Thesis 100dpi

RE
FU GI
life in motion
UM
GIUSEPPE CAROSINI
ALEKSANDRA GOJNIĆ

Politecnico di Milano
Scuola di Architettura Urbanistica Ingegneria delle Costruzioni
Master of Science in Architecture
R E F U G I U M - Life in Motion
Supervisor : Massimiliano Spadoni
Authors:
Giuseppe Amedeo Carosini, 814274
Aleksandra Gojnić, 814781
December 2016

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
To professor Spadoni for his support and
knowledge during this journey, and to
Haitham who set us on this path.
To our friends who kept a sense of humor
when we had lost ours.
To our families, for their unconditional
support and care.

Home - Warsan Shire
no one leaves home unless
home is the mouth of a shark
you only run for the border
when you see the whole city running as well
your neighbours running faster than you
breath bloody in their throats
the boy you went to school with
who kissed you dizzy behind the old tin factory
is holding a gun bigger than his body
you only leave home
when home won't let you stay.
no one leaves home unless home chases you
fire under feet
hot blood in your belly
it's not something you ever thought of doing
until the blade burnt threats into
your neck
and even then you carried the anthem under
your breath
only tearing up your passport in an airport toilets
sobbing as each mouthful of paper
made it clear that you wouldn't be going back.
you have to understand,
that no one puts their children in a boat
unless the water is safer than the land
no one burns their palms
under trains
beneath carriages
no one spends days and nights in the stomach of a truck
feeding on newspaper unless the miles traveled
means something more than journey.
no one crawls under fences
no one wants to be beaten,
pitied
no one chooses refugee camps
or strip searches where your
body is left aching,
or prison,
because prison is safer
than a city of fire
and one prison guard
in the night
is better than a truckload
of men who look like your father
no one could take it
no one could stomach it
no one skin would be tough enough

ABSTRACT
The refugee crisis is an omnipresent polemic that is widespread
throughout local and international news. Particularly within the recent
war that has struck Syria, the influx of migrating refugees has hit an all
time high, topping that even of the migration of refugees seen during
WW2. With currently over 60 million people displaced within their own
countries and globally, the problem is one of the most crucial facing
humanity at this point in time. There is yet a further relevance to the
situation which has now become too large to ignore. It is a problem
that has not been dealt with on a historic level, with very little theory
or concept developed around a larger solution to many of the issues
that refugees face, further more there are predicted to be over 250
million people who will become refugees within the next 20 years.
The major problem which we face as architects when confronting
this plight on a global level is that the reasons for people becoming
refugees are often outside of our scope of work. This is due to the
fact that they are produced by political, economical, natural disaster,
famine, civil war or other reasons. It is also not our place to work with
a god complex, prescribing a predetermined formula on how different
cultures and different countries should deal with the influx of refugees
within their cities, as again the number of role players from outside
our field are too high. The scope of our work therefore falls between
this. The focus on the Journey taken by the refugee to get from point
A to point B. This is the part of the refugee’s struggle that is often most
traumatic, with human trafficking, exploitation, rape, sinking boats
and closed borders just some of the many obstacles that they face.
9 REFUGIUM
- AS ARCHITECTS WE MAKE A STAND -
The solution lead to us taking the JOURNEY out of this migration and
projecting this as a line encompassing the globe. This line utilizes the
data analyzed as well as the lessons learned from the existing refugee
camps in order to formulate a Utopic critique of the current crisis,
geo-political contestations and lack of large scale intervention within
the realm of architecture and urbanism. A series of doors will allow the
refugees enter the structure and at the same time exit it, as long as the
inhabitants behind the door are kind enough to unlock it.

01
03
STATISTICAL NIGHTMARE
18 PRESENT
40 PAST
46 FUTURE
DANGEROUS JOURNEY
FOCUS - JOURNEY 56
PREDATOR NATURE 62
HUMANS AGAINST HUMANS 70
BORDERS 72
WALLS 74
FORTIFIED EUROPE 80
DEAD WORDS ON PAPER 82
GODLESS PEOPLE AND INVISIBLE VICTIMS 86
02

03
LIFE IN LIMBO
90 REFUGEE CAMPS
94 CASE STUDIES:
96 SAHRAWI CAMPS
100 NAURU CAMP
104 THE FAILURE OF REFUGEE CAMPS
CONTENTS
02
04
LIFE IN MOTION
PROLOGUE 108
MANIFESTO 110
REFUGIUM 112
THEORETICAL UNDERPINNINGS 118
FROM POINTS TO A LINE 122
NETWORK AND INFRASTRUCTURE 126
ARCHITECTURE AS A DEVICE 140
A TESTING GROUND 170

REFUGEE

CRISIS
01
STATISTICAL NIGHTMARE
A look at the insurmountable data extending from the past to
future of this ever evolving problem.

WHO IS A
REFUGEE?
WHAT IS THEIR
CRISIS?

efugee
/rɛfjʊˈdʒi/ meaning: a person who has been
forced to leave their country in order to escape war,
persecution, or natural disaster.
From: French réfugié ‘gone in search of refuge’, past
participle of ( se) réfugier, from refuge (see refuge).
crisis
/ἄπειρον/ meaning: - a time of intense difficulty
or danger.
-the turning point of a disease when an important
change takes place, indicating either recovery or
death.

