The Question of Refugees: Past and Present

By

Peter Gatrell

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A rally for refugee rights in Melbourne, Australia in 2013.

Prominent Refugees

A rally for refugee rights in Melbourne, Australia in 2013 in which a protester held up a sign listing prominent refugees of the past and present from scientists to entertainers to religious figures.

Max Desfor won the Pulitzer Prize in Photography for this 1951 image of Korean refugees.

Flight of Refugees

Max Desfor won the Pulitzer Prize in Photography for this 1951 image of Korean refugees desperately crossing a bomb-damaged bridge to escape North Korean armies as U.N. troops withdrew.

Somali refugees waiting to register at the Dadaab Camp.

Waiting to Register

Somali refugees waiting to register at the Dadaab Camp, a process that can take over six weeks although they are only given twenty-one days worth of food rations.

Armenian refugees at a camp in Turkey in 1909.

Armenian Refugee Camp in Turkey

Armenian refugees at a camp in Turkey in 1909.

Syrian refugees protesting in front of the Budapest Keleti railway station.

Refugee Strike

Syrian refugees protesting in front of the Budapest Keleti railway station after Hungary closed its border to them in September 2015.

French warship picking up Armenian refugees fleeing a Turkish massacre in 1915.

Fleeing Armenian Massacre

French warship picking up Armenian refugees fleeing a Turkish massacre in 1915.

These Armenian children were featured in The New York Times in 1915 after being rescued by the French.

Armenian Refugee Children

Often the focus of images of refugees in order to garner sympathy, these Armenian children were featured in The New York Times in 1915 after being rescued by the French.

Koreans fleeing south in the mid-1950s after incursions by the North Korean army.

Korean Refugees

Koreans fleeing south in the mid-1950s after incursions by the North Korean army.

Ethnic Chinese refugees from Vietnam in a dockyard refugee camp in Hong Kong in 1979.

Chinese Refugees in Hong Kong

Ethnic Chinese refugees from Vietnam in a dockyard refugee camp in Hong Kong in 1979.

A family poses for the camera near the Iraqi/Jordanian border as Coalition Forces and members of the United Nations survey their camp in 2006.

Internally Displaced Persons in Iraq

A family poses for the camera near the Iraqi/Jordanian border as Coalition Forces and members of the United Nations survey their camp in 2006. Because they were not permitted to cross into Jordan, they are not legally considered refugees and thereby fall under different provisions for “internally displaced persons.”

A Syrian boy waiting for assistance in 2014.

Syrian Boy

A Syrian boy waiting for assistance in 2014.

This mass gravesite for 70 children lies just outside the Dadaab Camp.

Dadaab Camp Gravesite

To get to the Dadaab Camp in Kenya, refugees from Somalia must first walk for weeks across a desert and many die along the way or soon after arrival. This mass gravesite for 70 children lies just outside the camp.

The Taung Paw Camp in Rahkhine State, Myanmar (Burma) housing Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh in 2012.

Rohingya Refugees

The Taung Paw Camp in Rahkhine State, Myanmar (Burma) housing Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh in 2012. Some refugees have been there since the 1990s.

Saharawi refugee women from the Western Sahara in 2004 gathering to collect flour in the Dakhla refugee camp in Algeria.

Saharawi Refugee Women

Saharawi refugee women from the Western Sahara in 2004 gathering to collect flour in the Dakhla refugee camp in Algeria.

Syrian and Iraqi refugees being rescued by Spanish volunteers off the coast of Greece.

Syrian and Iraqi Refugees Arrive in Greece

Syrian and Iraqi refugees being rescued by Spanish volunteers (in red and yellow) off the coast of Greece after sailing from Turkey in 2015.

Refugee hunger strike.

Refugee Hunger Strike

After Hungary closed its border with Serbia in 2015, leaving hundreds of refugees stranded at a Budapest railroad station and forced into camps, many Syrian refugees went on a hunger strike in protest.

Polish refugees sailing to Iran in 1942.

Polish Refugees

Polish refugees sailing to Iran in 1942.

An estimated 120,000 displaced persons were housed on the grounds of the Hamburg Zoo.

Displaced Persons in Germany

An estimated 120,000 displaced persons were housed on the grounds of the Hamburg Zoo after the British took over the German city in 1945.

Black Sea German refugees fleeing Hungary in 1944.

Black Sea Germans

Black Sea German refugees fleeing Hungary in 1944.

Refugees in 1945 Berlin awaiting transportation.

Berlin Refugees

Refugees in 1945 Berlin awaiting transportation.

Chinese refugees returning home in 1944 only to find their homes destroyed.

Chinese Refugees Return Home

Chinese refugees returning home in 1944 only to find their homes destroyed.

Koreans fleeing south ahead of the advancing Chinese army in 1951.

Korean Refugees

Koreans fleeing south ahead of the advancing Chinese army in 1951.

