Life on the move: A photo gallery

Some 80 million people worldwide are displaced from their homes right now, and that number ticks up every three seconds. Many trade danger at home for new risks on their journeys to safety.

Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) teams meet displaced people where they are and offer humanitarian aid based solely on need. Whether they are fleeing violence, war, or persecution, we provide medical and mental health care, access to clean water, essential supplies and other services. We bear witness to their experiences and offer support, not just along migration routes but often as they attempt to rebuild their lives in new countries.

Meet three brave women who risked everything seeking safety for their families, and learn more about the obstacles they still face as they adapt to life on the move.

Ghazaleh

Amman, Jordan

Photographs by Hussein Amri, 2020

Woman uses a sowing machine in a dark room — Since coming to Jordan, Ghazaleh used to work for the Danish Refugee Council as a trainer for women, teaching them how to craft souvenirs for sale. Covid-19, however, made training a difficult prospect.

Woman hands her husband a plate with a glass of water — Her husband, Mustafa, who was a shoemaker based in Ashrafiyeh and Al Luweibdeh, also suffered because of the pandemic. With rent behind, the couple lives in fear.

Woman prays in a small dark room — Mustafa needs a medical operation for a knee injury. He seems hopeful despite the circumstances. Ghazaleh herself has been an MSF patient since April of last year, after she was beaten at a regime checkpoint while fleeing Syria.

Ghazaleh is a Syrian refugee living in Amman, Jordan, with her husband and children. Their first days in the country were spent in Azraq refugee camp, but they were transferred to accommodations in the country’s capital when Ghazaleh’s health began to deteriorate. But even after leaving the camp, the family is still struggling to get by.

The mother of five is no stranger to adversity, having escaped war in her home country in 2014 and endured a dangerous journey from Syria to Jordan. At one point, Ghazaleh was stopped and beaten by regime soldiers, leaving the bones in her foot completely shattered.

Even then it took 18 days to cross Jordan’s border, during which Ghazaleh could barely stand without experiencing debilitating pain.

Jordan’s fragile economy has struggled to accommodate the country’s growing refugee population; in 2018, for instance, the Jordanian government announced the cancelation of subsidized health care for Syrian refugees. Since the pandemic began, access to essential services like education and health care have all but disappeared.

The COVID-19 pandemic’s effect on the economy in Jordan is deeply felt by Ghazaleh and her family. The aid packages meant to help refugees like them resettle stopped coming over a year ago. Employment opportunities for Ghazaleh and her husband have vanished, forcing them to sell their furniture just to make ends meet.

MSF is on the ground in Jordan helping vulnerable refugees like Ghazaleh and her husband get the care they need. In addition to supporting the country’s COVID-19 response, MSF teams provide treatment for non-communicable diseases, maternal and child health care, and reconstructive surgery for victims of violence.

But with bills piling up, the biggest threat to Ghazaleh’s family right now is eviction. As they sit on the floor with MSF staff and tell their story over Arabic coffee, the couple maintains a cheerful facade. But their eyes betray the truth: they know the journey to rebuild their lives is still far from over.

Soma

Athens, Greece

Photographs by Enri Canaj, 2020

Son and mother sit next to each other — Soma and her husband fled war and violence in Afghanistan and endured the decrepit conditions of Moria refugee camp. But their family is now faced with a new threat: Eviction.

Father and son lay next to each other — Soma's son has a severe medical condition that affects the development of his kidney. Her husband’s polio resulted in the complete paralysis of his left leg.

Man stands on the patio of his apartment — Despite the eviction, the young parents managed to enroll in a program to help refugees learn the local language and find housing and work—but that support only lasts six months. Unfortunately, the family will soon face the streets again.

Violence and conflict forced Soma and her family to flee their home in Afghanistan.

“Every day there was violence and bombings,” Soma says. “There was no future for our family and no medical treatment.”

They spent five months living in the overcrowded Moria refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos, where they shared a shipping container with 20 other people. Then Soma, her husband, and their two young children were transferred to accommodations in Athens, Greece, where they now reside.