16 REFUGIUM

PRESENT

18 REFUGIUM
THE CURRENT STATE OF
AFFAIRS
alien
/ˈeɪlɪən/ -a foreigner, especially one who is not a
naturalized citizen of the country where he or she
is living.
allocate
/ˈaləkeɪt/ - distribute according to a plan or set
apart for a purpose.
asylum
/əˈsʌɪləm/ -the protection granted by a state to
someone who has left their home country as a
political refugee.
One of the largest topics of discussion globally is without a doubt the
current refugee crisis. The migration of Syrian refugees fleeing civil war
and unlivable conditions within their country make up much of this
spotlight. The statistics of refugees globally are much aligned with this,
with Syrians making up the largest group of refugees by nationality
with over 6.6 million Syrians internally and externally displaced. This
though is not where the crisis stops. We are currently witnessing the
largest and most rapid escalation ever in the number of people being
forced from their homes globally since WWll. Iraq, Afghanistan, and
Ukraine are embroiled in war, large swathes of Sub-Saharan Africa are
wrought with persecution and disaster as is much of Southeast Asia.
Much is made of the influx of millions of refugees to Europe, where
people are caught in such a state of desperation that they are willing
to take on the perilous journey to reach the EU, full knowing that there
are many who never make it. The tragedy here though, although not
to be diminished, is only telling of part of the story. Refugee camps
worldwide are bursting at the seams and have become places of disenchantment
and squalor. Hundreds of thousands of people are lost
to human trafficking or abducted and sold into slavery. The refugee
crisis is also something that will not ‘blow over’ with the passing of
time, it is a fundamental issue that is threating to exponentially increase
unless thought is given to this issue and the issues around it are
highlighted in their entirety.
Globally war is often seen as the number one generating factor of
refugees but as climate change catches up with the human race, so
too are the number of climatic refugees ever on the rise. This trend is
so much so that the number of environmental refugees by 2050 will
far outweigh that of refugees of any other cause. This is not a problem
that is something that can be solved overnight, but needs to be
addressed with the utmost urgency or the consequences will cripple
the world in its entirety. Current political policies are one of the main
issues that need to be addressed in order to generate viable alternatives
to what ultimately is a crisis that revolves around the utmost care
in procedural planning in order to reduce the impacts of the problem.
Further than reading highly charged headlines in newspapers or
watching politically motivated clips on the news often depicting refugees
as a problem, intensifying xenophobia among the populous, the
refugee crisis needs to fundamentally studied and understood by all.
Europe itself has been quick to shut its doors to refugees, forgetting
how after WW2 many of its own people were taken in as refugees by
many of the countries that are seeking refuge on its doorstep now. The
crisis is an extremely complex issue which will be objectively unpacked
and analyzed in order to derive possible potentialities to work within
when it comes to solving this problem.

60 MIL
ION
People displaced worldwide
DISPLACED PEOPLE
The current epoch - Largest Refugee
Crisis to date since WWll. With over 60
million accounted for displaced people,
the population of potential refugees is
identical to that of the entire population
of Italy - Figure below.
The countries currently hosting the
largest number of refugees in Europe by
official granted claims barely scratches
the surface of this problem.
Germany Sweden France Italy Switzerland UK
47,555 33,025 20,640 20,630 15,575 14,065
Total claims granted by country
19 STATISTICAL NIGHTMARE

20 REFUGIUM
A PROBLEM WITH INFINITE
BEGINNINGS
A GLOBAL CRISIS
The source of refugees is near impossible to determine
as the cause, origin and destination of refugees are
always in a constant state of flux. Numbers of refugees
from different parts of the globe vary depending on
the current situation or conditions which would force
someone into exile in the first place. The graphic on
the right is a great example of this. Here one can see a
comparative diagram, exploring the number of refugees
by country throughout the world. The exhaustive list is
testament to the fact that the starting point of this problem
is an equation without a solution.
Since the establishment of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on 14 December
1950, numerous policies have been put in place and
formed in order to create discourse and give structure
to the complexities of these issues. The term refugee is
often used in two different contexts: 1) in everyday usage
it refers to a displaced person who flees their home
or country of origin, 2) in a more specific context it refers
to a displaced person who was given refugee status in
the country of asylum. In between these two stages the
person may have been an asylum seeker. The UNHCR
has developed a set of basic rights to which a person
who has officially been granted the status of refugee is
entitled to.
1.
RIGHT OF RETURN
Even in a supposedly “post-conflict” environment, it is not a
simple process for refugees to return home. The UN Pinheiro
Principles are guided by the idea that people not only have the
right to return home, but also the right to the same property. It
seeks to return to the pre-conflict status quo and ensure that
no one profits from violence. Yet this is a very complex issue
and every situation is different; conflict is a highly transformative
force and the pre-war status-quo can never be reestablished
completely, even if that were desirable (it may have
caused the conflict in the first place). Therefore, the following
are of particular importance to the right to return.
2.
RIGHT TO NON-REFOULEMENT
Non-refoulement is the right not to be returned to a place of
persecution and is the foundation for international refugee
law. The right to non-refoulement differs from the right to
asylum. To respect the right to asylum, states must not deport
genuine refugees. In contrast, the right to non-refoulement
allows states to transfer genuine refugees to third party
countries with respectable human rights records. The portable
procedural model, emphasizes the right to non-refoulement
by guaranteeing refugees three procedural rights (to a verbal
hearing, to legal counsel, and to judicial review of detention
decisions) and ensuring those rights in the constitution. This
proposal attempts to strike a balance between the interest of
national governments and the interests of refugees.
3.
RIGHT TO FAMILY REUNIFICATION
Family reunification (which can also be a form of resettlement)
is a recognized reason for immigration in many countries. Divided
families have the right to be reunited if a family member
with permanent right of residency applies for the reunification
and can prove the people on the application were a family unit
before arrival and wish to live as a family unit since separation.
If the application is successful this enables the rest of the family
to immigrate to that country as well.
4.
RIGHT TO TRAVEL
Those states that signed the Convention Relating to the Status
of Refugees are obliged to issue travel documents (i.e. “Convention
Travel Document”) to refugees lawfully residing in their
territory. It is a valid travel document in place of a passport,
however, it cannot be used to travel to the country of origin,
i.e. from where the refugee fled.
5.
RESTRICTION OF ONWARD MOVEMENT
Once refugees or asylum seekers have found a safe place and
protection of a state or territory outside their territory of origin
they are discouraged from leaving again and seeking protection
in another country. If they do move onward into a second
country of asylum this movement is also called “irregular
movement” by the UNHCR. UNHCR support in the second
country may be less than in the first country and they can even
be returned to the first country.

