Arab Migration

Statement of Intent

Since the beginning of humanity people have been moving from one place to another in search of a better home. I was recently drawn to the humanitarian crisis that is happening in Syria which I found very heartbreaking. This crisis resulted in huge migration debates especially in Europe where countries were receiving hundreds of thousands of refugees or immigrants. This got me to thinking more about that part of the world which I’m originally from and I decided to study the paths of Arab migration over the past century.

When I started studying the history of Arab migration the first thing that I noticed was that the rate of migration was not constant over time. Most of the migration that occurs in waves. These waves are usually associated with terrible events of war and religious persecution. The first wave was between the 1870s and the 1920s with the primary reason being religious persecution of Christian Arabs. Many waves followed after that as a result of wars in Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq and Syria. By studying these events and wars we can trace back the main migration flows from the Arab countries.

For this project I plan to build an Interactive map that can be displayed on a large screen that people can use to explore the migration patterns from the Arab world over the past century. The map would show a historical timeline of the major events that happened since the 1880s which contributed to the migration waves in the Arab world. When the viewer selects one of the events on the timeline the map would show the paths of migration that resulted from this event and how many people it affected.

My goal is to open people’s eyes to what is happening today and what has been happening for over a hundred years. People talk about migrants and refugees and discuss policies but they forget that no one wants to leave their home by choice. These migrants are forced to leave their land and the people they love because of devastating wars and humanitarian crisis. To this day I’m haunted by images children and families fleeing their homes, many of whom never make it to safety.  Artists, journalists and others have done work to showcase the suffering of refugees and migrants. However, through my work I would like to highlight two aspects. One is the scale of the problem, using a map and numbers I can help people comprehend the magnitude of this issue. Also, I would like people to see the recurring pattern over the years by showing them a timeline of these events and associated migrations.

Mockup

Process

A Family Swept Up in the Migrant Tide

Migrant Children, Arriving Alone and Frightened

Syrian Refugees’ Stories Of Fear And Hope

Stories