India has Morocco constructed the Indo-Bangladeshi barrier, a 3406-kilometre fence of barbed wire and concrete just under 3 meters high, to prevent smuggling of narcotics.
Botswana
India
2005 The US has built Hungary fences along 1050 miles of its 3145 km border with Mexico, many of them since 2005.
US
2006
Since 2006 there Ukraine is a 13- mile fence between China and North Korea. New sections have been systematically.
China
79 DANGEROUS JOURNEY 2007 The wall is Israel being constructed to stop illegal border crossings and stem the flow of drugs,and is also a response to terror attacks.
Iran
2013
Brazil began Kenya building mostly virtual ‘walls’ under remote surveillance in 2013 along its borders with Paraguay and Bolivia resulting in 4765 km length.
Brazil
2014
2014
Ukraine
Saudi Arabia
In 2014Saudi Ukraine Arabia Saudi ArabiaIndia has built fences began building along its bora wall along the ders with Yemen sections that it and Iraq, and is controls on its adding similar 1973 km border ones along borwith Russia. ders with Oman and United Arab Emirates.
2015
2015
Hungary
Kenya
Since August In 2015 Kenya China 2015 Hungary started to build has built a 175 a 1097 mile km fence on barrier on its its border with border with Serbia and 370 Somalia. km fence with Croatia.
2016
Austria has started building barbed wire fences on key Alpine passes in order to prevent refugees coming from Italy.
Austria
FORTIFIED EUROPE
As the EU struggles to handle its refugee crisis, passport-free travel across the region is under threat.
nian border, deployed armed forces around the border and limited asylum applications to 80 a day and the number of people allowed to transit through the country to 3 200. The Austrian government also announced to build a 400-metre-long fence at its Brenner border with Italy, which would be erected even if Italy does not cooperate. The plans, however, have been criticized as violating the Schengen Agreement of free movement across borders for EU nationals. Bulgaria followed the same path, although not towards their EU -neighbors: 135 km razor fence has been erected on its border with Turkey hoping to prevent the ‘‘illegal migration’’.
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Intensifying in 2014 and reaching its peak in autumn 2015, the refugee crisis has tested Europe’s unity. Borders started germinating between the Union’s members along the refugee routes. ‘‘Most of us fortunately do not know the state of complete exhaustion, combined with fear for ones life or for the life of ones family. People that are coming here from Eritrea, Syria or Northern Iraq have to endure situations and fear that would let us collapse straight up. [...] Europe as a whole has to move. The states have to share the responsibilities for refugees coming here. The universal civil rights have been closely connected to Europe and its history. This was one of the main founding principles for the EU. Should Europe fail to address this crisis, this connection will break loose. [...]’’ Angela Merkel (often called ‘‘Mutti’’ meaning Mum in German) thanks to her enthusiasm and inviting refugees, won a lot of fans among the newly arrived. However many member states did not welcome this decision with excitement; shortly after, some countries started erecting the fences or closing the border crossings for refugees. First to do so was Hungary, stating that ‘‘the influx of Muslim refugees poses a threat to Europe’s Christian identity’’. The fences were erected on the borders with Serbia and Croatia, while announcing a new fence with Romania. The Hungarian anti - refugee politics escalated in a referendum related to the European Union’s migrant resettlement plans. While an overwhelming majority of voters (98%) rejected the EU’s migrant quotas, turnout was too low to make the poll valid. Austria erected a four-kilometer-long fence at the Slove-
Croatia has suddenly erected a fence on a bridge on the border with Serbia, reportedly to block the entry of illegal migrants and the activities of people-smugglers. Norway has put up a steel fence at a remote Arctic border post with Russia after seeing an influx of migrants crossing into the country. The erection of the fence, at a spot where 5 500 migrants mainly from Syria crossed into Norway last year, reflects a wider shift in public attitudes against refugees. Refugee groups and some opposition politicians say Norway’s fence will deter people fleeing persecution and is an unwelcome echo of the Cold War in a region where relations have generally flourished since the collapse of the Soviet Union. The country is also considering erecting a fence with Sweden. As a result of large number of asylum seekers have made their way to northern Finland via Sweden, Finland decided to close their borders with Sweden. French authorities have closed its border with Italy due to the migrant crisis, leaving thousands of refugees, mainly from Sudan, massing in camps near Italian town of Ventimiglia. This resulted in hundreds of migrants taking to rugged trails across the vast mountain range of Alps in a bid to get into France. Following the closing-borders trend Macedonia fully sealed its border with Greece, shutting down the Balkan trail used by more than a million people, and triggering fears migrants would take far more dangerous routes to Western Europe. It is said that the ongoing refugee crisis played a crucial
Both EU members and Schengen Area members Only European Members Only Schengen Members Refugee Flows Border control or fences introduced
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Barriers planned
role in the outcome of the British referendum on the EU membership, so the UK would not have to implement the EU’s refugee quota plan. There are far fewer asylum applications per head to the UK than to other countries in the EU. Britain received 60 asylum applications per 100,000 people in 2015. Since August 2015, Italy has not been responding to readmission requests from Switzerland. Swiss authorities, however, continue to send refugees back if there
is any evidence that they have entered Switzerland via Italy. In some cases asylum seekers in Switzerland have been sent to Italy even if they never traveled through that country. While Europe’s overall refugee flows are declining, Italy and Greece are still facing large numbers of new arrivals on daily basis. Only 8162 people of the promised 160000 have been resettled from the two countries at the front line of the migration crisis.
DEAD WORDS ON PAPER Insight into 1951 UN Refugee convention, 1967 Protocol and European Union’s Dublin Regulation
The UN’s Refugee Convention, also known as the 1951 Refugee Convention or Geneva Convention, is a United Nations multilateral treaty that defines who is a refugee. It sets out the rights of individuals who are granted asylum and the responsibilities of nations that grant asylum. It was updated with the 1967 Protocol, which removed both the temporal and geographic restrictions, “as a result of events occurring before 1 January 1951” and “events occurring in Europe” or “events occurring in Europe or elsewhere”. Certain regions have their own regional policies, e.g., the Cartagena Declaration on Refugees for Latin America, the Organization for African Unity, and the EU’s Dublin Regulation, analyzed in this chapter.
GENEVA REFUGEE CONVENTION AND 1967 PROTOCOL 1. DEFINITION
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“A Refugee is a person owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, and is unable to or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country.” The problem is that this definition excludes refugees who are fleeing violence. The vast majority of people we consider refugees are not outside of their country because they fear persecution. They are fleeing violence and their home is no longer safe: for example, it has become a war zone. So most of those seeking shelter from violence are not, as far as the Geneva Convention is concerned, actually refugees. The Office of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) itself is working outside the framework of the Convention by using the catchall term “persons of concern” to describe all people in need of UNHCR assistance.
The Convention has three main challenges: the scope of the definition, what protection it offers, and its status in international law.
Another issue is that in order to be a refugee, one has to cross a national border – otherwise he or she is classified as an Internally Displaced Person. The number of IDPs is double the number of refugees, and many are probably struggling to leave their national territory. It seems wrong and arbitrary that the recognition of one’s refugee status is reliant upon crossing the home country’s border. According to the Geneva Convention, one is only a refugee once a host state has granted the status – in the meantime, a person remains an asylum seeker. So once more the vast majority of people fleeing violence in the world today are not, according to the Convention, “refugees” – they are “people seeking refuge”. A displaced person is at the mercy of the host country in which he finds himself. Each country individually interprets whether the person meets the definition of “refugee” or not and, accordingly, whether
Travel document Refugees are unlikely to be able to obtain passports from their state of nationality (from which they have sought asylum) and therefore need travel documents so that they might engage in international travel. The 145 states which are parties to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees are obliged to issue travel documents to refugees lawfully resident in their territory.
2. PROTECTION “No Contracting State shall expel or return (‘refouler’) a refugee in any manner whatsoever to the frontiers of territories where his life or freedom would be threatened on account of his race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group of political opinion.” One of the rights of refugee status is that of “non-refoulement”, or non-return. Host countries are not allowed to return refugees or asylum seekers to a country where they are liable to be subjected to persecution. However, non-refoulement requires host countries only to protect the displaced person from coming to harm while inside its borders, with no obligation to assist the person. It allows host countries to only grant temporary shelter that can be revoked when it is decided the refugees can go home. When introducing the draft of the Geneva Convention some 65 years ago, the UN’s first Secretary General explained that “[t]his phase... will be characterized by the fact that the refugees will lead an independent life in the countries which have given them shelter. With the exception of the ‘hard core’ cases, the refugees will no longer be maintained by an international organization as they are at present. They will be integrated in the economic system of the countries of asylum and will themselves provide for their own needs and for those of their families.” This means refugees are granted social and economic rights that allow them to, for example,
access education, to seek work and to start businesses. However, in practice the situation is quite different: most refugees today are not living independently and are maintained by international aid organizations. Most refugees today are emphatically not allowed to provide for their own needs. They do not enjoy the ability to move freely, as they are sentenced to refugee camps. This situation is a clear violation of a right as granted to them under international law. Being ‘‘caged up’’ is unlawful and counterproductive, making the refugees burdens of their hosts and the international community. There is little possibility of integrating into the new society, and the chances are even slimmer for resettling or even returning home. The Geneva Convention itself rejects a charity-based model in favor of refugee empowerment. In case of a refugee individual or a group reasonably suspected of being a criminal and a threat to their safety or security, it requires the exclusion from refugee status and sending them away – even back to the country of persecution .
3. INTERNATIONAL LAW Whether or not the mandates of the Geneva Convention will apply in a specific country depends on whether the country has ratified. This becomes very important if we concentrate on the ongoing Syrian crisis. None of the people who fled to Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq have a legal right to be recognized as refugees because these countries are not signatories to the Geneva Convention. Turkey, on the other hand, did ratify the original Convention, but made an important exception with the 1967 Protocol. Turkey did not accept the erasure of regional exceptions – it agreed only to continue to accept refugees from the Council of Europe. So technically, Turkey recognizes only the original Convention referring to Europe, and can only grant refugee status to Europeans. Thus, people fleeing from Syria or elsewhere into Turkey have no right to be recognized as refugees. In the end, the perspective from Europe is that the Middle East region is filled with refugees who become migrants once they cross into Europe. This view seems to miss the point that the region is filled with desperate people who only have the chance to become refugees once they cross into Europe, regardless of what they will do afterwards.
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he will receive the rights granted to those with refugee status. Having no legitimate refugee status inter alia means the displaced person cannot obtain a refugee travel document, and must remain in a country without the ability to move freely.
DUBLIN REGULATION The Dublin Regulation is a European Union (EU) law that determines which EU Member State is responsible for examining the applications of asylum seekers requesting international protection under the Geneva Convention and the EU Qualification Directive. The Convention was formed with two principle objectives: to prevent an asylum seeker from submitting applications in multiple Member States , and to reduce the number of ‘‘orbiting applicants‘‘ who are shuttled from member state to member state.
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The worsening of the refugee crisis has exposed deficiencies in the Dublin Regulation. On August 27, 2015, after participating in the Western Balkans Summit, German chancellor Angela Merkel spoke out at a press conference. She stated that the Dublin Regulation “doesn’t work” and that we “need a common response for Europe as a whole”. What followed was the partial suspension of the regulation and “fair distribution” of refugees in Europe.
There are basically three important weaknesses of the Regulation: it does not work fairly, it is inefficient and jeopardizes refugees’ rights.
1. NOT FAIR First, it does not work fairly. The “first country of arrival” policy disproportionately burdens the border countries (Italy, Greece and Hungary in the current crisis). Registering in the first country of arrival means being unable to seek asylum in other member states, or run the risk of being returned.
2. INEFFICIENT Secondly, the Dublin Regulation is inefficient. Despite the rule that the first country of arrival is responsible for the asylum seeker, most of the applicants seek asylum in a different country to the one in which they arrived. For example, according to Eurostat and Frontex statistics, only 64,625 of the 170,000 irregular arrivals in Italy sought asylum there. In 2013, more than a third of the asylum claims were made by people who had previously applied in another European Union country. Of those, 11 percent applied in Italy and did so again in Germany, Sweden or Switzerland. The preferences of asylum seekers are often linked to personal issues such as presence of family and friends in a certain country, or knowledge of the language. The receiving countries often differ in terms of reception conditions as well as social and economic rights. Refugees avoid seeking status in countries that do not recognize refugees or lack efficient reception facilities (e.g., Spain). Some countries resorted to returning refugees to the previous country.
Germany returned refugees to Austria, Austria to Hungary or Slovenia, and Hungary to the Serbian border. Austria has threatened to sue Hungary for letting migrants cross its border, referring to the Dublin Regulation’s rule of registration in the first country of arrival.
