Media Home
UN Web TV
UN Audiovisual Library
UN PhotoIRAQ / REFUGEE FILMMAKERS
Download
There is no media available to download.
Share
STORY: IRAQ / REFUGEE FILMMAKERS
TRT: 9:18
SOURCE: UNHCR / UNTV
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ARABIC / NATS
DATELINE: DECEMBER 2009, AL TANF REFUGEE CAMP, IRAQ
1. Various shots, refugees in Al Tanf camp
2. Various shots, Iraq violence scenes
3. Various shots, war captives
4. Various shots, buildings bombed
5. Various shots, refugees in Al Tanf camp
6. Various shots, Ali Salboud in Al Tanf camp
7. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ali Salboud, Palestinian Refugee:
“We were told that we had to leave our home. We moved to the Dora area. Soon after that Dora became violent with people being displaced by force. They threatened families, telling them they had to leave their homes. We went to stay with my parents in Za'faraniyya. Then my brother was kidnapped. We still don't know where he is today. I was also threatened at work. My editor was murdered and I was advised to disappear for a while.”
8. Various shots, Ali with his family
9. Various shots, Ali at camp school
10. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Shehab, Palestinian student in refugee camp:
“He’s become my mentor – he’s like my father. My childhood was taken from me when I left Iraq. But it’s the reality I have to deal with, whether I like it or not. “
11. Various shots, general shots camp
12. Various shots, facilities in camp
13. Various shots, children flying kites
14. Wide shot, Mutasem Hiyati of UNHCR at camp
15. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Mutasem Hiyati, United Nations Refugee Agency:
“We never expected that this would take three or four years. We imagined, and planned on the basis that there would be a solution in a couple of months – because it’s unacceptable that these people are left in such a situation.”
16. Various shots, Ali looking at videos
17. Med shot, Ali filming from his cell phone
18. Various shots, refugee videos
19. Med shot, Ali showing film extracts on his computer
20. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ali Salboud, Palestinian Refugee:
“The weather has been strange and since nine this morning that I have been wandering around the camp, like a person who is going to be losing something. I have strange, mixed feelings – I’ll not have to worry about fires anymore – and thank God I’ll be able to keep my children safe. But I am afraid of the unknown and I don’t know what my destiny is going to be. I’m sad thinking about all the friends I’ve made in the past two years. I love them and they love me.”
21. Various shots, refugee videos
22. Various shots, Evana at camp
23. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Evana, Palestinian Refugee:
“I like the camp; I like all the people that are in it. If it wasn’t for the storms and the rain and the wind it would have been a normal life for me. But we don’t want tents, we want houses. We want children to go out and play outdoors and to be happy. Not just for me, for all the children. I like all the people here in the camp. “
24. Various shots, refugee tearing tent down
25. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ali Salboud, Palestinian Refugee:
“Ali is going to Italy. He’s one of the last to leave. The first group of Al-Tanf refugees left for Chile in 2008 – then several European countries opened their doors … as well as Canada.”
26. Various shots, refugees leaving camp with suitcases
27. Various shots, refugees jumping with joy
28. Various shots, Ali and family packing
29. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ali Salboud, Palestinian Refugee:
“The weather has been strange and since nine this morning that I have been wandering around the camp, like a person who is going to be losing something. I have strange, mixed feelings – I’ll not have to worry about fires anymore – and thank God I’ll be able to keep my children safe. But I am afraid of the unknown and I don’t know what my destiny is going to be. I’m sad thinking about all the friends I’ve made in the past two years. I love them and they love me. “This is the hardest thing. The thing that I fear the most – is the moment of farewell. “
30. Various shots, refugees moving out of camp
31. Various shots, refugees saying goodbye
32. Various shots, refugees celebrating
33. Various shots, refugee videos
In 2006 hundreds of Palestinians, who had grown up in Iraq, set out across the desert.
They were fleeing an upsurge in horrific violence – Palestinians were often the targets.
Yet when they arrived at the Al Tanf border crossing, this is as far as they got. No country would let them in.
The UN refugee agency set up this tent city in the desert – assuming it would stay here for only a few weeks. Then the weeks turned into years…
Ali Salboud has been in Al Tanf for two years. In Baghdad he worked as a journalist. He was kidnapped twice … and let go both times. But his family and colleagues did not escape the country’s wave of sectarian violence, often carried out by militia groups.