Myanmar
Vietnam
Packistan
Butan
Sri Lanka
China
Bangladesh
India
Nepal
Thailand
Indonesia
Cambodia
Ukraine
Croatia
Bosnia
Serbia
Russia
Colombia
El Salvador
Venezuela
Haiti
Mexico
Turkey
Palestine
Armenia
Iraq
Iran
DR Congo
CAR
Burundi
Eritrea
Sudan
Western Sahara
South Sudan
Mali
Nigeria
Ivory Coast
Mauritania
Guinea
Zimbabwe
Egypt
Ghana
Somalia
Ethiopia
Senegal
Rwanda
21 STATISTICAL NIGHTMARE
Afghanistan*
Syria*
* Scaled down by a factor of 10

54
PER
CENT
22 REFUGIUM
3.2
MILLION
ASYLUM-SEEKERS
By end 2015, about 3.2million
people were waiting for a
decision on their application for
asylum.
107,100
RESETTLEMENT
In 2015 UNHCR submitted
134,000 refugees to States for
resettlement. According to
government statistics, States
admitted 107,100 refugees for
resettlement during the year,
with or without UNHCR’s assisstance.
The USA accepted the
highest number - 66,500.
TOP
HOST
201,400 2.0
REFUGEES
RETURNED
During 2015, only 201,400 refugees
returned to their countries of origin.
Most returned to Afghanistan
(61,400), Sudan (39,500), Somalia
(32,300), or the Central African
Republic (21,600).
51
PER CENT
Children below 18 years of age
constituted about half of the refugee
population in 2015, up from
41 per cent in 2009 and the same
as in 2014.
For the second consecutive year, Turkey hosted the largest number of
refugees worldwide, with 2,5 million people.
More than half (54%) of all refugees worldwide come from just three
countries the Syrian Arab Rebuplic (4,9 million),Afghanistan (2,7 million),
and Somalia (1,1million)
1. TURKEY - 2.5 MILLION
2. PAKISTAN - 1.6 MILLION
3. LEBANON - 11 MILLION
4. IRAN - 979,400
5. ETHIOPIA - 736,199
6. JORDAN - 664,100
MILLION
ASYLUM APPLICATIONS
Asylum-seekers submitted a
record high number of new applications
for asylum or refugee status
- estimated at 2 million. With
441,900 asylum claims, Germany
was the world’s largest recipient
of new individual applications
followed by the USA (172,700),
Sweden (156,400), and the Russian
Federation (152,500).
98,400
UNACCOMPANIED
OR SEPARATED
CHILDREN
Unaccompanied or separated
children in 78 countries - mainly
Afghans, Eritreans, Syrians, and
Somalis - lodged some 98,400
asylum applications in 2015. This
was the highest number on record
since UNHCR started collecting
such data in 2006.

A STATISTICAL NIGHTMARE
within the Union. Countries like Italy and Greece as such
have been left to deal with the problem as waves of
refugees arrive on their shores.
A disparity of ideas and lack of planning,
has only aided to intensify the
current problems.
The astronomical rise of refugees in the past few years
has been met with shortsighted planning and policy
making, which has served little more than to exasperate
the current problem. Following a top down approach,
zero concrete solutions have filtered through these bureaucratic
processes. Europe itself, the most publicized
destination of the current wave of refugees has found
itself at a cross roads. A United front, dealing with the
problem and generating viable solutions together has
been far from the actual outcomes, with many countries
suddenly intensifying borders with their neighbors
12.4 24
86
MILLION
The rate at which people are forced to flee their homes
is staggering, with as many as 24 people displaced per
minute globally in 2015. People by and large do not
want to leave their homes, families and livelihoods but
are instead forced into this volatile status of becoming a
refugee. Much ado is made about the migration of refugees
to Europe, but one of the most important statistics
that is overlooked is that 86 percent of refugees are actually
hosted in developing countries. This means that
countries that are more often then not, struggling to
deal with existential problems within their own country
are now left to deal with large influxes of people who are
in desperate need for assistance and put a greater strain
on the already fragile state of these places.
PER CENT
23 STATISTICAL NIGHTMARE
An estimated 12,4 million people were
newly displaced due to conflict or persecution
in 2015.This included 8,6 million
individuals displaced within the borders
of their own country and 1,8 million
newly displaced refugees. The others
were new applicants for the asylum.
3.7
MILLION
UNHCR estimates that at least 10 million
people globally were stateless at the end
of 2015. However, data recorded by the
governments and communicated to UN-
HCR were limited to 3.7 million stateless
individuals in 78 countries.
PERSONS
EVERY MINUTE
On average 24 people worldwide were
displaced from their homes every minute
of every day during 2015 - some 34,000
people per day. This compares to 30 per
minute in 2014 and 6 per minute in 2005.
Developing regions hosted 86% of
the world’s refugees under UNHCR’s
mandate. At 13,9 million people , this
was the highest figure in more than two
decades. The least developed countries
provided asylum to 4.2 million refugees
or about 26 per cent of the global total.
183/1000
REFUGEES/
INHABITANTS
Lebanon hosted the largest number
of refugees in relation to its national
population with 183 refugees per 1,000
inhabitants. Jordan (87) and Nauru (50)
ranked second and third, respectively.