3. JEOPARDIZING REFUGEES’ RIGHTS The third criticism is that the Dublin Regulation jeopardizes refugees’ rights. As condemned in the report by the European Council on Refugees and Exiles, the fair and efficient examination of asylum applications is not guaranteed in all member states. The Dublin Regulation applies its humanitarian clause restrictively as it enforces the first country of arrival rule. It does not take into account, for example, reuniting family members in one place. This is one of the contradictory principles of the Regulation that may be theoretically sound but does not work in practice.
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Apart from these three main criticisms, the Dublin Regulation is claimed to be expensive. The costs include the maintenance of EURODAC, the processes related to transfer requests, and the costs of detention and deportation of those who are ultimately transferred. It has become clear that the Dublin Regulation does not work either for the member states nor for the refugees. European leaders have already admitted that an alternative system must be generated. The European commission proposed two options, which still have to be agreed by EU member states. The widely trailed option of scrapping the Dublin rules remains: under this proposal the EU would have a mandatory redistribution system for asylum seekers based on a country’s wealth and ability to absorb newcomers. A second option would preserve the existing Dublin rules, but add a “corrective fairness mechanism” so refugees could be redistributed around the bloc in times of crisis to take the pressure off front line arrival states. How the Dublin Regulation will change, remains to be seen. Fingerprinting migrants
protected person -a person who has been determined to be either a Convention Refugee or a person in need of protection. refugee claimant a person who has made a claim for protection as a refugee. repatriation /riːˈpæt.ri.eɪt/ -process of refugee or group of refugees returning to their home country, usually with the assistance of government or a non-governmental organization. resettled refugee -a refugee who has been offered a permanent home in a country while still outside that country.
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GODLESS PEOPLE AND INVISIBLE VICTIMS
“You don’t imagine that your dreams can end in a moment on this journey… He [the soldier] pulled me by the hand and told me to walk further into the bushes. He took me far away from the train tracks until we were completely alone. He told me to take my clothes off so that he could see if I was carrying drugs. He said that if I did what he said he would let me go.” Margarita (not her real name), a 27-year-old Salvadoran migrant, describing how she was sexually abused by a soldier, Amnesty International interview, June 2009 Every year thousands of migrants are ill treated, abducted or raped. Although these atrocities leave lifelong scars on the people who endure them, these actions are rarely reported and almost never make it to the media headlines. They are committed by smugglers, traffickers, other criminals, and even state officials. Arbitrary detention and extortion by public officials are common. Human crimes committed by smugglers or other criminals are rarely reported, and are sometimes actively covered up by international organizations and communities. Mistreatment involving state corruption and complicity are kept silent, and abuse that occurs in remote areas is often only captured in the memories of survivors. Women and children are by far the most vulnerable. Men tend to be affected differently – they are kept as hostages and used for organ trafficking, among other heinous abuses.
‘‘When you have a gun pointed at your head, you don’t really have a choice if you want to survive. I was raped twice by three men…I didn’t want to lose my life.’’
VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN New research conducted by Amnesty International shows that women and girl refugees face violence, assault, exploitation and sexual harassment at every stage of their journey, including on European soil. According to testimonies, women are sexually assaulted either by the smugglers themselves, traffickers, members of armed groups, or state officials. An untold number of attacks take place along the smuggling route, while women are being held in private homes or abandoned warehouses near the coast, waiting to board boats to Europe. Antoinette, a 28-year-old woman from Cameroon, said of the traffickers who held her captive in April 2016: “They don’t care if you’re a woman or a child…They used sticks [to beat us] and would shoot in the air. Maybe because I had a child they didn’t rape me but they raped pregnant women and single women. I saw this happen.” Amnesty International in Sicily and Puglia confirmed that women reported a high level of sexual violence during the journey. Huffington Post reports that 80 percent of women and girls are raped while crossing into the U.S. Sometimes sex is used as a form of payment when women and girls don’t have money to pay bribes. The rape along these routes is so common that women take contraceptive pills before the journey because they know what is ahead for them.
KIDNAPPING, THREATS, HUMAN TRAFFICKING A new report has revealed the shocking scale of abuse by criminal gangs who prey on asylum seekers traveling across Africa. The most common events take place in Libya, which has become the main launching point for smugglers’ boats in the chaos following its civil war. Research by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) found that almost three quarters of migrants attempting to cross the central Mediterranean have experienced exploitation and human trafficking. Amnesty International spoke to refugees and migrants who described facing abuse at every stage of the journey, from their arrival in Libya until they reached the northern coast. Many victims said the smugglers held them captive to extort a ransom from their families. They kept them in deplorable and often squalid conditions, deprived them of food and water, and would beat, harass and insult them ceaselessly. Semre, 22, from Eritrea, said he saw four people including a 14-year-old boy and a 22-year-old woman die from illness and starvation while he was held captive for
‘‘When you arrive in [Libya], that’s when the struggle starts. That’s when they start to beat you.’’ Ahmed, an 18-year-old from Somalia ransom. “No one took them to the hospital so we had to bury them ourselves,” he said. His father eventually paid the traffickers in exchange for Semre’s freedom, but instead of releasing him they sold him on to another criminal group. Paolos is a 24-year-old Eritrean man who traveled through Sudan and Chad and arrived in Libya in April 2016. He told how the smugglers abandoned a disabled man in the desert along the way, as they crossed the Libyan border heading to the southern town of Sabha. “We saw them throw one man [out of the pick-up truck] into the desert. He was still alive. He was a disabled man,” he said. Others recounted how they were repeatedly beaten by those who held them captive, and those who could not
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pay were forced to work for free to pay off the debt. Abdulla, a 23-year-old Eritrean man, said the traffickers would torture and beat people to force them to pay ransoms, and make the victims speak to their families to pressure them into paying. Saleh, 20, from Eritrea, entered Libya in October 2015 and was immediately taken to a storage hangar in Bani Walid run by traffickers. During the 10 days he was held there, he witnessed how a man who couldn’t pay was electrocuted in water and died. ‘‘The people in control forced us to work for free, in houses, to clean, any jobs. They didn’t give us proper food. Even the water they gave us was salty. There were no proper bathrooms. Many of us got skin problems. The men would smoke hashish and would beat you with their guns and anything they could find. They used metal, rocks. They had no heart.”
“I was told that those who could not pay were handed to some Egyptians who killed them to take their organs for resale in Egypt.’’ The migrants’ routes through Mexico have also become a lucrative source of income for criminal gangs, and the kidnapping of migrants for ransom has almost become routine. In many ways, the experience of Ramón (not his real name) reflects that of many irregular migrants. In November 2008, he and 35 other migrants were abducted by armed men from a freight train in Veracruz state. They were taken to a ranch in Tamaulipas state, where scores of other migrants were being held by a gang. The migrants were forced at gunpoint to reveal the phone numbers of their relatives from whom ransoms could be demanded. The ranch was later raided by the military and some of the kidnappers were detained. Ramón and others made statements to officials from the Federal Attorney General’s Office (Procuraduría General de la República, PGR). The migrants were expecting to be able to file a complaint about the kidnapping and threats to their lives. They hoped to secure a temporary visa, pending the investigation into abuses at the ranch. Instead, Ramón was placed in detention in Iztapalapa Migrant Detention Centre. From there, he spoke to a human rights organization to tell them that other members of the kidnapping gang, who had not been identified by the authorities, were held with the
migrants in the detention centre and were posing a serious threat to witnesses. In December 2008, Ramón was returned to Honduras. Cases of corrupt officials have been reported all around the world. The stories frequently describe close relationships with smugglers and various forms of refugee exploitation. Multiple mass graves and suspected human trafficking camps have been discovered along Malaysia’s border with Thailand. The graves are said to contain the remains of dozens of Bangladeshi and Burmese Rohingya migrants at the centre of a human trafficking crisis. The graves are reportedly located in the northern state of Perlis, bordering Thailand’s Songkhla province. Just weeks ago, two Thai teenagers stumbled upon a mass grave at a former traffickers’ camp that once detained as many as 800 people. Human smugglers made a record profit in 2015 by exploiting the misery of refugees – between $3 billion and $6 billion. The business of human smuggling is now in the “Champions League” of criminal enterprises in Europe, close to rivaling the trade in illicit drugs. Migrants who are unable to pay smugglers for their journey are killed for their organs. Nuredein Wehabrebi Atta, was recently sentenced to five years in prison for his involvement in moving migrants. He told Italian police that migrants who couldn’t pay for journeys across the Mediterranean “were sold for €15,000 to groups, particularly Egyptians, who are equipped for harvesting organs”. A CNN documentary ‘‘A Stand in the Sinai’’ reports that medics travel from Cairo to camps in the heart of the vast sands to harvest kidneys, livers, and corneas from the helpless donors, Thousands of refugees are believed to have died as a result of the operations.
Mass grave sites in Malaysia
CHILDREN ON THE MOVE With no family to help them, unaccompanied minors have been killed, beaten, starved and raped by smugglers. Save the Children states that 7,900 unaccompanied minors have crossed so far in 2016, representing 90 percent of all child arrivals and about 15 percent of total arrivals. Most of the new arrivals are aged 14 to 17, but unaccompanied children as young as nine and 10 are becoming an increasingly familiar sight. In rare cases, children as young as five make the journey to Europe alone, almost always following the death of a parent or relative. Doctors Without Borders (MSF) medical staff estimates that almost nine out of ten of all new arrivals in Italy
“The strangest thing about war is that you get used to feeling scared. I wouldn’t have believed that’’
Gulistan loves houses. Back home in Aleppo, Syria, he used to enjoy walking around the city looking at them. Now, many of his favourite buildings have been destroyed by the war.
have experienced some kind of psychological trauma, but only very few will get the level of care that they need. Many arrivals report having their feet burnt by hot pokers in order to stop them running away. One survivor told aid workers that they saw a Gambian boy being shot dead by smugglers just for asking for more food and water. In June 2016, the bodies of 32 migrants abducted by people smugglers, including 20 migrant children, were found in the Niger desert. In Lebanon, according to Freedom Fund group, up to 70 percent of Syrian refugee children are forced into slave labor. In the eastern Bekaa Valley on the border with Syria, the report added, all Syrian children are put to work, with many being exposed to hazardous conditions with pay as little as US$1 a day. “The more you have children outside of school, the more likely they are going to be working,” the mother of a five-yearold warns. “And as long as these children do not have access to schools, they are expected to go to work.” A full 3.7 million school-aged refugee children have no school to go to, the UN refugee agency reported.
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03
LIFE IN LIMBO An insight into the life of refugee camps and their significance as a part of the complex journey undertaken by the refugees.
Deprived of their statehood, material possessions, and in many cases, their loved ones, refugees seek solace in purpose-built refugee camps and unplanned settlements, where they wait out their displacement, or attempt to begin life anew.
At the beginning of 21st century, camps are constituting an increasingly prominent feature of social landscapes around the globe. Of todays 60 million refuges and internally displaced people, around 15 million live in refugee camps. Half of them are children. Although regularly built as temporary emergency devices in an impromptu fashion for refugees and people in refugee-like situations, camps often turn into durable socio-spatial formations that can last for decades. They are usually built and run by the government of a host country, the United Nations, international organizations (such as the International Committee of the Red Cross), or NGOs. There are also unofficial refugee camps like Calais jungle in France (being demolished as this text is written), Idomeni in Greece, or older Sahrawi Camps in Western Sahara that have very little support of the governments or international community.
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Although the size of a small city, its residents are largely dependent on the charity of others. Economic life is almost entirely controlled from outside. However, when the community is well self-organized, the camps can develop into fully fledged cities, replete with vibrant economies, systems of governance, and even civic institutions (Sahrawi refugee camps).
Refugees waiting in queue in order to register for entering a camp
According to UNHCR Emergency Handbook, an official guide for establishing refugee camps, camp should include: repatriation /riːˈpæt.ri.eɪt/ -process of refugee or group of refugees returning to their home country, usually with the assistance of government or a non-governmental organization. sanitation /sanɪˈteɪʃ(ə)n/ -conditions relating to public health, especially the provision of clean drinking water and adequate sewage disposal.