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ali Salboud, Palestinian Refugee:
“We were told that we had to leave our home. We moved to the Dora area. Soon after that Dora became violent with people being displaced by force. They threatened families, telling them they had to leave their homes. We went to stay with my parents in Za'faraniyya. Then my brother was kidnapped. We still don't know where he is today. I was also threatened at work. My editor was murdered and I was advised to disappear for a while. “
Ali entered Syria illegally with his family and went into hiding for months. Eventually they turned themselves in, hoping to be relocated to a new country, and they were sent to al Tanf.
Ali soon established himself as a key figure in the camp – becoming the principal of Al Tanaf’s small school, where he teaches science. Many of the young refugees, including 13-year-old Shehab, look up to him.
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Shehab, student in refugee camp:
“He’s become my mentor – he’s like my father. My childhood was taken from me when I left Iraq. But it’s the reality I have to deal with, whether I like it or not. “
Many of these refugees have been uprooted several times – and they are all completely dependent on the UN refugee agency, and other aid groups.
Food and water have to be trucked in from Syria.
The camp does have a few facilities – including a basic medical centre – and from time to time the barren stretches along the desert road become a playground of sorts … but it’s a life of isolation and monotony.
Mutasem Hiyati is the UN refugee agency’s man on the ground. He grew up in a refugee camp himself.
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Mutasem Hiyati, United Nations Refugee Agency:
“We never expected that this would take three or four years. We imagined, and planned on the basis that there would be a solution in a couple of months – because it’s unacceptable that these people are left in such a situation. “
Helping refugees relocate to a new country often takes years … and gaining the world’s attention and assistance isn’t easy, especially when as many as two million Iraqis have fled their home country.
It was Ali – the ex-journalist who realized one day that he had a solution on his doorstep – a way to raise awareness of Al Tanaf.
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ali Salboud, Palestinian Refugee:
“The boys used to be bored most of the time. I had a small digital camera and a computer so I went back to my old work, and became an amateur videographer. I would film in the camp and organize screenings, then I said to them: why don't we put these all together in a film? “
There were happy moments … but also disasters…
Fires … that reduced tents to ashes in minutes…
Snow…. sand storms…
…And floods that destroyed what little the refugees had ... but even then they kept a sense of humour.
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ali Salboud, Palestinian Refugee:
“It was so miserable that all the boys could do was laugh – there was a big pool of water and they were imagining themselves as Abu Dhabi National Geographic. Any group that came, either a relocation delegation or a visitor, we would give them copies of the films. These copies were widely distributed, and they appeared on the internet. Sometimes me and the guys would look at these films and think how were we able to achieve all this with such modest means? So it makes us proud.”
One of the most successful films focused on a young girl living in the camp – it was called “Evana Dreams.”
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Evana, Palestinian Refugee:
“I like the camp; I like all the people that are in it. If it wasn’t for the storms and the rain and the wind it would have been a normal life for me. But we don’t want tents, we want houses. We want children to go out and play outdoors and to be happy. Not just for me, for all the children. I like all the people here in the camp. “
Films like this, along with the persistent efforts of the UN refugee agency, did eventually succeed in bringing the attention of the world – and that, in turn, brought practical results.
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ali Salboud, Palestinian Refugee:
“I have received my bags today and will begin packing. I am pleased; this is the moment I've been waiting for. “
Ali is going to Italy. He’s one of the last to leave. The first group of Al-Tanf refugees left for Chile in 2008 – then several European countries opened their doors … as well as Canada.
Over 750 refugees have found new homes so far.
The joy at finally being able to escape Al Tanf camp is tempered by other feelings.
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ali Salboud, Palestinian Refugee:
“The weather has been strange and since nine this morning that I have been wandering around the camp, like a person who is going to be losing something. I have strange, mixed feelings – I’ll not have to worry about fires anymore – and thank God I’ll be able to keep my children safe. But I am afraid of the unknown and I don’t know what my destiny is going to be. I’m sad thinking about all the friends I’ve made in the past two years. I love them and they love me. This is the hardest thing. The thing that I fear the most – is the moment of farewell. “
In another corner of the camp … the moving truck has arrived. Household goods are packed up.
It’s time for goodbyes. Unlike Ali, young Shehab is still waiting to hear which country he will go to.
For some of the refugees it will be years before they see their brothers, mothers, sons and daughters again. And yet, the memories of their life together in Al Tanf will always be preserved – thanks to their films.