Xenophobia has run rampant, fueled
through negative publications from
global and local news outlets, turning
many local populations against the
influx of refugees. This has been seen
in the decision for England to vote for
Brexit, with migration one of the most
pressing concerns for the UK.
7th
UK’s rank in EU in
terms of total number
of asylum applications
Asylum application in Europe - 2010 to 2014
Top ten countries by number of asylum - seekers
GERMANY
FRANCE
SWEDEN
ITALY
UK
SWITZERLAND
BELGIUM
AUSTRIA
NETHERLANDS
HUNGARY
0 100k 200k 300k 400k 500k
24 REFUGIUM
25,771
Asylum application in
UK up until June 2015.
Asylum application in Europe - 2010 to 2014
Number of asylum seekers per 1000 inhabitants
SWEDEN
MALTA
LUXEMBOURG
SWITZERLAND
MONTENEGRO
NORWAY
41%
Positive decisions on
asylum applications
in UK for year ending
June 2015.
AUSTRIA
CYPRUS
GERMANY
UK
0 5 10 15 20 25
Asylum beneficiaries within the EU.
Origin of nationalities seeking protection
-Afghanistan 8%
84,132
Asylum application in
UK at its peak, in 2002.
Other
Russia
Pakistan
Somalia
Stateless
Iran
Iraq
Afghanistan
Eritrea
Syria
-Eritrea 8%
-Syria 37%
-Iraq 5%
-Iran 4%
-Stateless 4%
-Somalia 3%
-Pakistan 3%
-Russia 2%
Other 26%

In contrast Germany has publicly welcomed
the influx of refugees, working to
help relieve the pressure of the unrelenting
flow towards Europe, promising to
welcome up to 1 million refugees into
their country.
800k
Asylum-seekers and
refugees expected to
arrive in Germany this
year
Official resettlement and other admission programmes
for Syrian refugees
2
1
11
10
4
8
9
12
7
13
6
5
14
37,531
Asylum applications in
Germany in July as 93
percent increase over
July 2014.
755k
Total number of asylum
applications to EU
for year ending in June
2015
3
1 Canada - 11,300 2 USA - 16,286 3 Brazil - 7,380 4 Spain - 130
5 Italy - 350 6 Austria - 1500 7 Germany - 35000 8 Switzerland - 3500
9 Belgium - 475 10 UK - 187 11 Ireland - 610 12 Norway - 9000
13 Sweden - 2700 14 FInland - 1150
Syrian refugees hosted in the Middle East
LEBANON
25 STATISTICAL NIGHTMARE
65%
Increase in EU applications
over previous 12
months
IRAQ
JORDAN
TURKEY
EGYPT
0 500000 1000000 1500000 2000000

PEOPLE IN MOTION
A global look at the flows of migrants.
The long journeys undertaken by these
migrants lead to temporary camps along
their routes, often preceding what becomes
a semipermanent refugee settlement.
26 REFUGIUM
CAUSE AND EFFECT: The longevity of conflict allows it to be visually mapped and analyzed with regards to its affects
on migration and the formation of refugee camps.
- Conflict Zones - Refugee Camps - Economic Migrants - Refugees

27 STATISTICAL NIGHTMARE

FORCED TO FLEE, BUT
WHERE TO GO?
In today’s world there are worrying misconceptions about refugee
movements. As seen through the statistical analysis over 80 percent of
displaced people globally are hosted within developing countries. The
current fear portrayed by the media regarding the ‘floods’ of refugees
towards industrialized countries in Europe are superficially inflated
when looked at in contrast to the number of people internally displaced
within war torn countries, or the number of displaced people
seeking asylum within developing countries. It is these poorer countries
that have been left to deal with an issue that they are far from
capable of coping with. This is seen in stark contrast when comparing
Pakistan, who host one of the worlds largest refugee populations
compared to that of Germany, the industrialized country with the
largest refugee population. Pakistan has an economic impact with
710 refugees for each US dollar of its per capita GDP due to this influx
while Germany sees an impact only of 17 refugees for each dollar of
per capita GDP.
28 REFUGIUM
“The world is failing these people,
leaving them to wait out the instability
back home and put their lives on hold
indefinitely.”
António Guterres, 2011
asylum seeker
-a person who has left their home country as a
political refugee and is seeking asylum in another.
border
/ˈbɔːdə/ -a line separating two countries, administrative
divisions, or other areas.
chaos
/ˈkeɪɒs/ -complete disorder and confusion.
convention refugee
-a person who meets the refugee definition in the
1951 Geneva Convention relating to the Status of
Refugees.
This sentiment can be seen in the two maps on the right. A strong
trend is quickly evident where there is an immediate correlation
between the patterns shown between ‘Countries of Asylum’ and the
‘Countries of Departure’. Although Europe or North America can be
seen as evident countries of asylum, the weighted volume of asylum
countries are, as seen more often than not, those surrounding the
country of departure itself. The movement through the country of departure
to one of asylum is on of the most difficult in terms of mobility
of a refugee. This has lead to the large volume of internally displaced
people within who often find themselves still trapped within the confines
of the very crisis that they are trying to escape.
There is now a global imperative to create an equitable solution to
the problem of mobility and hosting refugees. If left as is, forcibly
displaced people will face further hardship and marginalization without
support. A global system of parity is required so they can work,
send their children to school, and have access to basic services. The
situation as is can only perpetuate and fester as tensions rise between
indigenous populations of developing countries and refugees all competing
for and relying on the same limited services on offer.