- Administrative headquarters that coordinate services such as the police station can be placed outside the camp itself. - Dwellings (frequently tents, prefabricated huts, or dwellings constructed of locally available materials) where the norm is 3.5 sqm of covered living area per person. - Hygiene facilities, such as washing areas, latrines or toilets. UNHCR
In reality, these already overcrowded facilities become more overcrowded: new people arrive into the camp, but the infrastructure remains the same. In order to enter the camp, the refugees firstly need to be registered at the camp’s reception center. Sometimes queues are so long that waiting times up to two months are possible. Suffering from mostly malnutrition and dehydration many die while waiting, since the people outside the reception center are not entitled to the official support and medical care. After their refugee status is granted, they are transported to the camp. According to UNHCR vocabulary, a refugee camp consists of: settlements, sectors, blocks, communities and families. 16 families make up a community, 16 communities make up a block, four blocks make up a sector and four sectors are called a settlement. Settlements and markets in bigger camps are often arranged according to nationalities, ethnicities, tribes and clans of their inhabitants A large camp may consist of several settlements. Each block elects a community leader to represent the block. The refugee community elects a leader who is responsible of mediating and negotiating to resolve problems, and liaise with refugees, UNHCR and other organizations. Many refugees mistrust them and there are allegations of aid agencies bribing them. Refugees are allowed to establish their own “court’’where the jurisdiction is provided by elders and elected leaders of the communities, and financial support from charities. Refugees are left without legal
remedies against abuses and can’t appeal against their own ‘courts’. The host country is usually responsible for the security of a refugee camp. It provides military or police, while UNHCR is supposed to provide legal protection. However, local police or the legal system of the camp-hosting countries are not usually not willing to get involved in issues occurring inside the camps. In many camps, refugees create their own patrolling systems as police protection is insufficient. Most camps are enclosed with barbed wire fence. This is not only for the protection of the refugees, but also to prevent refugees moving freely or interacting with the local people. Although under International law refugees are granted freedom of movement, it is rarely the case in practice. Possessing Movement Passes from the UNHCR or the host country government does not guarantee an option of leaving the camp; in Nauru camp, for example, refugees are given travel documents, but they cannot leave since they are isolated on the island. Due to crowding and lack of infrastructure, camps can become unhygienic, leading to a high incidence of infectious diseases, even epidemics. Common illnesses are malaria, cholera, jaundice, hepatitis, measles, meningitis and malnutrition. Refugee camps are monuments to human suffering, and the sheer size of these settlements testifies to the severity of forced displacement around the world. Yet, the settlements are also spaces of hope and optimism: for many inhabitants, these camps represent a stepping stone on the path to safety and prosperity.
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recommends one shower per 50 persons and one communal latrine per 20 persons. Hygene facilities should be separated by gender. - Water collection places - Clinics, hospitals and immunization centres: UNHCR recommends one health centre per 20,000 persons and one referral hospital per 200,000 persons. - Food distribution and therapeutic feeding centres: UNHCR recommends one food distribution centre per 5,000 persons and one feeding centre per 20,000 persons. - Schools and training centers: UNHCR recommends one school per 5,000 persons. Some facilities, such as schools or markets that make a camp look or feel more permanent, could be prohibited by host country government.
THE BIGGEST LIMBOS
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5
20 9 15
19
18 8 13
16 1 12 11 14 4 2 17 3 7
6
10
The map above shows the location of the 20 biggest camps in the world in terms of population. Seen from the chart on the right, there are two main types of camp governance: planned/managed (from outside) and self-governed. Being governed one way or another, camps develop different functional patterns that are described in two case studies in this chapter: Sahrawi Refugee Camps in Western Sahara and Nauru Refugee Centre in South-East Asia.
The first three camps of the list together make the largest refugee camp, Dadaab. This camp, 24 years old and originally set for 90 000 people, today hosts nearly half a million people, primarily from Somalia. In May 2016 the Kenyan government announced that the camp would be shut down at the end of the year. No displacement strategy was presented to the public. It remains to be seen what will happen with its inhabitants, many of whom born there and have never left the camp.
1.
2.
LIST OF LIMBOS
KAKUMA (KENYA)
HAGADERA (KENYA)
1. Kakuma (Kenya)* 2. Hagadera (Kenya)* 3. Dagahaley (Kenya)* 4. Ifo (Kenya) 5. Zataari (Jordan) 6. Yida (South Sudan) 7.Katumba (Tanzania) 8. Pugnido (Ethiopia) 9. Panian (Pakistan) 10. Mishamo (Tanzania) 11. Melkadida (Ethiopia) 12. Bokolmanyo (Ethiopia) 13. Bredjing (Chad) 14. Batil (South Sudan) 15. Old Akora (Pakistan) 16. Buramino (Ethiopia) 17. Fugnido (Ethiopia) 18. Oure Cassoni (Chad) 19. Beldangi (Nepal) 20. Gamkol (Pakistan)
Population (2015): 184,550
Population (2015): 105,998
Established or recognized in: 1992
Established or recognized in: 1992
Occupants primarily from: South
Occupants primarily from: Somalia
5.
6.
Sudan, Somalia
Type: planned/managed camp
3.
Type: planned/managed camp
4.
DAGAHALEY (KENYA)
IFO (KENYA)
Population (2015): 87,223
Population (2015): 84,089
Established or recognized in: 1992
Established or recognized in: 1992
Occupants primarily from: Somalia
Occupants primarily from: South
Type: planned/managed camp
Sudan, Somalia
Type: planned/managed camp
7.
ZAATARI (JORDAN)
YIDA (SOUTH SUDAN)
KATUMBA (TANZANIA)
Population (2015): 77,781
Population (2015): 70,331
Population (2015): 66,550
Established or recognized in: 2012
Established or recognized in: 2012
Established or recognized in: 1972
Occupants primarily from: Syria
Occupants primarily from: Sudan
Occupants primarily from: Burundi
Type: planned/managed camp
Type: self-governed camp
Type: self-governed camp
8.
9.
10.
PUGNIDO (ETHIOPIA)
PANIAN (PAKISTAN)
MISHAMO (TANZANIA)
Population (2015): 63,262
Population (2015): 62,264
Population (2015):
Established or recognized in: 1993
Established or recognized in: 2008
Established or recognized in: 2014
Occupants primarily from: South
Occupants primarily from: Afganistan
Occupants primarily from: Burundi
Type: planned/managed camp
Type: self-governed camp
Sudan
Type: planned/managed camp
* These camps are part of a refugee megalopolis Dadaab, the largest in the world.
62,264
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0.
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SAHRAWI REFUGEE REPUBLIC
“Sahrawi camps are unique refugee settlements: refugees govern themselves instead of being governed.’’
Instead of seeing the Sahrawi camps as pure spaces of exception, or as the spatial state of emergency, we need to acknowledge the everyday urban activities that play out in the camps, and how they are agents in the production of space. Spaces of everyday life show how the camps are used as fields of social, cultural, economic and political exchange, thus giving them an urban quality. It recognizes the importance of ‘normality’ in abnormal conditions.
The refugee camps have become a testing ground for the new vision of community that the Saharwi independence movement created to resist Spanish colonial rule. The community experiment was initially to be implemented in the independent Western Sahara. The tribal system, which had defined Sahrawi culture and identity for centuries, was rejected in favor of a new national identity with a more modern governance structure. Algeria has ceded control of part of the Algerian Sahara, and has allowed refugees to establish semi-autonomy there. Sahrawis who have moved into that area now control access to their camps. They have also developed an extensive network of governance and administration, with the center located in Rabouni. All five camps together are home to 160 000 people. El Aaiun Tindouf Awserd
Rabouni
Smara
The network of Sawhrawi camps. Rabouni, founded in 1975, is the administrative center of the Republic
MOVING AND COMMUNICATION In the “capital” of Rabouni one can see various government ministries, the main national hospital, the national museum and the national archive. The city also has a large central market located at the main transport hub used by thousands of people who come to work at the ministries. What emerges is unique for a refugee settlement: a seat of government for a refugee nation where refugees govern themselves instead of being governed by the host nation, international community or humanitarian offices. Surprisingly, moving, transport and communication are a central focus in camps. This can be traced back to the Sahrawi’s traditional nomadic way of life. Participation in the trans-Saharan trading network made
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The camps started as a collection of tents erected on desert land, organized in rows and clusters. The camps received little help from the UN or the international community, so the schools, medical facilities and hospitals were set up and run by the refugees themselves. As the camps grew, the tents were replaced or supplemented by clay huts that multiplied over time. They evolved into the small residential quarters that are now home to most of the Sahrawis. These nomadic tribes initially settled in one camp – Rabouni. Then they established two new ones – Smara and El Aaiun. Eventually they spread to five camps in total, with Dakhla and Awserd established last. Meanwhile, Rabouni was transformed into an administrative center.
the freedom to move around a critical aspect of survival. Mobility, in fact, is much more than mere utility for them. The camps are located in the middle of the largest desert in the world; thus, movement is essential in connecting to the surrounding regions and the world in general. Communication is still fairly basic: each family normally possesses one mobile phone, radio and television.
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Rabouni administration center
“It seems that the tragedy of loosing one’s homeland had lead to a system bringing the emancipation to a refugee nation.’’
ECONOMY AND WORKING The economy is not based on currency but on exchange in kind. Staple foods have been donated by the Algerian state, and additional goods and services are bartered among the refugees. Some employment in institutions, such as schools and hospitals, is unpaid and undertaken for the benefit of public interest. Sometimes these workers are rewarded with extra portions of vegetables or other goods. However, the situation changed when the Spanish started paying pensions to the Sahrawis who worked in the colonial administration. The pensions enabled the Sahrawis working in Spain and Algeria to send money to their families in the camps. The inflow of money into the camps established economic differences among the inhabitants for the first time. HEALTH AND EDUCATION The level of education and health care of Sahrawis was very basic during Spanish colonial rule. To set up a decent education and health system for a relatively small population over such a vast territory was almost impossible. It seems that the tragedy of losing one’s homeland had lead to a system of bringing emancipation to a refugee nation: the relative density of life in the camps, mobility and communication services allowed the creation of an extensive system of schools and clinics. The level of education and life expectancy is one of the highest among the countries of the Maghreb.
Sahrawi girls at school
RECREATION AND LEISURE Recreation and leisure are almost never mentioned in the context of a refugee camp. In UNCHR’s Handbook for Emergencies, which is widely used for planning refugee camps, these aspects of human life are mentioned nowhere. In fact, they may be intentionally omitted because they are considered disrespectful in a situation of desperation. The support systems and protocols address only basic survival, and are limited to the provision of food and medications. By contrast, Sahrawi districts provide spaces for various social activities: weddings, tea ceremonies, and distribution centers that convert into places for socializing, meeting and playing. Cultural activities, such as youth theaters and painting, are also widely encouraged.
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Inhabitants of this enhanced camp are also encouraged to pursue sports. Football is the favourite and is played almost everywhere, from empty spaces between dwellings to proper football fields located in the center of each camp.
Camps
Urban fabric
Housing Typologies
The camp spreads as new refugees arrive. The tents are replaced or supplemented by huts. Initially rigid organization changes to a more fluid or informal layout. Some families, needing additional space, move to the periphery of the camp which results in blurring of the camp’s borders.
Rigid order of tents gets dissolved and a more ‘‘organic’’ organization begins to emerge. Starting with single huts, households build new additional objects. More recently, these objects are surrounded by walls creating enclosed courtyards, separating in that way private from public space.
When camps were established, the refugees used to live in tents that are donated by Algerian government following the ones donated by UNHCR . Later they build clay huts and more recently the ones made of cement bricks. All typologies are still present in the camps nowadays.
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NAURU REFUGEE CAMP
Australia has used Nauru – and its beholden and impoverished government – as a remote site for the “offshore processing” of people who seek asylum and protection. It first began as a hurried political response to the arrival of one boat, the MV Tampa, on Australia’s northern horizon. Over a decade and a half later, it has metamorphosed into a permanent policy, with support from the country’s two major political parties. The government’s current policy states that no person who arrives in the country by boat seeking asylum is ever settled in Australia (plane arrivals are not subject to “mandatory detention”). Instead, they are sent to Nauru, or to Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island, for “offshore processing”. These asylum seekers face a bleak future because no genuine resettlement ever takes place. In effect, people accused of no crime are warehoused in appalling conditions in arbitrary and indefinite detention. Dozens of countries, the United Nations, and rights groups including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have documented and condemned the illegal detention. In comparison with the size of the world’s forced migration challenge, the numbers are tiny. The latest statistics, from the end of June, show there are 442 asylum seekers and refugees living in the Nauru “regional processing centre”, including 49 children. Several hundred more live “in the community” of Nauru. They fall outside the scope of the government’s statistics but remain stuck on the tiny island. The “travel documents” that some people have been issued are not travel documents at all – they do not allow their holders to travel anywhere. Australia has sent more than three-quarters (77%) of its asylum seekers to Nauru. When their asylum claims were assessed, the detainees were falsely classified as refugees rather than asylum seekers, which are legally protected if they have a “well-founded fear of persecution”. The island’s government has steadfastly refused to let refugees stay longer than five years. Thus, Nauru prefers to classify displaced people as refugees to limit its obligation to them.
