COUNT TO TWO

One. Two. In those two seconds, someone was forcibly displaced from their home due to conflict or persecution (UNHCR, 2018). Amidst this global crisis, the Syrian community has been disproportionately affected. Over 5.5 million Syrians live in forced displacement, half of whom are children. Working alongside Medical Teams International, Count to Two explores individual portraiture of a generation of Syrians navigating the complexities of growing up amidst a global displacement crisis. Most of the children featured have been born in displacement, and are so young, they cannot yet count to two themselves.

Ongoing series [2018-Present] | Published by JFA Human Rights Journal

"Count to Two" - portrait of young Syrians living as a refugee in an informal settlement in the Beqaa Valley, Lebanon near the border of Syria by photojournalist and documentary photographer Hailey Sadler.

Global displacement has reached unprecedented proportions. A record 68.5 million people have been forced from their homes and 25.4 million of those people are refugees, according to data compiled in June 2018. Approximately half of refugees are under 18 years old. 40 million are internally displaced, with 10 million reported to be stateless and denied access to basic human rights.

The migration crisis has far-reaching economic, environmental, political, cultural, and humanitarian consequences. But it also holds deep personal and emotional ramifications for the individuals who live through, and subsequently carry, the trauma of being forced from their homes.

The UNHCR reports over 1 million registered refugees living across Lebanon in host communities or informal tented settlements, with the highest concentration in the Beqaa Valley. These families were forced to flee across the border due to ongoing armed conflict in Syria. Many have now been waiting 8 years for Syria to be safe enough to return home.

This essay focuses on individual portraiture of a generation born amidst this intricate, ever-changing, socio-political environment - an environment our generation is currently attempting to navigate. It is important to note, however, that these children are not ‘faces of the refugee crisis’. These children are just children. Tiny, individual humans, caught up through no fault of their own, in a complex reality of a world in flux.

HS

COUNT TO TWO