- Country of Asylum
29 STATISTICAL NIGHTMARE
- Country of Departure

30 REFUGIUM
# OF TIMES
IN TOP 20
36
32
7
15
2
15
30
8
8
11
13
9
13
31
3
9
2
25
15
3
4
36
3
12
17
4
2
14
24
8
4
12
10
16
22
15
12
28
4
3
16
33
4
1
11
8
2
35
36
30
5
1987
1986
1985
1984
1983
1982
1981
1980
1995
1994
1993
1992
1991
1990
1989
1988
1987
1986
1985
1984
1983
1982
1981
1980
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000
1999
1998
1997
1996
1995
1994
1993
1992
1991
1990
1989
1988
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000
1999
1996
1997
1998
AFGHANISTAN
ANGOLA
ARMENIA
AZERBAIJAN
BHUTAN
BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA
BURUNDI
CENTRAL AFRICAN REP.
CHAD
CHINA
COLOMBIA
CROATIA
DEM. REP. OF CONGO
EAST TIMOR
EL SALVADOR
EQUATORIAL GUINEA
ERITREA
ETHIOPIA
GUATEMALA
IRAN
IRAQ
IVORY COAST
LAOS
LIBERIA
MALI
MAURITANIA
MOZAMBIQUE
MYANMAR
NAMIBIA
NICARAGUA
PAKISTAN
PHILIPPINES
RUSSIA
RWANDA
SERBIA
SIERRA LEONE
SOMALIA
SOUTH AFRICA
2015
SOUTH SUDAN
CAMBODIA
SRI LANKA
SUDAN
SYRIA
TOGO
TURKEY
UGANDA
UKRAINE
UNKNOWN ORIGIN
VIETNAM
WESTERN SAHARA
YEMEN
EXPORTING FEFUGEES
RANK 1 RANK 2-5 RANK 6-10 RANK 11-20
2015
IMPORT/EXPORT
Refugees from South Sudan increased
more than fivefold- from 114.500 in
2013 to 616.200 in 2014-due to the
outbreak of civil war.
The movement of refugees between countries is likened
to that of imports and exports of goods. The staggering
numbers of people moving between countries is in a
constant state of flux, with countries who formerly were
a major source of refugees finding their roles inverted.
This can be seen in examples such as Ethiopia, once
a major source of refugees, who now find themselves
Syria was the top origin country in
2015 with 4.5 milions refugees.
An additional 7.6 milion Syrians- or
as sub-Saharan Africa’s largest host country. Most new
40 percent of the population- are
internally displaced
arrivals are from neighboring countries such as South
Sudan and Eritrea. In 2015 Turkey topped the host rankings
for the first time in 3 decades, where as previously
the position had been perennially held by either Iran or
Pakistan

1981
1980
AFGHANISTAN
ALGERIA
ANGOLA
ARMENIA
AUSTRALIA
AZERBAIJAN
BANGLADESH
BURUNDI
CAMEROON
CANADA
CHAD
CHINA
CONGO
COSTA RICA
CROATIA
DEM. REP. OF CONGO
EQUADOR
EGYPT
ETHIOPIA
FRANCE
GERMANY
GUATEMALA
GUINEA
HONDURAS
INDIA
INDONESIA
IRAN
IRAQ
IVORY COAST
JORDAN
KENYA
LEBANON
MALAWI
MALAYSIA
MEXICO
NEPAL
NETHERLANDS
NIGERIA
PAKISTAN
RUSSIA
RWANDA
SAUDI ARABIA
SERBIA
SOMALIA
SOUTH SUDAN
SUDAN
SWEDEN
SYRIA
TANZANIA
THAILAND
TURKEY
UGANDA
UNITED KINGDOM
UNITED STATES
VENEZUELA
YEMEN
ZAMBIA
ZIMBABWE
1983
1982
1981
1980
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000
1999
1998
1997
1996
1995
1994
1993
1992
1991
1990
1989
1988
1987
1986
1985
1984
1983
1982
2001
2000
1999
1998
1997
1996
1995
1994
1993
1992
1991
1990
1989
1988
1987
1986
1985
1984
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2015
2014
# OF TIMES
IN TOP 20
1
20
1
14
4
7
7
15
4
15
13
36
1
3
3
32
1
2
25
24
35
5
14
3
24
1
36
4
8
10
24
3
7
6
12
2
4
1
36
4
1
12
13
11
4
34
11
7
29
9
4
30
18
36
7
8
13
4
31 STATISTICAL NIGHTMARE
IMPORTING FEFUGEES
RANK 1 RANK 2-5 RANK 6-10 RANK 11-20
Ethiopia, once a major source of refugees
as citizens fled its 1974-1991 civil
war, is now sud-Saharian Africa’s largest
host country. Most new arrivals are
from South Sudan and Eritrea.
Turkey topped the host rankings in
2015 more than 1.8 milion
Syrian refugees within its borders. For
three decades prior, either Iran or Pakistan
had held the peak spot.