Living as refugees in Greece has presented new challenges for Soma and her family. The 2016 European Union-Turkey Deal—a set of policies aimed at keeping refugees, migrants, and asylum-seekers from crossing into Greece from Turkey—has resulted in thousands of women, men, and children winding up trapped indefinitely in appalling conditions on Greek island camps. And in 2019 a new, stricter law reduced the already limited ability of asylum seekers to obtain health care.

The latest blow to Greece’s refugee population came during the pandemic, when authorities attempted to decongest overcrowded refugee camps by evicting more than 11,000 forcibly displaced people from their accommodations—including Soma and her family.

“We didn’t expect this,” she explains. “One day we just saw someone else in our room and they told us, ‘We have moved all your stuff to the entrance of the hotel.’”

For years MSF has called on Greek authorities to provide safe and dignified alternatives to camps, allow access to fair asylum procedures, and ensure adequate health care adapted to the needs of people fleeing violence, conflict, and trauma. Until that happens, our teams are on the ground providing essential health services to displaced people on both the Aegean Islands and the mainland.

Soma and her family have found temporary support through a local program, but that support only lasts for six months. Despite this, Soma is determined to find a better future for her children and refuses to look back.

“When you leave your place, you get to a point where you cannot go back. Fear of explosions and bombs cannot be compared to anything.”

Samaher

Akkar, Lebanon

Photographs by Karine Pierre, 2020

Woman sits in a dark tent — Samaher lives in a makeshift shelter with her husband and four children in an informal tent settlement in Lebanon’s Akkar governorate, near the Syrian border.

Agricultural labour in Akkar — Near the town of Halba in the Akkar region, many cultivated fields are visible. Lots of Syrian refugees in Lebanon rely on daily jobs in agriculture to earn a living.

Portrait shot of Samaher — “Samaher suffers from diabetes and is supposed to follow a special diet to treat her symptoms, but she simply can’t afford it. When there isn’t enough food to go around, she leaves it for her children.

Samaher escaped her home in Syria with her husband and daughter to seek refuge in an informal tent settlement in Akkar governorate, Lebanon. Life is hard for everyone in the camp, but Samaher’s diabetes makes things even more difficult. With little money, her life is defined by impossible decisions: Does she buy medication, or put food on the table?

The small country of Lebanon hosts the largest number of refugees in the world. Since late 2019, the country has been grappling with its worst economic crisis in decades, social unrest, and political turmoil in addition to the struggles inherent in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. On top of all this, a major explosion tore through the capital, Beirut, in August.

These overlapping crises have exacerbated people's vulnerability and pushed thousands into poverty.

Until now, Samaher and her family scraped by on money her husband earned by taking agriculture or construction jobs in the nearby town of Halba. But due to the pandemic, those opportunities have all but disappeared.

“I’m worried about how to get my medications,” Samaher tells us, “I’m worried about a lot of things.”

In Lebanon, the health system is highly privatized and fragmented, and free medical services are almost non-existent. Ensuring access to free, high-quality health care has been MSF’s main objective in Lebanon since 2008. In Akkar, MSF focuses its activities in Wadi Khaled, near the Syrian border, where a medical team provides mental health services and free routine vaccinations for children up to 18 years old.

Despite their precarious circumstances, Samaher is determined to press on for the sake of her four children.

“I often feel sad and guilty, but I force myself to keep strong for them."

Life on the move: A photo gallery

See how MSF is helping people like Ghazaleh in Jordan.

See how we’re helping refugees like Soma in Greece.

Here’s how we’re helping vulnerable people in Lebanon like Samaher.

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Life on the move: A photo gallery

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Ghazaleh

Amman, Jordan

Photographs by Hussein Amri, 2020

See how MSF is helping people like Ghazaleh in Jordan.

Soma

Athens, Greece

Photographs by Enri Canaj, 2020

See how we’re helping refugees like Soma in Greece.

Samaher

Akkar, Lebanon

Photographs by Karine Pierre, 2020

Here’s how we’re helping vulnerable people in Lebanon like Samaher.

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We speak out. Get updates.