Nauru
Australia
The first experiment of using the island as a refugee camp started after the Tampa incident in 2001. Norwegian freighter MV Tampa saved 438 refugees from international waters near Christmas Island. The freighter was refused permission to enter Australian waters, a clear violation of international law. Shortly afterward, the government introduced the “Pacific Solution”. This system sent asylum seekers directly to Nauru, and their refugee status was assessed there rather than in Australia. Very few foreign journalists are allowed to visit the island. Media visas can be issued but are very difficult to obtain. However, information always finds a way out. Refugees and asylum seekers have their communications closely monitored, but they still speak out in letters and electronic messages. Several shaky, hand-held phone videos
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Nauru is a tiny, 34-square kilometer island of barren land in the heart of the Pacific Ocean. Despite the palm trees and picturesque blue waters, it is far from a tropical paradise. The history of detention centers on Nauru is brief, but the island has been central to Australia’s asylum policies.
“The worst thing about the Nauru is the waiting. Nothing ever happens here.”
have reached the world media. In one horrific video, Omid Masoumali doused himself in petrol, set himself alight, and burned to death to protest the conditions under which he was held. In 2015, Australia passed the Australian Border Force Act, which carries a two-year prison sentence for any staff who speak publicly of conditions inside the camp. The refugees and asylum seekers transferred to Nauru initially spend a year or more housed in cramped vinyl tents in a detention facility called the “Regional Processing Centre” (RPC). There, indoor temperatures regularly reach 45 to 50 degrees Celsius, with conditions worsened by torrential rains and flooding.
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The Center is run by a private company hired by the Australian government, which has effective control of the facility and is responsible for ensuring the health and welfare of the refugees detained there. Detainees describe conditions in these camps as “prison-like”. Regular searches of their tents by guards result in confiscation of “prohibited” items like food and sewing needles. Detainees are limited to two-minute showers and their toilets are filthy. Parent of three children, Construction Camp Detention Centre: ‘’ Take the children out and keep us in.’’ Christmas Island, 2014.
‘‘I saw my wife lying under the bed. The bed didn’t have a mattress. . . . I saw the nurse, an Australian nurse, playing on her tablet. My wife was crying.”
MEDICAL CARE The standard of medical care for refugees and asylum seekers on Nauru is very poor. Medical equipment is rudimentary and lacks even basic supplies, such as bandages or sterile gloves. Dental services are largely limited to tooth extraction. Specialist medical attention is rare. Detainees report that the medical staff do not take their health complaints seriously. In most cases they are simply prescribed painkillers, causing serious medical conditions to develop: heart and kidney diseases, diabetes accompanied by weight loss and rapidly deteriorating eyesight, reduced mobility, etc. One father said, “My son has kidney problems. We have been visiting IHMS for two years now and they keep promising he would see a regular doctor, but it hasn’t happened. My daughter just needs a pair of eye glasses, but it is also not possible to get them here.’’ A man described terrible conditions while his wife was in labour: the baby was delivered on a bed without a mattress, with no tissue or hand washing liquid. Not being allowed to leave the island without authorization, the refugees and asylum seekers are completely dependent on the Australian government and aid agencies.
Drawing by 14 year old, Darwin detention centre, 2014.
Many of these displaced people develop dire mental health problems and suffer overwhelming despair. Self-harm and suicide attempts are frequent. All face prolonged uncertainty about their future. “I was going to kill myself as well, I had the idea. Many of us here think about suicide,” a 22-year old detainee said. Dr. Peter Young, formerly the chief psychiatrist responsible for the care of asylum seekers in detention, de-
‘‘When you can’t change anything, when you don’t have hope, then what’s the difference between being alive or dead?” SAFETY Allegations of sexual assault are pervasive, particularly against young women. Children are particularly vulnerable to abuse. According to the organization Save the Children, it is not uncommon for children to experience violence and sexual misconduct by guards. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International documented cases in which Nauruans, alone or in groups, assaulted and robbed refugees and asylum seekers, sometimes at knifepoint. More than 80% of those interviewed said Nauruans had attacked them.
A refugee from Bangladesh suffered serious head trauma when a Nauruan man threw a large rock at him, kicked him off his bicycle, and beat him after he fell. A Somali woman reported that several Nauruan men attacked her husband, hitting him on the head with a machete. One young woman said she married for protection after being released into the community. “After I left the camp I felt very unsafe – I could not go out. I decided to marry a man who is 15 years older just to have protection.’’ EDUCATION Children who attend local schools described frequent bullying and harassment from Nauruan students, who tell them to go back to their home countries. Many have stopped attending classes altogether. Save the Children Australia estimates that 85 percent of asylum seekers and refugee children on Nauru do not attend local schools, in part because of the prevalence of bullying and harassment.
‘‘People here don’t have a real life. We are just surviving. We are dead souls in living bodies. We are just husks. We don’t have any hope or motivation.”
Drawing by a preschool boy, Christmas Island 2014
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scribed the camps as “inherently toxic” and “the whole system of detention is geared towards removing hope for people so they agree to go back to where they came from. The [immigration] department told us this was the objective.’’ He added, “Everyone who works in mental health knows that the main thing which makes people suicidal is hopelessness, so there was a fundamental contradiction with our professional ethics.’’
THE FAILURE OF REFUGEE CAMPS
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Humanitarian aid today is delivered the same way as it was 70 years ago, despite the global social and technological changes.
“Their homes are constructed with destruction in mind.” Marie Thomson, anthropologist
Political instability, climate change and other factors virtually guarantee that in the near future we will see a startling increase in the number of refugees and economic migrants worldwide. It is important to understand the implications of the internationally adopted policy for settling refugees into remote camps. POLITICAL BACKGROUND Theoretically, camps make the delivery of humanitarian aid more efficient. By collecting displaced people in a central location, aid agencies can reduce the costs associated with assessing refugees’ needs and distributing relief supplies. However, third world countries often keep displaced people offshore and out of sight, which suggests a political agenda rather than a strictly humanitarian focus. The first modern camps for displace people were within Europe’s borders. Shortly after WWII British, French and German camps hosted an estimated 850 000 people. As the camps were gradually emptied the population was resettled, mainly in Western Europe, Canada and the United States. Yet since the 1950s, Western Europe has kept displaced people outside its borders by funding large-scale refugee camps in the developing countries. Eighty percent of the world’s displaced people reside for extended periods of time in third world countries. By funding UNHCR and other aid agencies, the world’s wealthiest countries pay to keep them there. PERMANENTLY TEMPORARY STATE Despite the United Nations High Commission for Refugees’ call for “durable solutions” for displaced people, the plan for most refugees is for them to wait in camps until they can return home, even when there is no foreseeable end to the wars or occupations that have displaced them. Refugee camps are designed for temporary stay: to meet an emergency and then disappear. This is obvious in the architecture of camps – thousands of people are housed in rows of simple tents that barely offer any protection from snow, subzero temperatures, or flooding. Despite these conditions, there is no plan for the refugees to be resettled or returned home in a reasonable time frame. In Tanzania, Congolese refugees in the Nyarugusu camp are forced to build their own shelters from unbaked bricks and thatch. This allows the camp manager, UNCHR, to tear down the structures at any moment. “Impermanence is designed into the refugees’ most intimate spaces,” anthropologist Marnie Thomson says. “Their homes are constructed with destruction in mind.” Neither host states, aid agencies nor the United Nations want camps to be permanent. But the purgatory of camp life lasts decades, or even generations, as the politics of refugees’ home countries remains unstable. For example, Palestinians are entering their 68th year of displacement. The average stay in refugee camps around the world has reached 14 years, which UNCHR calls “a situation of protracted
NO INTEGRATION PERPETUATES SEGREGATION Protracted stays cause chronic problems: austere living conditions, lack of basic services, and segregation from the surrounding society. Most camps lack schools, places of worship and markets. Although there are some camps with more permanent infrastructure, most lack the amenities of a town of equivalent size. Unemployment is rampant in refugee camps. In order to protect the local labor force, many camps are placed far from urban areas, which makes it difficult or impossible for refugees to find paying jobs. Being banned from any form of legal employment, refugees living in camps must resort to working underground, on the black market, making them vulnerable to wage theft, arrest and imprisonment. Even if the time to go home ever comes, refugees cannot afford to return, having spent all of their savings. Worst of all are ‘‘closed camps’’, or detention centers, where the host country prohibits refugees from leaving. An extreme case is Nauru camp, which is maintained by the Australian government and described in previous section. In Nyarugusu Camp, in Tanzania, refugees are not allowed to venture farther than four kilometers from camp boundaries. However, the refugees regularly disregard this rule because they need to work, buy groceries or see family members who settled (illegally) in surrounding cities. If stopped by police, they are required to pay huge bribes or risk arrest.
“We have to live as if we’re going to live here stuck forever.” Mamuka Khaduri, a refugee veterinarian in IDP camp in Georgia
Although they are not criminals, refugees are effectively incarcerated for an indefinite term. Cast into a permanently temporary state, in city-sized camps offering little hope of economic self-sufficiency, displaced people live in situations of imposed and institutionalized
hopelessness. The World Food Program, which gets its funding through the United Nations’ joint appeal process, dropped the budget for feeding Syrian refugees in camps to a mere $13.50 per month. For refugees trying to get into Europe, it is not just about having a better life – it is about staying alive.
CONCLUSION Immobilizing refugees in permanently temporary spaces and segregating them from surrounding societies is failing as a solution for the crisis that is clearly here to stay. Instead of fencing them out, the International community should find ways to manage the unstoppable crisis in a way that it benefits local economies and environments, which is one of the challenges the project in this book is dealing with.
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displacement.” Neither likely to return to their home countries, nor to integrate into their host society, refugees remain in these limbos of congestion
Prezeti, a camp for displaced people in the Republic of Georgia, is so remote that residents complain that packs of wolves follow children on their way to school. Because the camp is far away from jobs and urban services
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04
LIFE IN MOTION Escape is not just about running away; it’s about having somewhere to go, about setting down roots in a different kind of place Excerpt From: Bonnett, Alastair. “Unruly Places”
PROLOGUE
There is a world full of partitions and borders. This world is self-destructive. It is inhabited by individuals whose luck and prosperity in life are determined by their place of birth. Some of them are lucky, some of them are not. And that is their biggest sin. The sinners find themselves in a dark forest. The darkness they are surrounded with is colored with bloody combats or demonstrations of the cataclysmic power of nature. They must not stay there anymore, but there is hardly a way out. Remaining trapped, they turn to Virgil, their inner instinct and a guide to salvation to show them the way to Heaven, a better life.
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‘‘In the middle of the journey of our life, I came to myself in a dark forest where the straight way was lost’’ Nel mezzo del cammino di nostra vita mi ritrovai per una selva oscura ché la diritta via era smarrita. Dante Alighieri Divina Commedia Canto I, lines 1–3
‘‘In the middle of the journey of our life, I came to myself in a dark forest where the straight way was lost’’ /Nel mezzo del cammino di nostra vita mi ritrovai per una selva oscura ché la diritta via era smarrita./ But Virgil knows no other way to Heaven than through Hell and Purgatory. Yet the sinners’ Journey begins, on the banks of the dark rough waters, where souls await passage into Hell proper. The journey through hell is unpredictable, hardly bearable, the circles are measured in kilometers passed. Reaching each gate gives a little bit of hope whispering that the pain, sweat and tears were not in vain and that Heaven is closer than it seems. But self-proclaimed Gods have closed the gates. They have built towering fences and walls around their heavens, leaving the sinners out and allowing only the chosen ones in. The state of flux becomes the state of congestion. Stuck in their Purgatory, left feeling unfulfilled, due to their unfinished journey, they want to enter the heaven they are prohibited from. As long as hope still has its bit of green /Mentre che la speranza ha fior del verde/ they remain permanently in this temporary limbo of their own salvation.
Gustave Doré - Purgatorio , illustration from Dante’s Divine Comedy
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REFUGIUM /rɛfjuːdʒɪəm/ meaning: an area where special environmental circumstances
have enabled a species or a community to survive after extinction in surrounding areas.
Not long after the first foundation of the city, tradition had it that Romulus opened a sanctuary of refuge for all fugitives, which they called the temple of the god Asylaeus, where they received and protected all, delivering none back, neither the servant to his master, the debtor to his creditor, nor the murderer into the hands of the magistrate, saying it was a privileged place, and they could so maintain it by an order of the holy oracle; insomuch that the city grew presently very populous, for, they say, it consisted at first of no more than a thousand houses.
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ad aedem sacram
I A Syrian toddler, dead on a Turkish beach, after the boat in which his family was attempting to use to flee to Europe capsized at sea. Desperate families crowding a Hungarian train station, their children sleeping on floors and sidewalks, fearing Hungary will intern them in sinister-sounding “camps.” Greek tourism towns filling with tents and with humanitarian workers, to accommodate the rickety boats of refugees that arrive daily at the shores.
- THE JOURNEY IS AT THE HEART OF THE PROBLEM -
II The starting point is an ever changing problem - the catalyst of which is more than likely far outside the realm of architecture.