ITS A GLOBAL REFUGEE CRISIS -
THE MAJOR EFFECTED REGIONS
“A crisis is never really a crisis until it
is your own.”
BALKANS -
32 REFUGIUM
The Balkans have become a passageway. Countries
such as Serbia and Macedonia have become inundated
with refugees, with 7000 and 400000 people moving
through these two areas in less than two months
respectively. [United Nations] The origin of the refugees
are many, stemming from areas such as Afghanistan,
Syria and Kosovo. The Balkans have become a major
stopping point for refugees trying to enter Western
Europe. The high influx of migrants though has caused
a bottle neck effect in the region. With many European
countries closing their borders such as Hungary and
Austria, the flood of refugees is abruptly halted, and
what was once seen as a passageway has now developed
into a series of ‘temporary’ refugee camps in both
border towns and capital cities such as Belgrade.
MIDDLE EAST -
When a refugee crisis erupts it is almost always that the
neighboring countries of the region bear the brunt of the
initial ingress. This can be enormously taxing. Especially
onto countries which may not be in much better condition
themselves, or lack the capacity to deal with such
a large influx of troubled persons. This couldn’t ring
truer for the Middle East, where years of war and fighting
from countries such as Iraq and now Syria have taken a
toll on neighboring countries. Jordan’s unemployment
rates have doubled while refugees now make up over 20
percent of Lebanon’s current population. This has had
a knock on effect, with countries such as Turkey entirely
shutting its border with Syria. This often has disastrous
effects for migrants seeking refuge, turning them back

SOUTH EAST ASIA -
Much is made of the terrible crossing of the Mediterranean
sea, but the little publicized escape of the Rohingya
people from Bangladesh and Myanmar to places like
Malaysia and Indonesia are just as tragic. After being
denied basic human rights, the Rohingya people have
been forced to flee, but many of them have been stuck
at sea for large periods of time as host countries have
barred or turned back smugglers boats.
MEDITERRANEAN SEA -
The largest of the current crisis and the most widely
publicized is that of the crossings of Mediterranean to
reach Europe. War raging all across North Africa, and
the proximity of the ‘promised land’ of Europe, where
Italy and Greece have become the landing points, are
the only hope and salvation for many refugees. The
huge influx of over 150000 people trying to gain access
to Europe this way has had devastation repercussions
with over 2000 people dying at sea. Poverty in countries
neighboring problem states make them unfit destinations
for migrants, while other perils are rife within this
journey as human trafficking has become a multi million
dollar industry.
33 STATISTICAL NIGHTMARE
EASTERN EUROPE -
Ravaged by civil war, Ukraine has become a hotbed of
conflict recently. Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians
have been forced to flee conflict. Europe is statistically
the favored choice for refugees, but many states such
as Italy, Poland and Germany have declined asylum
applications as they are already inundated with other
refugees from around the world. Thus Russia has been
forced to take on the refugees from this crisis. This catastrophe
has had huge economic repercussions on the
region and not nearly enough funds have been raised
from the United Nations in order to help to address the
refugee crisis financially.

TELLING BOTH SIDES OF
THE STORY
How crisis becomes a tool
for media manipulation
It can be seen without a doubt the the media today influences our
opinions. Technological advancements continue to enhance and
evolve media outlets, and these constant changes and availability
of new media platforms means that the speed at which news travels
around the world is unprecedented. The majority of populations who
have access to any type of news and information can easily be swayed
by attention grabbing headlines. As a result of this, people tend to be
easily influenced by these representations. Therefore, the media can
greatly influence our opinions with an acute immediacy and it plays
an ever-increasing role in shaping governmental policymaking.
34 REFUGIUM
An example of this is how the current refugee crisis has triggered many
debates surrounding the reactions of governmental agencies from
various countries and what they can do in order to help the masses
of people desperately seeking safety. This crisis is a perfect example
of how easily public opinions can be shaped and influenced by the
media. Society today only knows what they are told through the various
media sources, and if something is not represented as important
in the media then it is soon forgotten about. In this case one can see
instances where some newspaper headlines rapidly change from one
extreme to another, first headlines demanding to “send in the army”
and then to “welcome with open arms”. Even subtle differences in
phrasing of “migrant” and “refugee” are constantly used interchangeably,
despite having completely different definitions. This does not
stop the public hanging on every word that the media provided them
with, we only know what is communicated to us through the media.
This just goes to show how much of a powerful weapon the media and
how it chooses to portray topics really is. This can be seen in an example
such as the shocking image of the washed up body of three-year
old Aylan Kurdi, which led many people to express great disgust at the
perceived lack of effort of some governments, regardless of whether
they actually are assisting refugees or not. Even though this image has
been widely circulated around the globe and has caused much public
outcry, many people accused the newspaper of deliberately distorting
facts in order to ‘morally blackmail the public’. Either way, it still shows
the influence the media has over the information we know.
crisis
/ˈkrʌɪsɪs/ -a time of intense difficulty or danger.
deterioration
/dɪˌtɪərɪəˈreɪʃn/ -the process of becoming progressively
worse.
The media has both positive and negative influences. It can help
make a person more aware of what is happening on a local, national
and global level, or it can warp one’s perspective of the truth. We only
know the information that is given to us, and depending on how that
information is portrayed society will form certain ideas. The media has
the ability to control the topics we discuss in daily life, and once something
is out of sight - within the media - it is out of mind and we move
on to the next topic implanted into our information resources.
displace
/dɪsˈpleɪs/ -force (someone) to leave their home,
typically because of war, persecution, or natural
disaster.

