A world of (refugee) fathers

Spending as much time as I do pouring photographs looking for the very small handful that might be usable for migration and refugee promotional materials, websites, etc., I was thoroughly impressed by a colleague's presentation at a conference the other day where he demonstrated "Google's view"-cum the "world's view" of refugees. His observations? Google the word "refugees" and this is what you'll get:

1. People moving in large masses - usually across deserts - with large bulky items, bags, etc., generally carried on their heads. Never mind most refugees have to flee "clandestinely", while a good many others travel by plane, boat, car, truck, etc. ... somehow it looks "more real" this way.
2. Refugee camps, complete with tents and the UNHCR logo plastered everywhere the eye can see. .... Fair enough, but really? The majority of the world's refugees do not live in camps at all. They live in cities and towns, living and working alongside both fellow refugees and the longtime locals. Only problem with that is that a picture of a "normal city" doesn't seem to sufficiently tug at donors' heartstrings ...
3. Madonna and child. Mothers, lots of them, looking forelorn at their potbelly malnourished children with flies in their eyes. No, fleeing from persecution and war is not a happy thing, not least for many mothers who suddenly find themselves without husband or son and who have surely witnessed and experienced more atrocities than you or I could ever imagine. But where are the images of the many (equally) forelorn men? Where are the images of children who, for all the horrors they've been through, are still the first to smile?
4. The humanitarian aid worker. As my colleague put it, "Always female. Always holding a child. And always white". Touche, Angelina, touche.

In all of the written discourse, I often find myself wishing we would stop calling them "refugees" altogether. Somehow it seems to "dehumanise" people - we forget that we are talking about men, women and children - people who are forced to flee the worst this world has to offer in the hope of finding the best the world has to offer - in the form of a helping hand. We forget that they are doctors and lawyers, professors and journalists, artists and athletes. We forget that we are not only talking about women and children; we are also talking about brothers, uncles, grandfathers and fathers.

As I celebrate my own father this Father's Day and all the many sacrifices he's made for me over the years, I can't help but think just how very unfortunate our "forgetfulness" is in failing to more quickly acknowledge the sacrifices and sufferings, hopes and dreams of our (refugee) fathers.

As we celebrate World Day of Refugees, I can't help but hope that perhaps someday soon "refugees" will be seen, first as fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters, and then as refugees. And that one day images of father and son, father and daughter ... in cities and in "normal attire" ... will tug at donors' heartstrings (and pocketbooks with as much conviction or more than the infamous barefoot mother and child.

Happy Father's Day to ALL the world's fathers!