- THE ARCHITECT IS UNABLE TO SOLVE SUCH PROBLEMS -
III The endpoint is a hybrid and complex solution involving a multitude of concerned parties, stakeholders etc. A single architect cannot act with a ‘god complex’ imposing his unique solution to a multitude of complex contexts and cultures which he does not understand. One can however through deep understanding of cities and spatial structure, propose strategy of integration to follow in order to create successful communities and cities.
- COMPLEXITY BEYOND COMPREHENSION -
The journey of the refugee is his plight. The architect has the power to work within this space: a limbo between points. Borders have become the new choking points of our global landscape, intensifying the looming and preceding crisis of refugees.
- THE MOVEMENT OF REFUGEES GLOBALLY -
The journey is a state of flux Darkness of night, Barren Landscapes, Watery graves, Out of sight.
V A global frame of X meters will be taken for humanity. A continuous and all encompassing route circumnavigating the globe - border-less, perilous, free space.
- AS ARCHITECTS WE MAKE A STAND -
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IV
PURIFYING THE JOURNEY A line is the purest form of a journey between two places, the shortest and most refined passage between them.
“A line is the shortest distance from one point to another’’ was how Euclid defined this element more than 2200 years ago. As a journey is an act of reaching one place from another, in geometry a line is also connecting two points. Having seen that the journey of refugees is full of places of congestion, obstacles and sidetracks, the line of Refugium is taken as the purest form of a journey between two places, wherever they are, because the line lies equally with respect to all the points on itself. Instead of creating numberless impermanent limbos (today’s refugee camps) that are part of the journey anyway but paradoxically represent a bottleneck, points of stagnation and congestion, we challenge that way of approaching the ‘‘crisis’’, proposing an infinite state of flux.
‘‘A line is a dot that went for a walk’’ Paul Klee
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Refugium itself knows no borders and removes from within everything that potentially can lead to congestion. An all encompassing stripe where movement is free. It circumnavigates the world , making every part of itself accessible from any place on earth. It is a global movement for a global ‘‘crisis’’ that is here to stay. The solution is not to fence out the refugees out or trap them in their home countries but to help them resettle in ways that benefit local economies and urban environments.
shelter /ˈʃɛltə/ -a place giving temporary protection from bad weather or danger. temporary resident -a person who has permission to remain in on a temporary basis (the main categories are students, temporary workers and visitors).
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MANIFESTATION OF AN IDEA We need to change the way the world currently operates in order to generate new outcomes.
The Birth of a New Society As we have clearly seen within the confines of the journey upon which refugees move along, as well as the cesspools that have formed (refugee camps) the way of life of these people has been fundamentally altered. Identified as the part of the equation within which we have scope to study, the migration of these refugees hold clues as to how this way of life has evolved this society, even more creating a New Society. People from all cultures become unified through aspects such as common fear, like that of survival while at the same time working to reach a common Utopian goal of being able to lead a better life.
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“The camp is the space that is opened when the state of exception becomes the rule. In the camp, the state of exception, which was a temporary suspension of the rule of law, is now given as the permanent spatial arrangement.”
G.Agamben
In a world full of greed and aggression the crisis of refugees continues to evolve and develop. Geopolitical underpinnings form much of the ongoing problem. We need to change the way the world currently operates in order to generate new outcomes. Taking from the existing situation we can see a clear shift in social thinking and behavior of refugees. Arising first from the newly adopted nomadic lifestyle, both voluntary and involuntary, and secondly from the displays of new social development brought about by this way of life. The transition from “homo faber” to “homo ludens” is evident. (Homo Ludens – Man not bound by existential activity, therefore able to explore and broaden his creativity.)
Homo faber -the human being as the maker or creator. Homo ludens -creative human being, one that releases his creative potential ludus (lat.) play, game, sport, training
An example of this can be seen in the case of Syrian refugees that have been stranded in refugee camps. Upon satiating their need for survival, one of their first acts is to create ornate fountains, even embellishing TV’s in them, within the camps. This as a result of the fact that they are an important part of their daily life and culture – people who have nothing are spending their time on creation/creativity The new model of this society is to be expressed on a global scale. Thus giving space to these refugees in which there is an inversion of the existing ethical issues they face such as; injustice, danger, exclu-
sion, depravity, poverty. This becomes a system of rights that this new society will be based upon such as; justice, safety, inclusion, surplus and wealth. This is by no means a practical solution for today, but a way to change our perception and thinking in order to create alternative outcomes in the future. An architectural provocation to the current way in this crisis is approached. The beginning of a paradigm shift.
“You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something build a new model, that makes the existing model obsolete.� Buckminster Fuller
The right to move is linked to the right to survive. This overriding concept is at the crux of the refugee crisis. Thus, Refugium is expressed as an architecture of movement, emulating the new nomadic existence of its inhabitants. Movement means that the architecture is forever in a state of flux, a displacement of its users constantly altering their surroundings to suit their needs along their journey. Embracing and enhancing the lifestyle of its ludic society, the architecture takes on the role of allowing the liberation of the inhabitants ludic potential, thereby liberating them as social beings. Living in a world that is currently and ever advancingly automated, it is only right that the mundane, repetitive nature of work become automated. The responsibility is on the architecture to provide for its people, breaking humanities chains of an unceasing struggle for existence. Such changes are so powerful to the way in which the relationship between spatiality and society is altered, yet we have no precedent in a historical sense to understand what these changes would mean. It is not difficult however to understand that these changes are impending based on the exponential modernization of our society over the last few hundred years. The ever flowing and adapting spatial configuration of Refugium can be mapped but never fully captured in traditional cartographies, it can be creatively imagined but only practiced and fully lived. This is due to the fact that the structure takes part in the 4th dimension – that of time - being in continuous transformation, constantly changing its configuration. To capture it with image would be as frivolous as photographing the ocean, only a part of this constant process would be frozen in time.
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Architecture of Movement
A citizen of Refugium
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The people of such an architecture, of such a fundamentally different way of life, would potentially develop a new set of values, a new outlook and perception of the world around. This new perspective is near impossible to understand without a historical precedent, as we can only imagine his/her thought processes, decisions or reactions from within our personal frame of reference. Through layered understanding of the very real shifts of society along with the application of theoretical rhetoric, we are able to generate possible outcomes or models of what the architectural implications would be, if we were to build freely with this state of mind. Once entering the structure, Refugium’s citizens are no longer rooted - they moves freely without restraints. Ones movement knows no congestion, just a permanent state of flow. So what happens with a persons identity within the space? Today, we form a certain identity according to the spaces we live in, schools we attend, bars we drink coffee at – which is all defined by our stationery way of life. The life in constant motion is not inclined to forming (spatial) identity. People move through a series of creative environments, which would possibly be changed and recreated. The new refugee, has already been deprived of everything he identified himself with - from his past stationary life. He does not identify with this new space, since he is only moving through it, while playing. A man who moves freely and does not have to struggle for his existence is without historical basis. That is why materiality is not important for a new refugee. He already has nothing. His instinct of pure physical survival and self defense, the primordial instincts of human being, are satiated; the only instinct that takes over is the creative one.
Baptism
- Refugium -
Integration Inhabitence of Refugium is akin to that of a new dimension
Refugium as a social space The historically known division into social classes, nations and races (due to the certain interest) blocks the development to the new ‘’global culture”. In our current world one is always the oppressor, the other is oppressed; some are privileged, others are excluded.
It is the ‘new’ worlds created by imagination that individuals reformulate their identities and their ‘cultures’ People in motion /Lotus international
These radical shifts in terms of both the spatial and social relationships formed within Refugium provide a plethora of avenues of insight, drawing on questions of existentialism that are pertinent not only to the project but the future the current trajectory of contemporary society. Rapid modernization, and technological advancements of robotics and AI are taking virtuoso leaps forward. This is leading to the potential drastic change to the current way of life as we know it. The concepts found within Refugium not only aim to create a paradigm shift in the way in which we deal with the issue of a refugee crisis but also look to utilize a highly exaggerated hypothesis of current social trends providing a glimpse into a potential future that mankind is heading towards.
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In a society that no longer knows the struggle for subsistence, which is a cause of all divisions, competition disappears at both the individual and collective level. Refugees who have found sanctuary withing Refugium share the same feelings of fear, loss and hope that keeps them together. Social barriers are no longer important. People start to intermix, which results in the disappearance of racial and social differences and the fusion into a new state of human evolution - a new society in movement.
THEORETICAL UNDERPINNINGS
Radical Architecture The architectural theory of our project has been loosely based on many principles derived from some of the honorary and often controversial minds within our field. The work done by Rem Koolhaas, the proverbial father of our current epoch of architecture, in his project Exodus provides a strong understanding in what it means to challenge current norms of society, and the concept of inversion and in his case perversion of social constructs, re-interpreting these as architectonic manifestations. Where his project in its execution is highly dystopic, we look to utilize his approach to challenging the norm and creating a paradigm shift which ultimately is defined through the physical outcome of the project itself. His work, radical by nature is put together closely with the work by Superstudio’s - Continous Monument, which again shows how a singular concept aimed to challenge a widely accepted norm is used as the driver of the architectonic project.
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Situationist International “They rejected the idea that advanced capitalism’s apparent successes—such as technological advancement, increased income, and increased leisure—could ever outweigh the social dysfunction and degradation of everyday life” Despite of the mentioned progress and advancement nothing has been undertaken to ease and make the refugee Journey less dangerous and more humane. Situationist theory, intertwined with concepts like unitary urbanism and psycho-geography, while strongly challenging political norm through its avant-garde approach is what we see as an indispensable precedent to learn from. Without a level of change outside of architecture itself, there is no possibility to address a global problem such as the refugee crisis. The Society of the Spectacle “The spectacle is not a collection of images,” Debord writes, “rather, it is a social relationship between people that is mediated by images.” The spectacle obfuscates the past, imploding it with the future into an undifferentiated mass, a type of never-ending present; in this way the spectacle prevents individuals from realizing that the society of spectacle is only a moment in history. Aligned with this is the crisis of refugees. Ever changing and fluctuating with intensity throughout history. The concept brought forward by the Society of Spectacle is found both in the problem we face, and manifests itself simultaneously as the solution, where the dichotomous relationship between refugees and architecture needs to ebb and flow, integrating a multitude of aspects and requiring an entirely new archetype in order to function.
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The current flow of refugees towards Europe
Redirected flow to the line of Refugium
FROM POINTS TO A LINE Despite the global need of space for the always growing human population, today we witness vast refugee camps that last for decades, remaining limbos for its inhabitants and places of avoidance for people from the other side of the fence. A limited resource, such as space, should be carefully and effectively used.
For a scale idea, a small refugee camp of 10 square kilometers could produce 200 kilometers of a 50 meters wide line. The ‘‘linear refugee footprint’’ would therefore be justified.
A dot becomes a part of a line with the length as its dominant dimension.
The adjacent diagrams show the process of this concept. Following our intense and analysis and deep understanding of refugee camps and the people who live there we are able to abstract this information. The current spatial disorganization, the generator of squalor and unrest is synthesized. Potentialities identified within the existing context are extracted and brought forward. The system of preceding dots are amalgamated within the form of the line. Refugium is born.
Amalgamation of concepts
Footprint of Refugium is justified.
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Footprint of the refugee camps spreading , but individually remaining isolated
The footprint of the refugee camp, instead of being an isolated point, becomes a part of the line which is Refugium, a link in a chain, supporting the movement of the people it previously used to keep in one place.
CONGESTION AND FLOW: REFLECTION ON THE URBAN PATTERN
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A radial form is a classical way of establishing a settlement. The pattern consists of inner and outer ring roads linked by radiating roads. The core is of historical and economical importance, whereas the periphery is usually dominated by a residential typology and green belts. The advantages of such a shape is that the city can spread in all directions, but on the other hand, approaching the center from any direction leads to congestion. The properties closer to the center normally have higher values than the those on the outskirts of the city, intensifying social segregation among its residents.
The linear city design was first developed by Arturo Soria y Mata in Madrid, Spain during the 19th century, but was widely promoted by the Soviet planner Nikolai Alexander Milyutin in the late 1920s. The idea is to expand the city along the spine of transport, and reduce congestion within city found in the aforementioned radial plan. With the development of fast transportation systems this model could become very feasible. Linear cities foster quality of life through urban mobility and access, while minimizing consumption of land and material resources of all kinds, including energy resources.
Refugium is a spine connecting with the places in the surrounding landscape, reviving and revitalizing abandoned and undeveloped places with the influx of people and new way of life. It acts as a main artery pumping blood into every vessel in the organism. Existing towns would grow while new ones could be established, thus forming networks of political and cultural alliances. Economical recovery would lead to the investment in regional infrastructure. In the opposite direction, the products and ideas generated in the newly revived cities would be distributed globally by virtue of the line, therefore Refugium would act as a global medium.