Walking a thin line
‘I
don’t think
there is an
answer
that can
be
achieved simply b
y
taking more and more r
efugees.
This is a disgrace. That we are
letting people die and seeing dead bodies
on the beaches, when together, Europe is
such a wealthy place. We should be able
to fashion a response.
We
simply must
find a durable
resettlement
solution. A
failure to do
so will
result in
tremendous
harm being done to this group
of men, women and children.
The EU
owe me
$3bn!!!
If the EU
does not grant
visa liberalization
for Turkish citizens,
Ankara will no
longer respect the
March agreement
on migrants. The
EU governments are
not honest. Turkey still
hosts three million people.
Talking a thin line
35 STATISTICAL NIGHTMARE
I
will build a
great
wall -- and
nobody builds walls
better t han me, believe
me
--and I'll build
them very
inexpensively.
I will build a great, great
wall on our southern border, and I
will make Mexico pay for that wall. Mark
my words.
It
is vital that
Europe
welcomes asylum
seekers with
dignity. We will
however
though send
back to their countries
those who do not need help. Refugees
are victims of the same terrorist system.
If
Europe fails
on the question of
refugees, then it
won’t be the Europe
we wished for,
Europe as a
whole needs to
move. Germany is a
strong country, the motivation
with which we should approach
these things has to be: We have
handled so much. We can handle it!
Hungary is
under
enormous
pressure,
whether or not
the EU will
succeed in pushing a
new EU asylum and migrant
system down the throats of the central
European countries, including ours.
The EU wants us all to remain puppets.
Solving
the humanitarian
prob-l ems in Syria
necessitates not only
emergency aid, but also
needs to eliminate their
root cause. China has paid
close attention to the
refugee issue in Europe and
the Mediterranean and sympathizes
with the refugees.The Chinese
government will further provide
assistance to refugees in relevant

36 REFUGIUM

PAST/ PRESENT/
FUTURE
Statistically we have already shown
that we are in one of the worst
moments in human history with
regards to a global humanitarian
crisis. There are 60 million displaced
people in the world, another stateless
child is born every 10 minutes,
and three million people have no
access to water, food, housing,
work, education, and are caught in
legal limbo.
...This is nothing new though...
We have been here before. A spectacular
global opera of deja vu has
gripped up as all, yet as designers
we are often some of the most guilty
in failing to recognize this. Failing to
learn from events of such magnitude
from the past, has lead us to
little more than beautifying on the
surface what is a more fundamental
problem. The rise of the “Designer
Refugee Camp” is a superfluous
gimmick providing ‘temporary shelter’
to a problem that is far more
permanent. Austerity runs rife, as
governments push for barren, frugal
attempts at refugee camps to deter
future asylum seekers. This all goes
on while global spending runs rampant
on global positioning systems
to monitor refugee movement or
creating weapons to bomb the very
countries afresh from where the
refugees originate.
37 STATISTICAL NIGHTMARE
We have ultimately failed at papering
over the cracks of this crisis, and
looking at what the future holds, the
walls are about to come tumbling
down.

38 REFUGIUM

PAST

HISTORY OF AN EVER EXISTING
PROBLEM
1940 - 2000
As the single largest migration of refugees to Europe
since WWII, the scale of the current crisis is without
question. There have been many other events historically
leading up to this which have not garnered the same
exposure. The precedent set of such historic moments
is invaluable in terms of understanding and finding a viable
solution to dealing with our current problems. The
following is a brief summary of these major events.
1940 to 1960
Post-World War II
With 9 major events occurring during this period, 81.6
million were displaced.
The 1950s and 60’s were dominated with events culminating
in Asia and Africa. The partition of India and
Pakistan in 1947 was the first of these events, resulting
in 14 million people displaced from the Indian subcontinent.
Africa was the melting pot of multiple wars of
independence that were prevalent within central Africa
during this time. Countries such as the Congo, Nigeria,
Angola and Algeria were some of the hardest hit. The
Algerian war of Independence was responsible for at
least 1.2 million people displaced, where as the Biafran
war in Nigeria displaced 2 million people. Xenophobia
uprooted many ethnic communities even long after the
wars had passed through these regions.
1960 to 2000
Post-World War II
With 32 major events occurring during this period,
46.5 million were displaced.
40 REFUGIUM
Looking at the adjacent graph it is quick to see that WWII
was responsible for the largest displacement of people
in recent history. Ethnic Germans were expelled from the
Soviet Union, while millions of others fled to escape the
brutal rule of Joseph Stalin. Millions more were greatly
affected by the events of the Holocaust. The UNHCR was
established by Allied forces after the war, in 1950, in order
to provide aid for the current and all future refugees
and people fleeing conflict.
The single largest event during this period was undoubtedly
the Bangladesh war of Independence. 10 million
Bengalis, mostly of Hindu faith, had to escape the
violence of mass killings, rape, looting and arson. This
led to the vast migration of refugees from East Bengal
to India. Concurrently to this, the Vietnam war was to be
another major catalyst for refugee migration with over
2.7 million Vietnamese fighters migrating from the South
to the North of Vietnam between 1965 and 1972.
Ten largest refugee crisis events throughout history.

0
100000
200000
300000
400000
500000
600000
700000
800000
900000
1000000
2000000
3000000
4000000
5000000
8000000
11000000
14000000
17000000
20000000
30000000
40000000
Soviet Invasion of
Afghanistan
WWII
Rhodesian
Rebellion
Partition of Pakistan
and India
Invasion of
Ethiopia
Establishment of
Jewish State
Invasion of
Eritrea
Post WWII
(Russia/Ukraine/Belarus)
Cambodian Civil War
Post WWII
(Germany/USSR/Poland)
Iran-Iraq War
Post WWII
(European Nations)
Civil Wars in Central
America
Chinese Cultural
Revolution
Nagorno - Karabakh
North Vietnam
Formation of Communism
Iraqi Suppression of
Rebels
Hungarian Uprising
Ethnic Cleansing
Croatia
Algerian War of
Independence
Chechnya declares
Independence
41 STATISTICAL NIGHTMARE
Hutu coup d’etat
Civil war in
Mozambique
Arab Israeli War
Burmese
Expulsion
Biafran War
Civil War in
Tajikistan
Bangladesh War of
Independence
Secessionist fighting
in Georgia
Vietnam War
Rwandan
Genocide
Uganda Expulsion
Order
Russian Suppression of
Chechnya
Laotian Civil war
Fall of Yugoslavia
Burmese
Expulsion
Vietnam War
NATO Air-strikes in
Serbia

