Humans of New York captures powerful stories of refugee crisis in Europe

As hundreds of thousands of people are fleeing the civil war in Syria, Humans of New York is making its way through the heart of the refugee crisis, documenting the stories of Syrian refugees looking to find homes in Europe and the people who help them.

Brandon Stanton, the photographer behind HONY, wrote on Facebook that he would spend the next two weeks traveling through Europe, narrating the plight of the Syrian refugees and struggles overcome in a powerful series on the ongoing migrant crisis, in association with the UNHCR.

“Together, these migrants are part of one of the largest population movements in modern history,” Stanton wrote this weekend. “But their stories are composed of unique and singular tragedies. In the midst of the current ‘migrant crisis’, there are millions of different reasons for leaving home. And there are millions of different hardships that refugees face as they search for a new home.”

Stanton launched the series with the portrait of displaced Syrian Muhammad taken in Iraqi Kurdistan during his United Nations-sponsored tour last year. In just one year, Muhammad has gone through a lot.

In a six-part series, Muhammad shared his heart-wrenching story from losing his brother to ISIS to paying a smuggler to take him to Europe by traveling on a plastic boat with a faulty motor to Greece.

Today, he is officially an Austrian citizen after living in the European nation for seven months and has been employed by HONY to be Stanton’s interpreter for the next few days.

According to Mercy Corps, the war in Syria has led to the displacement of more than 11 million people as “one of the world humanitarian catastrophes of our time.” The crisis has also created tension within the European Union as governments struggle to handle and care for asylum seekers.

The photographer says he hopes to bring attention to the growing migrant crisis and bring light to the struggles these refugees face while trying to apply for legal protection in countries where immigration is often a controversial, divisive political issue.

The eye-opening photo blog has led to a massive outpouring of emotions and empathy from people around the globe and epitomizes the popular saying “restores faith in humanity.”

“This has been the best series of posts ever on HONY,” wrote Facebook user Chris Howard on HONY’s Facebook page.

The comments beneath each post are already brimming with compassion, optimism and hope, reminding us that kindness and concern has and should transcend boundaries, differences and issues.

“I promise to remember this man’s story and the millions I’ll never hear,” wrote Facebook user Rachel Harary, “to keep perspective and be thankful every day.”

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