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NETWORK AND INFRASTRUCTURE
Global trade routes are by no means a new concept. The development of human kind has always been driven through such activity. The most famous of these networks is none other than the Silk Road, which now after hundreds of years looks to be set to return. We have entered a new epoch in our history, where technology is evolving at a rate that is now allowing the realization of what was deemed previously impossible. Infrastructure projects are no longer aimed at a regional scale, but rather look further afield. Projects of such nature have been brought forward throughout history, often touted though as impossible. Very recently though we have found a paradigm shift in terms of global development projects. These so called “mega-projects� are found within a variety of sectors, ranging from Aerospace projects like intercontinental flight, Disaster Containment projects such as those implemented to clean up and contain the fallout of Chernobyl and Fukoshima. Energy projects have historically been important but have today reached an unprecedented scale, ranging from enormous Hydro-electric power stations, Solar farms and Wind farms are all currently being implemented around the world. These mega-projects also extend into the field of Science with developments of technology such as the Large Hadron Collider in Cern, or the Human Genome project. These projects allow for global collaboration for the betterment and understanding of our species. Transport and City-Making are without a doubt two of the areas where these mega projects have begun to make their mark as well. The unfathomable growth of super cities like Dubai and Shenzen have shown new potentialities of architecture and urban planning today. Developments in transport too have taken a leap forward, with driver-less cars, drone delivery and high speed rail systems like the Hyperloop on the horizon of a not too distant future. Man looks likely to expand this network of trade and infrastructure even further abroad. Space travel, often seen as the final frontier looks set to become an all to real reality. Pioneers such as Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson are all aiming to make man a multi-planetary species within the next decade, where trade between celestial bodies such as the Earth, Mars and the moon will become the newest iterations of the Silk Road.
UNHCR -The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, an international organization that is part of the UN and is responsible for giving help and support to refugees
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Globalization has torn the walls when it comes to trade, flows of goods, services and capital. Innovation and sustainable development have become the pillars of the modern era thanks to global collaboration.
THE SILK ROAD
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يرطwريرحلا ق Δρόμος του μεταξιού
ABOUT THE SILK ROAD The Silk Road was an historical trade route spanning from Chang’an in China, across the East to Rome. The network of trade routes were formally established under the Han Dynasty and allowed for a cross pollination of cultures, exposing the Roman Empire at its other end to the treasures of the unexplored East. Coined as the “Silk Road” by Ferdinand von Richthofen in 1877, it was by no means a prehistoric highway used for the transport of precious cloth from China to Europe. These vast networks carried more than just merchandise and precious commodities however: the constant movement and mixing of populations also brought about the transmission of knowledge, ideas, cultures and beliefs, which had a profound impact on the history and civilizations of the Eurasian peoples. Travelers along the Silk Roads were attracted not only by trade but also by the intellectual and cultural exchange that was taking place in cities along the Silk Roads, many of which developed into hubs of culture and learning. Science, arts and literature, as well as crafts and technologies were thus shared and disseminated into societies along the lengths of these routes, and in this way, languages, religions and cultures developed and influenced each other. MORE THAN JUST SILK The production of silk was one of China’s best kept secrets. The luxurious material became highly sort after in the West generating this interest in mystery of the East. The material was used to adorn nobles, emperors and even tombs. Its opulence was not unnoticed by those abroad and it was even used as diplomatic gifts between China and other nations. The trade of silk though opened the door to an expansive network that comprised of much more. These new passages of trade which included textiles, spices, grain, vegetables and fruit, animal hides, tools, wood work, metal work, religious objects, art work, precious stones and much more. Indeed, the Silk Roads became more popular and increasingly well-traveled over the course of the Middle Ages, and were still in use in the 19th century, a testimony not only to their usefulness but also to their flexibility and adaptability to the changing demands of society. Nor did these trading paths follow any one trail – merchants had a wide choice of different routes crossing a variety of regions of Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia and the Far East, as well as the maritime routes, which transported goods from China and South East Asia through the Indian Ocean to Africa, India and the Near East.
The Silk Road pulsated with life, ebbing and flowing with activity, rising and falling with the changes of multiple Dynasty’s through out its history. The significant Dynasty’s through this period were 206 BC–24 AD Western Han Dynasty - Zhang Qian set out on his journey to the Western Regions twice, pioneering the world-famous route. Several successful wars against the Huns were commanded by Wei Qing and Huo Qubing (famous generals in Han Dynasty), which removed obstacles along this trade route. In 60 BC, Han Dynasty established the Protectorate of the Western Regions, which greatly protected the trade along this time-honored route.
Ban Chao and Ban Yong conducted several expeditions to the Western Regions to suppress rebellions and re-established the Protectorate of the Western Regions.
CARAVANS - Travelers would move long distance often carrying many heavy items. Caravans of camels were a stable along the route and become one of the symbols of the Silk Road itself.
618–907 AD With the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, the road rose to its most flourishing period in history. Before the Anshi Rebellion (755–762) in the Tang Dynasty, this world-famous road experienced its “Golden Age” of development.
1271–1368 AD Along with the growth of the Mongolian Empire and the establishment of the Yuan Dynasty, the route regained its vigor and became prosperous once again. It enjoyed the last glorious era during this period.
SLEEPLESS TRADE - The Silk Road afforded an abundance of trade, allowing for the often spectacular mixture of cultures and societies from East to West.
The Mongol Empire destroyed a great number of toll-gates and corruption of the Silk Road; therefore passing through the historic trade route became more convenient. The Mongolian emperors welcomed the travelers of the West with open arms, and appointed some foreigners high positions, for example, Kublai Khan gave Marco Polo a hospitable welcome and appointed him a high post in his court. At that time, the Mongolian emperor issued a special VIP passport known as “Golden Tablet” which entitled holders to receive food, horses and guides throughout the Khan’s dominion. The holders were able to travel freely and carried out trade between East and the West directly in the realm of the Mongol Empire.
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25–220 AD
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Modern Cities on the Silk Road: 1. Aleppo 2. Alexandria 3. Almaty 4. Baku 5. Balkh 6. Bam 7. Bamiyan 8. Bukhara 9. Bursa 10. Dunhuang
11. Ephesus 12. Fatehpur Sikri 13. Herat 14. Isfahan 15. Jeddah 16. Karakorum 17. Kashgar 18. Samarkand 19. Shahrisabz 20. Umruqi
21. Xi’an 22. Yazd
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Many sites along the silk road, and the actual Silk Road itself are protected under the Unesco banner since 1990. The Importance of such as aspect is fundamental in preserving the historical integrity of this integral part of history, protecting it from development and infrastructural projects which have often looked to despose of these sites.
THE WORLD LAND BRIDGE - A land belt connecting the entire world globally allowing for unprecedented trade and travel, a new epoch in our evolution.
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spine
THE SILK ROAD BECOMES THE WORLD LAND BRIDGE The historic Silk Road has slowly but surely been catalyzed globally as new global trade routes and corridors have sprung up around the world. These infrastructural elements have the potential to work together as a system such as the World Land Bridge, forever changing the paradigms of trade on all levels from local to the intercontinental. At the heart of this is the One Belt, One Road project which has been initiated by the Chinese government. The core of the project lies the creation of an economic land belt that includes countries on the original Silk Road through Central Asia, West Asia, the Middle East and Europe, as well as a maritime road that links China’s port facilities with the African coast, pushing up through the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean. The project aims to redirect the country’s domestic overcapacity and capital for regional infrastructure development to improve trade and relations with Asian, Central Asian and European countries.
network / sprawl
Waning resources, growing populations and technological advancements will reshape our landscapes. This notion of land belt routes has been taken further through the proposal protaganised by Helga ZeppLaRouche, with the project of the World Land Bridge. Extensive research between the LaRouche Foundation and the Executive Intelligence Review Agency has been conducted on the viability and potentiality for such an infrastructural project and the potential impact it could have on shaping the future of mankind. The work looks at the growing cooperation of singular nations, developing networks of participation such as BRICS, CELAC, Eurasia and other such deals between powerhouses such as Russia,China and the USA. The elements making up this global route have been under development for differing periods of time. The projects shown in the diagrams on the right form an important notion of the recent increase in scale of infrastructural projects and how this abacus of projects could come together to serve and facilitate the concept of the World Land Bridge.
NICARAGUA
BERING STRAIT
SAKHALIN TUNNEL
SEIKAN
JAPAN-KOREA UNDERSEA TUNNEL
BOHAI TUNNEL
STRAIT OF MALACCA BRIDGE
SUNDA STRAIT BRIDGE
ISTHMUS OF KRA CANAL
BOSPORUS STRAIT RAIL TUNNEL
SUEZ CANAL
ITALY TUNISIA LINK
STRAIT OF GIBRALTAR
ENGLISH CHANNEL
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SAKHALIN-HOKKAIDO TUNNEL
SCANDINAVIAN PENINSULA-CONTINENTAL LINKS
SILK ROAD
PERU-BRAZIL TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILWAY
DARIEN GAP INTER-AMERICAN RAILWAY
ALASKA-CANADA–LOWER 48 RAIL LINE
TRANS SIBERIAN RAILWAY
1KG PACKAGE FROM ULAANBAATAR TO MILANO
75 days if you had to WALK
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by current RAIL
10.5 hrs total FLIGHT time
9 days courier by ROAD
40 days delivered by SEA
7 hrs by high speed MAG LEV
Chinese companies have funded and built roads, bridges and tunnels across the region. A ribbon of fresh projects, such as the Khorgos “dry port” on the Kazakh-Chinese border and a railway link connecting Kazakhstan with Iran, is helping increase trade across central Asia. China is not the only investor in central Asian connectivity. Multilateral financial institutions, such as the Asian Development Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the World Bank have long been investing in the region’s infrastructure. The Kazakh government has its own $9bn stimulus plan, directing money from its sovereign wealth fund to infrastructure investment. Other countries, including Turkey, the US, and the EU have also made improving Eurasian connectivity a part of their foreign policy.
The elements making up this global route have been under development for differing periods of time. The projects shown on the page before are an important notion of the recent increase in scale of infrastructural projects and how this abacus of projects could come together to serve and facilitate the concept of the World Land Bridge.
- Conflict Zones
- Refugee Camps
- Economic Migrants
- Refugees
Flows + World Land Bridge - A look at how the flow of migrants currently intersects and correlates with the conceptual path of the World Land Bridge. - World Land Bridge
- Silk Road
- Sea Trade
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Flows - Mapping the migration phenomena. Movement of people based on multitude of factors such as economical, territorial, political, religious tension or environmental consequences. Overlaid with this are curent zones of conflict and large refugee enclaves.
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If one takes the potentiality for catastrophe previously discussed under the future of what the refugee crisis potentially holds in store, and combines this with the planned network of the World Land Bridge, a very distinct correlation can be found. The World Land Bridge forms a near perfect median to the data cloud of potential catastrophes. This proves therefore the shortest path at any given
time from an event from which there is a large possibility for refugees to the tailored line of the World Land Bridge. Utilizing the WLB plus its support networks as a safe zone for refugees would therefore mitigate and shorten the Journey which they would need to take in order to flee the impending crisis and relocate to an area of safety.
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Tailored WLB
Support Networks of WLB
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ARCHITECTURE The Architecture itself is the materialization of this aforementioned Journey. The project therefore serves as a vessel that allows for the fundamental principles of the refugee crisis that we have identified, and the potentialities therein to be made manifest. The current constraints and dangers of this Journey are themselves inverted to become the driving rules by which the Architecture abides. At the crux of this is the underlying concept of MOVEMENT.
Distilled from these ideologies is therefore an architecture of movement, a border-less place, creating a complete paradigm shift in order to explore and provoke new ideas in the approach to what is seen as a refugee “crisis”. Mankind is undoubtedly rhapsodic when it comes to the formation of areas of anything “free”. Free Wifi zones have become the newest constructs of ‘social’ space, and entire nations have risen on the back of the principal of “tax free”. It is therefore only logical that we take the next step in this evolution and create what is truly the first border free space. So at this point it is only fair to ask, “Well what exactly is this Architecture of Movement?” In all earnest, the answer simply enough does not actually exist. The proposed Architecture of the project is nothing more than the container in which this continual flux is brought to life. Much like the bones in our bodies we propose the structure itself, a rigid element in space, but within it a plethora of vital elements are free to move servicing this temporal space in any configuration that is needed. Therefore the architecture itself can never really be fully imagined or even captured in an image, as an image serves as a mere fragment of frozen time, much the same as the result one gets when photographing a wave in the ocean. The architecture is therefore that of event, rather than that of object itself, a suiting fit as it is able to alter its physical configuration in anticipation of probable and possible patterns of use. The architecture pre-empts the needs of society adjust itself parametrically with algorithmic like precession, learning and adapting much like a computer program in order to understand its social order. The architecture itself is a tool of provocation, allowing for one to rethink the form of the solution to the refugee crisis on a global level while also examining what role architectural discourse can play in this. This provocation allows at the same time for all current policies and regulations currently blanketing the subject of refugees, to be challenged and tested.
