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The refugee crisis through the eyes of refugees

The #RefugeeCameras project distributed single-use cameras to refugees so they could tell the world their own story.

The refugee crisis through the eyes of refugees
The overloaded dinghy with older and weak people lying and sitting on the ground. Like many other refugees, Zakaria was in a dinghy which kept between 50 and 60 people. [Al Jazeera]

By Kevin McElvaney

Published On 31 Mar 2016

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Many photographers and journalists have been documenting the refugee crisis to show the world the situation on the shores of Europe in Lesbos, at Macedonia’s border in Idomeni, in Calais and other locations.

People are often caught on camera in their terrible and frustrated moments, when they cry after jumping off the dinghies on Greek islands or suffer in camps under terrible circumstances.

Reporters travel with the refugees, interview them and collect their stories, trying to get as close as they can so that they may truly understand and capture their lives. But as outsiders, they can never truly capture the refugee experience.

In December 2015, photographer Kevin McElvaney started the #RefugeeCameras project, which would allow refugees to document their own journey with single-use cameras, giving them the opportunity to tell the world their own story. 

McElvaney travelled along the refugee track from Izmir to Lesbos, Athens and Idomeni. At all these stations he met refugees, collected their stories and handed out cameras, some of which were returned in a pre-paid envelope. McElvaney received seven of 15 cameras back with images that show a rare glimpse into the refugee route.

Follow Kevin McElvaney on www.facebook.com/derkevindotcom

The refugee crisis through the eyes of refugees
Hamza and his friend Abdulmonem from Syria photographed how refugees helped each other to get off the dinghy. There were no volunteers to help when they were stranded. [Al Jazeera]
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The refugee crisis through the eyes of refugees
After walking up and down the hills towards the next village, the group of Hamza and Abdulmonem takes a break. The refugees are covered in wet clothes and just have a bit of water with them. [Al Jazeera]
The refugee crisis through the eyes of refugees
In a small book, refugees wrote about their stories. Firas was met on December 10, 2015 in Moria, the registration camp on Lesbos. Firas is from Iraq and fled from ISIL after they invaded his city. He wrote that ISIL took everything from them, even their women. They raped them and killed the children. His family is still in Iraq and he had to cross Turkey illegally because he lost his passport and belongs to a Yazidi minority. Firas lives in Hildesheim, Germany today. [Al Jazeera]
The refugee crisis through the eyes of refugees
Dyab, from Aleppo, Syria, photographed his wife and son Kerim at a bus station, where buses stand in line before they go to Idomeni. [Al Jazeera]
The refugee crisis through the eyes of refugees
Saeed from Iran was met on a bus from Athens to Idomeni on December 12, 2015. He photographed a sleeping father from Syria with his child in his arms. [Al Jazeera]
The refugee crisis through the eyes of refugees
Refugees stand around a fire. Because the wood was wet, they burned rubbish and their last clothes to keep themselves warm. They had to stay outside the buses. [Al Jazeera]
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The refugee crisis through the eyes of refugees
Refugees looking out from an overcrowded train in Macedonia. A mother holds her crying baby in her arms. The doors were not able to close and have been open during the drive. [Al Jazeera]
The refugee crisis through the eyes of refugees
Refugees sit in front of a toilet in an overcrowded train from Macedonia to Serbia. A ticket costs about 25 euros. [Al Jazeera]
The refugee crisis through the eyes of refugees
A volunteer entertains the younger refugees outside a camp between Croatia and Slovenia. The children try to imitate his tricks. [Al Jazeera]
The refugee crisis through the eyes of refugees
Refugees sit on the floor in an overcrowded train in Germany. [Al Jazeera]
The refugee crisis through the eyes of refugees
Kids joke around with each other and laugh in a train compartment on their way to Germany. [Al Jazeera]
The refugee crisis through the eyes of refugees
Covered in blankets, refugees are standing in line in front of a temporary refugee camp while dawn begins. [Al Jazeera]
The refugee crisis through the eyes of refugees
Dyab's son Kerim jumps around and smiles after they arrive in their temporary sleeping room in Germany. [Al Jazeera]