Chasing Freedom: an inspiring perspective from Syrian migrant, Baraa
Halabieh: “We don’t need your pity. I am the one who should feel pity for you!”
March 2016. Somewhere between Calais and London.
“His heart was racing… He shivered with fear and his stomach was rumbling like thunder as they didn’t eat for hours. Baraa gently moved his head and pushed aside a few pieces of garlic coves. This way he could closely follow the flashlights that were dancing in the night between the convoy of trucks in an uncontrolled manner. They walked for six hours to get here. Would this – finally – be the gateway to London? The flashlights stopped. Baraa kept silent. He bit his bottom lip and noticed his heart pounding even faster.”
In times where media broadcasting shows a stereotype of refugees, these two days with Baraa Halabieh in London worked as insightful as refreshing to a – mostly – single narrative mind of our western society. As we live our lives in the ‘West’, we noticed a perspective of the refugee theme that felt incomplete and unjust. Therefore Tim Boxhoorn, Michiel Stock and I felt the urge to go in depth and see through the eyes of a man who has lived the experience. Our most significant motivation was to challenge our perspective and refresh our state of mind in search of more humanity and unfold a different angle to the entire story of migration, politics and humanity. Consequently, we visited Baraa Halabieh at his home residence in London, where he enjoyed his first year anniversary as a UK resident. A remarkable and grateful experience unfolded as we documented the story of his journey from Syria to London through video, photography and audio.
Read the full article at www.local-characters.com
Are you curious for more information on Baraa? Please follow his Twitter account or his Instagram feed to see his full body of work.
A production of Local Characters in collaboration with 1outof60million
Text: Michiel Stock
Photography: Nils Florian Hijlkema
Film: Michiel Stock & Tim Boxhoorn