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“Free unimpeded movement to be at the basis of everything”
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STRUCTURE Once the possibility of free unimpeded movement is at the basis of everything it is part of the ludic nature of people, born out of the primitive being within us to construct. Embracing this primordial urge, this creativity is made manifest. This occurrence is not unprecedented and can be seen when delving deeper into the outputs of refugees within this current crisis. Syrian refugees within the Zaatari refugee camp have put this ludic tendency to work through the construction of elaborate fountains within their ‘temporary’ living environment. As an important part of their culture, these have been adorned with a plethora of objects even going as far as in-casing within them flat screen TV’s. Other forms of creative expression in similar circumstances can be seen to such as the expansion of structures within caravans in gypsy camps, where the temporary is expanded, adapted and improved upon in order to satiate the needs of its inhabitants.
Dover Church
The structure holds the space in which refugees can move freely, its permeable sides allowing the flow of people and landscape through it and within it. This demarcation of this safe zone becomes a visual symbol in the landscape, working to identify itself as a visual beacon, distinguishable and providing hope even from a distance. Built along the existing railway, the structure can be assembled, upgraded and dismantled as needed. The processional emotion generated by the structure is akin to the nave of a church, guiding its occupants through it triggering movement. The structure allows for space itself to become pliable, taking the simplest form in order to allow for the flexibility to accommodate the most complex of functions. The space internally is forever changing, functions fluctuating functions from day to night.
Basilica of Maxentius
Old Saint Peters Basilica
The Axis of Procession The concept of the church / basilica layout : the nave is architecturally shaped for procession, movement towards salvation (altar...) ; the priority in the spatial organization is clear - the aisles are supporting spaces for what happens in the middle. The early types of basilica do not even contain the aisles, but the Nave is always there.
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Thus structure is born.
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CATWALK
Raised off of the ground, this single gesture is fundamental in meaning. To be raised off the ground allows the landscape to be free, purging the ground of its previous responsibilities, transforming the railway, a previous barren cut in the earth into an area now teaming with life. The horizontal slab also a fundamental psychological element, allowing openness and transparency to the outside world. This is juxtaposed to the possibility of enclosing such a structure within vertical walls, thereby creating exclusion between inside and out, while at the same time disturbing the landscape by cutting it, creating a new frontier. The open Catwalk is not only an important device inside the structure, but also from without, as it is able to function much like its haute couture counterpart, garnering interest and intrigue from the places through which is passes. A space of interaction and social inclusion is formed by the Catwalk, much like the Silk Road which preceded it. The refugees now have a purified journey along which to walk, supplying them with all possible necessities of life. Not excluding society in general though, the Catwalk becomes a space of social aggregation, where people form all walks of life are intertwined. Thus social inclusion is the dominant state of society within the structure, relinquishing people of the urge for xenophobic fear, and replacing it with a sense of community and acceptance.
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The catwalk is by definition synonymous with the concept of movement. Whether it be an elevated walkway above a theater or industrial space it provides safe passage without disturbing what lies below. The term further refers to the continuous movement and observation of people in a fashion sense, where the catwalk becomes the stage. The movement of models is observed from those hidden in the darkened gantries. The catwalk informs the fundamental element at the center of our project. Akin to the concepts of the architectural promenade brought forward by Le Corbusier, the Catwalk is the genesis of this new Journey.
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ESCALATOR Reaching down from the Catwalk, like a great arm extended from the heavens above, the Escalator becomes our refugees new symbol of hope. A simple gesture controls vertical movement into the structure. Access is always granted and everybody is welcome. ...Salvation is abundant... The escalators function much like doors to the outside world. Countries who are not able to host or welcome refugees are excluded through an unadorned act, whereby the escalators only move in one direction, upwards into the structure. Where people are welcomed to exit the escalators allow movement in both directions.
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Within the new landscape of our architecture of movement, the escalator becomes the conductor of this great orchestra. Able to pivot on point they arc through the air changing the organization of ancillary spaces.
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COLLECTIVE ACTIVITIES
Collective activities are reflections of social constructs within the structure and reflect physically how this new way of living is made manifest. The activities which can take place are innumerable but could include some of those listed below. Bowling, ski practice, karting, eating and drinking, dancing, swimming, skating, music concerts, interactive studying, finger painting, restoration of vintage cars... Such activities can also take place in spatial constructs outside our scope of current imagination, such as The Grotto of Kaleidoscopes, a dark cavernous space filled with memories and historically fundamental points of humanities past or constructs far beyond our imagination.
SERVICING ACTIVITIES Located within the galleries flanking the structure, the zones of Servicing Activities are fundamental in inverting the current problems refugees face within the existing paradigm of the refugee crisis. Access to shelter, food, sanitation, counseling and any other manner of Service Activity can be found here. The area of Servicing Activities works much the same as the rest of the architecture fluctuating and adapting its functions based on the predicted need of the refugees at any given point and time. The presence of the servicing activities is also fundamental in the conversion of the social construct of the user of the space from that of a utilitarian society instead allowing them to become a ludic society, where the social consciousness of every user is liberated through their ludic potential. In order to achieve this the zone of Servicing Activities automates all non productive work, thus increasing productivity and reducing scarcity, eliminating the unceasing struggle for existence that refugees have been fighting up until this point. The micro structures therefore work together as basics units of a network which each form a link in the chain. The overall macro structure allows this great freedom to the micro structures.
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The central ‘Nave’ of the structure is home to all Collective Activities. Here the refugees are sensually bombarded with any and all possible constructs. The space of Collective Activities functions much like a giant sandbox, allowing the former Homo Faber to unleash their ludic potential. The spaces and elements are free to be shaped and reformed by all those moving through, thus the architecture becomes a projection of the society itself, ever shifting and changing its composition. The movement through the area of Collective Activities is slow, where displacement of both people and objects becomes a form of activity, the entire interior landscape in a state of constant flux. Rapid movement though is still accommodated and can be achieved through the use of high speed mag-Lev trains which are set to replace the existing rail network. The multileveled and ever shifting layout of this space results in an autonomy of networks, where the architecture itself predicts and in turn adapts itself to possible patterns of movement.
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Points Identifying the potentialities within the project, a deeper look into what role this global structure can play in terms of its contextual junctions is needed. The points examined of Refugium serve as infrastructural hubs, helping to serve not only the structure but also the surrounding context. Through this mutual act, the structure creates a strong bond between itself and the local forming a dichotomous relationship, essential to the survival of both of them. These points showcase the potentiality of growth and development of the structure, socially becoming integral in interlinking town and cities together to form a new global route of trade, where culture, knowledge and wealth can be shared from the largest of cities such as Shanghai, while at the same time allowing for the potential activation of dying cities like Timbuktu.
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The points examined within the project are but the tip of the iceberg of potentiality that such an architecture could bring with it.
BRIDGING A SCAR IN THE LANDSCAPE: RAILROADS
Following the trajectory of the selected railway, Refugium gives a new character to the neglected spaces around it, introducing a new system of transportation.
THE SCAR
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Railroads became a part of landscapes with the outbreak of the industrial evolution. The network has been growing ever since, following new trends of society, free trade and globalization in general. However, railroads have formed cuts in the landscape, restraining the movement and forming an informal border. The spaces around it are usually abandoned and less desirable for local inhabitants.
INTRODUCING THE CHANGE With technological progress, more sustainable transportation systems will be developed. The railroads could evolve into MagLev systems, a method that uses magnetic levitation to move vehicles without making contact with the ground. The system would be integrated into the Refugium, elevated within the structure itself.
NEW SYSTEM In this way the ground would be given back to the surrounding, enabling the circulation underneath it. It represents a blank canvas ready to be filled with the new needs or left for nature to overtake.
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PEDESTRIAN NETWORK
DISTRIBUTION TRUNK (MAG LEV)
LANDSCAPE
SECONDARY TRAIN NETWORK
SATELLITE CITIES
SLUMS REDUCED BIODIVERSITY
INNOVATION
WATER HARVESTING FUSION POWER
CARBON CAPTURE
GOVERNANCE
3D PRINTING
REDUCTION OF DICATORSHIP
FREE MARKET TRADE
CULTURAL DIVERSIFICATION
Unlike the current treatment of refugees which seem to be ‘‘stuck somewhere 100 years ago’’ ( Killian-KleinSchmidt), Refugium’s approach defines refugees as protagonists of this new way of life in motion. As its reflection, the evolution of Refugium will reflect mainly in the fields of mobility, innovation, governance and its influence on the surrounding landscape. Mobility is, from the beginning, based on pedestrian network. As the structure evolves, the Mag-Lev train lines are implemented. Its importance also lies in the mobility of goods that are transported from one side of the world to another. As people move, they begin inhabiting abandoned cities and establishing the new ones along the way. Refugium is an environmentally sustainable organism, and like its inhabitants, is a protagonist of new technologies such as fusion power, carbon capture and 3d printing, all automated and managed by artificial
intelligence. While Refugium grows, the world around is evolving: globalization is in its peak and the level of exchange is the higher than ever. The economy is exclusively aimed at the satisfaction of human needs, in the widest sense of the term. Only such an economy permits complete automation of non-creative activities, and consequently the free development of creativity. The new world order has set down: the Marxist kingdom of freedom, a social model in which the idea of freedom would become the real practice of freedom -- of a ‘freedom’ that for us is not the choice between many alternatives but the optimum development of the creative faculties of every human being, because there cannot be true freedom without creativity.
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SOLAR NETWORK
COLLECTIVE AND SERVICE ACTIVITIES
The zonal demarcation of functions is the only order given to the space. The outer extremities host the Service Activities, allowing for privacy and not causing to much traffic within the flowing central nave of Refugium. The central area has the prime function of movement, allowing for unimpeded pedestrian movement while at the same time providing access to the mag lev network. This central space becomes a hub of activity, a lively pedestrian cityscape, bustling with any type of activity one can conjure up.
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A refugee undergoes an intense amount of trauma through the journey in order to escape their country. Refugium’s proximity to all possible events mitigates this. Upon arrival a refugee would first and foremost seek the most basic of human needs. Access to healthcare is imperative, tending to any ailments one may have suffered along the way. These countless basic functions can be seen in the diagram on the right. This incredibly intense and exhaustive list is synthesized into the structure ever and omnipresent to service the needs of its inhabitants. Studying the diagram below one can understand the basic principle of the spatial arrangement of Refugium.
SERVICE ACTIVITIES
DANCING PODIUM HOUSE OF COMMON CLUB OF HEALTH
FREE GROUND
COLLECTIVE ACTIVITIES
HALL OF SPORTS
ARENA
CELEBRATION SQUARE
MARKET
TIME BANK SHOPS
MOVEMENT
Zoning scheme
HOTEL OF STRANGERS
CINEMA
FINDING THE LOST
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B E AN CR N KINDER GARDEN ONPLE ENTRANCE RE IO IA TR REGISTRATION ATF PE UNCHR OFFICE NG SECURITY IDOCUMENTS ISSUE S O DEPOLICE STATION UIOLN US CT PE IRORTA HO C SP
OU RE THERAPYPHISICAL N VWOMAN RI O GR G AY HA M PL N N IO E S EDUCATION COMMUNITY RE TTRAINING SCHOOL IK CONFERENCES ILD A SECONDARY EDUCATION
INTEGRATION
157 LIFE IN MOTION HEALTH CARE WOMEN AND CHILD CARE SPEECH THERAPY
TRAUMA THERAPY PHYSIOTHERAPY HYGIENE
FIRST AID EDUCATION KINDER GARDEN SCHOOL SECONDARY EDUCATION PROFESSIONAL TRAINING
CULTURE COMMUNITY
INTEGRATION SECURITY REGISTRATION POLICE STATION DOCUMENTATION
UNCHR OFFICE CIRCULATION MAG LEV TRAIN TRANSPORTATION OF PEOPLE AND GOODS
MOVEMENT PEDESTRIAN BIKE SHARING WALKING
HOUSING RECREATION ENTERTAINMENT
GREEN POCKETS CHILDREN’S PLAYGROUND
Programmatic visualization
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Description
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Hotel Of Strangers Shelter is one of the most basic of human needs. A mere shelter though, once adorned by man becomes a home. A place that one returns to each day. The concept of a fixed place of existence is changing even in global society today, with the rise of Airbnb type mobility, never really setting down root. The Hotel of Strangers provides shelter and the necessities of human life, but for a limited time only. Refugium is in a constant state of flux and so too should its inhabitants be.