Palestinian refugees forced to flee after the creation of Israel in 1948 and the ensuing war.

Palestinian Refugees

Palestinian refugees forced to flee after the creation of Israel in 1948 and the ensuing war.

Turkish refugees fleeing in 1877.

Turkish Refugees

Turkish refugees fleeing in 1877 after Russia seized the Kars region from the Ottoman Empire.

A refugee camp for Armenians in Aleppo, Syria in 1918.

Armenian Refugee Camp in Syria

A refugee camp for Armenians in Aleppo, Syria in 1918.

Widowed Armenian woman and her children.

Armenian Woman and Children

An image widely used to raise funds for the Armenian Relief Committee. The widowed Armenian woman and her children walked across Turkey seeking help from missionaries after the Armenian Massacres of 1894-1896.

Overcrowded trains brought Hindus and Sikhs to India and Muslims to Pakistan after the partition of India in 1947.

Hindu Refugees

Thought to be the largest migration in human history, overcrowded trains brought Hindus and Sikhs to India and Muslims to Pakistan after the partition of India in 1947.

Special train for refugees leaving India for Pakistan in 1954.

Muslim Refugees

Refugees continued to flee for years after the partition, such as on this special train for refugees leaving India for Pakistan in 1954.

Identification papers issued to a refugee by the League of Nations and popularly known as a 'Nansen passport.'

Nansen Passport

Identification papers issued to a refugee by the League of Nations and popularly known as a “Nansen passport.”

Jewish refugees being forcibly deported to Warsaw in 1939.

Deported to Warsaw

Jewish refugees being forcibly deported to Warsaw in 1939 by British police because their documents were not in order.

Children evacuated during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) giving the Republican salute.

Spanish Civil War Refugee Children

Children evacuated during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) giving the Republican salute.

A passenger ship for migrants associated with the United Nations' International Refugee Organization.

International Refugee Organization

A passenger ship for migrants associated with the United Nations' International Refugee Organization (1947-1952).

UNHCR

The logo for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, which succeeded the International Refugee Organization in 1951.

The Austrian Red Cross assisting some of the quarter of a million Hungarians who fled in 1956.

Austrian Red Cross Assisting Refugees

The Austrian Red Cross assisting some of the quarter of a million Hungarians who fled in 1956.

The British Red Cross fed and housed 7,500 Hungarian refugees in food kitchens like this one in Austria.

British Red Cross Feeding Refugees

The British Red Cross fed and housed 7,500 Hungarian refugees in food kitchens like this one in Austria.

BBC Debate in Hungary.

BBC Debate in Hungary

In October 2016, the BBC World Service hosted a debate in Budapest over Hungary's referendum earlier that month on instituting refugee quotas.

Syrian refugees sneaking across the borders into Hungary.

Syrian Refugees Crossing into Hungary

In response to Hungary closing its borders with Serbia to migrants, Syrian refugees began sneaking across the borders in 2015.

A family in the Tuzla Refugee Camp in former Yugoslavia.

Tuzla Refugee Camp

A family in the Tuzla Refugee Camp in former Yugoslavia (c1995).

Eritrean asylum seekers in a Tel Aviv, Israel park in 2014.

Eritrean Refugees in Israel

Eritrean asylum seekers in a Tel Aviv, Israel park in 2014.

Refugees from Sudan’s Darfur region in a Jerusalem park in 2007.

Sudanese Refugees in Israel

Refugees from Sudan’s Darfur region in a Jerusalem park in 2007.

Vietnamese refugees who fled to Hong Kong were detained in small, cramped camps.

Vietnamese Refugees in a Camp

Vietnamese refugees who fled to Hong Kong were detained in small, cramped camps.

An artist’s depiction of the Vietnamese refugees escaping by boat done in impressionistic calligraphy.

“Boat People”

An artist’s depiction of the Vietnamese refugees escaping by boat done in impressionistic calligraphy.

A photograph displayed at the Vietnamese Boat People Monument in Westminster, California.

Escaping Vietnam by Boat

A photograph displayed at the Vietnamese Boat People Monument in Westminster, California.

A school at the Jaramana Refugee Camp in Damascus, Syria.

Jaramana Refugee Camp

A school at the Jaramana Refugee Camp in Damascus, Syria for Palestinian refugees in 1948. The camp still houses Palestinian refugees today.

An artist’s response to Israel's 'security' wall in the West Bank.

“On the Separation Wall”

An artist’s response to Israel's “security” wall in the West Bank in which Lady Liberty weeps over the Handala, the symbol for the forgotten Palestinian refugees and an iconic symbol of Palestinian defiance.

Two of an estimated ten thousand marchers at a London rally in February 2017.

Proud Iranian and Muslim Protestors

Two of an estimated ten thousand marchers at a London rally in February 2017 protesting President Donald Trump’s entry ban on people from seven majority Muslim countries.

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