Collective Activities As described this is the central Nave of the structure where anything can happen. Arriving from difficulty and disaster, the narrative of ones life is inverted. The basics of survival and life are taken care of, so the true ludic expression of peoples imagination can come to fruition
Refugium is based around the unhindered movement of its inhabitants. The central catwalk provides an uninterrupted line of continuous movement while auxiliary walk ways give rise to secondary axis of movement. The escalator plays an important role in the movement of people through Refugium, orchestrating ones ability to navigate the space, thus constantly evolving the users experience of it.
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Based on existing rail networks, Refugium would replace these antiquated structures with a system of high speed rail networks, helping its inhabitants travel long distances in short amounts of time and also serving global interest, creating a super fast land based network of trade.
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This initial spine serves as a tool to help with the construction of Refugium but will be returned to dust once its efficacy has run its course. The Structure
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Refugiums simple and unadorned structure allows for the maximum functionality within its confines. At the same time it provides a high possibility of adaptability and flexibility to the structure itself.
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Pedestrian Movement
LIFE IN MOVEMENT The structure acts as a cocoon shaping movement that is happening in different directions and levels within it.
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Once entering Refugium via the movable Escalators, refugees find themselves at the axis of procession - the Catwalk. The primary circulation happens here as the refugees flow towards the desired exit exposed to the series of different mass activities. As they are moving forward, the secondary platforms containing different and ever changing activities could be approached via series of escalators, travelators and staircases. The circulation within a piece of the line cannot be precisely predicted, not based only on human choices, but because the internal system, except the Catwalk, is always in state of flux: a certain space configuration can be there for one day, and then would change to form spaces for other activities. The changes would be introduced by an Artificial Intelligence generated algorithm predicting the needs of upcoming group of people.
Potential of complex vertical and horizontal circulation systems.
161 LIFE IN MOTION Circulation in motion
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CHANGING SPACES The spaces within Refugium are nothing more than open stages for human creativity and play. The natural shift of day and night triggers different moods, and as the new society’s behavior cannot be predicted, the activities remain unknown. The hypothetical images on the right capture the same space in different moments.
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HEALTH
SECURITY
ENTERTAINMENT HOUSES OF COMMON
CULTURE
HOTEL OF STRANGERS
LEISURE
MOVEMENT RECEPTION
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EDUCATION
AUTOMATION
ENERGY
FOOD CLOTHING
Movement, becoming a way of life, shapes new ways of doing even the most banal human activities. Although without historical precedent, the flashes of this way of life could be identified in the generations of so called Millennials. With systems such as Airbnb home is everywhere, online strangers become friends and even spouses. Hotel of strangers is one of many homes to all the people that have ever visited it. Man cannot be trusted with his own existence. In a world where there is an ever increasing divide between the “have’s” and “have not’s” one can not allow for such a division to continue. The Service Activities of Refugium, flanking the central Nave are therefore not organised by man. Instead machine takes over, auto-
mating all manner of processes that are necessary for exestential survival. Food, clothing and energy are just a few of the many tasks carried out by the structure in order to support its occupents. This abundance and life giving support allows for Refugiums ludic nature, where the central Nave, a realm shaped by man, becomes a metaphorical sandbox. The space within it is pushed, pulled, constructed and deconstructed at will, furnising the deepest and most creative desires of man. The possibilities within Refugium are endless, as are its processes, the space itself in constant transformation, a place of worship becoming a school, an area of debate transforming to that of erotic encounter.
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169 LIFE IN MOTION Refugium - A paradigm shift
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A TESTING GROUND The challenge of choosing a ‘‘site’’ to test Refugium, consisted of exploring and proposing the manners in which the project deals with the specific contexts, the symbiosis between the underlying concepts and the surroundings. Thanks to its historical tradition, but also its modern era significance, we chose Silk Road. This timeless route was a trigger for sprouting of many ancient cities, an exchange ground of ideas and goods. Refugium strives to rehearse the Silk Road model of reviving and reactivating the regions while caring about its own principles. Apart from its cultural and historical richness, the route snakes through 6 different biomes reflecting different natural forces Refugium would encounter.
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In order to better understand the characteristics of the chosen ‘site’, we identified the biomes along the route that resulted in 6 different categories: (1) Temperate Broad - Leaf, (2) Montane Grasslands, (3)Temperate Conifer Forests, (4) Deserts, (5) Savannas and (6) Mediterranean Forests. Each of these categories is bound to a different climate and reflects certain potentials and challenges based on it. That being said, Mediterranean forests, for example, as well as deserts are generally characterized by high number of sun hours leaving an opportunity for harvesting solar energy; temperate broad leaf forest occur in relatively rainy climates with the possibility of rain collection or fog catch. This lead to identifying four lociplaces where Refugium becomes contextual and demonstrates the possibilities it has to offer to the surrounding, based on the resources of the place itself.
Temperate Broad - Leaf
Montane Grasslands
Temperate Conifer Forests
Deserts
Apart from the environmental diversity, all the chosen points, have a history that is bound with that of refugees.
Savannas
Mediterranean Forests
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KASHGAR
ARAL SEA
AGDAM
NAROULIA 175 LIFE IN MOTION
ECOLOGICAL PARK OF NAROULIA: 51°53′21″N 29°57′52″E
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Located in Naroulia in south east Belarus, this point on the line has a unique surrounding: it is partially included in the Polesie State Radioecological Reserve. This area was created to enclose the territory of Belarus most affected by radioactive fallout from the Chernobyl disaster. The reserve is one of the biggest in Europe and hosts many rare and endangered species, which thrive here thanks to the virtual absence of humans. Within this biodiversity, 70 species are listed in the International Red Book of fauna and 18 in the International Red Book of flora. The solitary line of Refugium here diverges into the existing landscape forming a 360 degrees vista on its upper decks: visitors are offered safari-like experience of rare spices such as European bison, Przewalski horse, Golden and White-tailed eagle, White-tailed, marsh turtle. Who knows, one may catch a glimpse at an all new species sprouting from the effects of the radiation itself... Apart from having cultural and educational purpose, the structure plays host to a research centre with the laboratories placed on the lower levels. Research of nuclear decontamination of soil, observation of the wildlife without anthropogenic influence are some of the activities that could be carried out in the laboratories and would be of an international importance.
EXHIBITION/EDUCATION VISTA FOREST
VETERINARY HOSPITAL CHERNOBYL VISTA
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LABORATORY
INFLATABLE LABORATORIES - Protecting the users from unwanted radiation, inflatable tent structures could be used as lab spaces that allows visual connection to the surrounding context.
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VERTICAL FARM KASHGAR, CHINA: 39° 28′ 0″ N, 75° 59′ 0″ E
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Kashgar, also spelled Kaxgar, in an oasis city in Region of Xinjiang, far western China. Its has been strategically important trade center on the Silk Road between China, the Middle East, and Europe. In this highly fertile oasis, people live mostly from agriculture growing wheat, corn (maize), barley, rice, beans, and a great deal of cotton. It is known for its melons, grapes, peaches, apricots and cherries. The inhabitants also engage in a variety of handicrafts; both cotton and silk textiles are produced, together with felts, rugs, furs, leather and pottery. Kashgar’s Sunday market is renowned as the biggest market in central Asia. The market is open every day but Sunday is the largest. The town also has livestock markets and bazaars, where variety of crafts is sold. Since 2010 the area is classified as a special economic zone. Being an oasis in the desert with it’s rich multicultural and historical background, Kahsgar is strategically chosen as a supporting point of the line. Vertical hydroponics farming and its new technologies implemented in Refugium could contribute to the already existing agricultural way of life, benefiting, on the other side, refugees in food supply. Local farmers and artisans would have a possibility of exporting their products globally by virtue of the mag-lev train network contributing to the region’s economy. Substituting current railway with the new system will erase the division of the town created by the former and spark a creation of public spaces and market squares, vital of the town’s economy and identity.
VERTICAL FOREST WALKWAYS HYDROPONICS
HYDROPHONICE SYSTEM DIAGRAM
FOOD STORAGE
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Green sky corridors
Activation of Public Space
VERTICAL FARMING- Vertical farming can be utilized to feed both the people of Refugium and as an activator of social spaces exterior-ally, such as within the market setting of Kashgar.
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MUSEUM AND SOLAR FARMS OF AGDAM: 39°59′35″N 46°55′50″E
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The name Agdam is of Azerbaijan origin and means “white house”, where ağ means “white” and dam is “house” or “attic”, thus referring to a “bright sun-lit, white house”. Founded in the early 19th century, it grew considerably during the Soviet period and had 28,000 inhabitants by 1989. In the war of 1993 the city was destroyed, but more damage occurred in the following years when locals looted the abandoned town for building materials. The city is now entirely abandoned and has been burnt to the ground leaving little more than the charred ruins of this once bustling area. Refugium in this contest becomes an interactive museum exposing the layers of the lost city within itself. This new city of Refugium sits atop the site of Agdam building up yet another layer of history upon the soil. The standard composition of a museum is inverted. Where traditionally interior spaces house the exhibitions and exterior space is used for reflection, the system here is polarized. Exterior space becomes that of exhibition, walking through a cloud of memory boxes, offering a glimpse into the lives of those that have passed through before. The interior spaces are created through vertical towers, Contemplation Funnels, allowing for moments of reflection and solitude within this scarred landscape.
PHOTO-VOLTAIC COVERING
MEMORY BOXES
MEMORY BOXES- Lost but never forgotten, this living
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exhibition is a space within which refugees can engage, creating personal deposits of their memories, allowing them to serve as a symbol of remembrance.
CONTEMPLATION
FUNNELS
RUINS OF AGDAM
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Fleeing from Agdam, May 1993 Photo by Oleg Litvin Fleeing from death, But leaving behind our lives. Fleeing from our past, But leaving behind our future. Fleeing our homes, Running towards Hope. But there was no time To carry such an extra burden in the stampede. So we rid ourselves of The heavy burden of Hope Just as we had rid ourselves Of the other things we couldn’t take Our cemeteries, Our homes and hearths, Our trees and flowers.
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Fleeing . . . There was fear, blood and death behind us. But there was nothingness in front Not even time. Running towards emptiness, void, and timelessness. Somewhere inside our brains and hearts, In the hidden depths of our souls, We felt that this fleeing Was even more horrible Than remaining where we were. But there was no way out: We were fleeing even from God. From now on, Wherever we go We will be strangers, We will be guests, We will be wanderers in an alien place. And though none of us is an ordinary human being, We share a common name “Refugee.” Who can dare comprehend Our unfathomable pain?
REVIVAL OF THE ARAL SEA:
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45°N 60°E The Aral Sea used to be the fourth-largest inland water body in the world. In 1960s Soviet government introduced big irrigation projects that consisted of diverting the two rivers that fed the lake which caused its drastic shrinking. The fishing industry which in its heyday had employed some 40,000 and produced one-sixth of the Soviet Union’s entire fish catch, has been devastated, and former fishing towns along the original shores have become ship graveyards. This brought unemployment and economic hardship, making the inhabitants of the former sea into climatic refugees. The ecosystems of the Aral Sea and the river deltas feeding into it have been nearly destroyed and it has been known as one of the biggest environmental disasters. The idea behind this contextual point is based on contributing the efforts of reviving the sea and nurturing its weak ecosystem. It consists of elements for water extraction and treatment: the structure that extracts water from deep layers of the ground connecting with flows of rivers that used to fill the lake; desalination plant controlling the salinity, since high concentration of salts was one of the main obstacles for re-establishing healthy ecosystem. The structure is covered with fog catching mesh,also creating water. The Fish Nursery is introduced in order to protect recovering species from pollution and potential predators, uncovering the memory of the humans dependence on the sea and its resources. This reinvigoration of the natural systems will undoubtedly bring with it human life back to the shores ghost towns.
Carassius carassius gibelio
Pungitius platygaster aralensis
Stizostedion lucioperca
Neogobius fluviatilis pallasi
Channa argus
WATER PRODUCTION - Reaching out from the existing banks of the Aral Sea, the water is brought back to this arid landscape utilizing both mist collection and deep soil pumps to regenerate the water. This in turn will aid to bring back the dead villages along the coast and repopulate fish species.
Barbus capito conocephalus
Salmo trutta aralensis
Salmo trutta aralensis
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Salmo trutta aralensis
Automated fish farming
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
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LIST OF USED IMAGES:
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201 LIFE IN MOTION
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I want to go home, but home is the mouth of a shark home is the barrel of the gun and no one would leave home unless home chased you to the shore unless home told you to quicken your legs leave your clothes behind crawl through the desert wade through the oceans drown save be hungry beg forget pride your survival is more important no one leaves home until home is a sweaty voice in your ear sayingleave, run away from me now i dont know what i've become but i know that anywhere is safer than here. an extract from ‘Home’ by Warsan Shire