42 REFUGIUM
The Cold War and its resulting proxy wars were the
largest talking point of this era, but by no means the
only determinate cause of refugees. Millions of people
were displaced in the middle east from countries such
as Afghanistan. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in
1979 caused 6.3million refugees alone, many of them
migrating to neighboring Iran and Pakistan. North Africa
was effected through Soviet Invasion as well and consequently
the Ogaden war broke out, displacing over 1
million people. The Cold War also had a knock on effect
in many Eastern European countries. As the power of
the former Soviet Union started to wane, ethnic and
nationalist communities within the former Eastern Bloc
began to catalyze. The mass movement of people started,
with migration between Armenia and Azerbaijan as
well as within Georgia and Tajikistan.
“Berlin is the testicles of the
West, every time I want the
West to scream, I squeeze on
Berlin.”
Nikita Khrushchev, 1962
Central America, specifically the areas of Nicaragua,
El Salvador and Guatemala were rife with Civil War
between 1981 and 1989, seeing more than 2 million
people being displaced to countries such as Belize,
Costa Rica and Mexico.
displaced.
1940 TO 2000
ENVIRONMENTAL REFUGEES
Looking at the 8 major events occurring during this
period, 81.6 million were effected.
The Earth’s climate is changing at a rate that has exceeded
most scientific forecasts. Some families and communities
have already started to suffer from disasters and
the consequences of climate change, forced to leave
their homes in search of a new beginning.
Natural disasters are often difficult to predict and even
when predicted there is very little one can do to escape
the devastation which they can bring. Environmental
refugees draw a different kind of problem, as unlike
wars, the duration of the event is often very brief but the
impact of the disaster itself can be felt for generations to
come. The Yangtze River Flood in China is an ideal example
of this. The flood itself came after 3 years of exhaustive
famine in the area, after which a month of torrential
rain killed 4 million people furthermore effecting 51
million people by destroying the rice crops and creating
famine and disease which ultimately killed even larger
numbers of the population.
The early 1990s were an extremely turbulent period
globally in terms of refugees. Europe was awash with
conflict in the early 90’s. The fighting between Armenia
and Azerbaijan, the Croatian War of Independence and
the Civil War in Tajikistan created 2 million refugees
alone. Simultaneously Asia was a hotbed of confrontation
within the 90’s. The Iraqi oppression of rebel movement
displaced 1.82 million people while the events of
the expulsion of people from Burma along with the end
of the Vietnam war created another million refugees.
Africa underwent the largest of its refugee crisis at this
time. The 16 year civil war in Mozambique creating 5.7
million refugees while in 1994 one of the darkest stains
in African history, the Rwandan genocide displaced 3.5
million people. One of the final events of the 1990’s was
that of the Kosovo war, where after the NATO bombing,
over 1 million people, both Serbian and Albanian were
Betti Malek—pictured on May 17, 1945—was one of numerous child
refugees brought from Belgium to England after the Germans seized
Antwerp in 1940.

0
100000
200000
300000
400000
500000
600000
700000
800000
900000
1000000
2000000
3000000
4000000
5000000
8000000
11000000
14000000
17000000
20000000
30000000
40000000
Indian Ocean
Tsunami (2004)
Yellow River
Flood (1938)
Bhola Cyclone
(1970)
Haiti Earthquake
(2010)
Typhoon Nina
(1975)
Tangshan
Earthquake (1976)
Haiyuan
Earthquake (1920)
China Floods
Great Kanto
Earthquake
REPETITION: Certain nations have had more misfortune than others. Below we examine how these refugee disasters
both man made and natural occur with varying frequency on continental and national levels.
6
- CHINA
43 STATISTICAL NIGHTMARE
3
- RUSSIA
2
- VIETNAM
- IRAQ
- RWANDA
- BANGLADESH
- BURMA
Asia Europe Africa South America
Asia Africa South Americ

44 REFUGIUM

FUTURE

Radicilization of Political Systems
Intelligent Buildin
2056
Revolutionised Urban Landscap
2052
New world orders are formed
Collapse of Free Market Capitalism
2050
Half the World is ‘Bankrupt’
60 percent of the Amazon lost
2053
Deforestation of 2.7 million sq km.
Fish Body Size Decrease
Changes in distribution and abundance
2055
Wine Industry Falters
Geoengineering Introduced
46 REFUGIUM
2054
THE FUTURE IS
NOT SO BRIGHT:
The Refugee crisis is not something that is
inherently new to us as a problem, as it has plagued
humanity within different epochs of history. The future of
the issue is something that is not self healing either. In fact the future
looks extremely bleak, as the number of refugees, mostly predicted as environmental
refugees, is expected to skyrocket 10 fold within the next 50 years. If serious
thought is not put into the solution of this problem and strategies are not put into place on a
global level, then the future of humanity certainly is in jeopardy. Policies of borders need to challenged,
along with the way we handle refugees, as well as city and place making within our current urban fabric.

gs
es
Water DIversion Project
2057
China diverts main water supply
Global Temperature
2065
1.2m Rise Sea Levels
Advertising Changes
2061
Personal Transport
Media fragmented/diversified
Colonization of Mars
2056
2066
Permanent Human Presence
Smaller, safer, Hi-Tech
Global Population
2064
Interstellar Message
2059
Message arrives at Gliese 777
Solar Supergrids
2058
Renewable Energy
Global Monsoons
2060
Population is reaching a plateau
Rainfall intensity has increased by 20%
47 STATISTICAL NIGHTMARE
End of Oil Era
Designer Babies
2062
2063
Major GLobal Slowdown
Advances in Genetic Engineering

48 REFUGIUM
FUTURE OF AN EVER EVOLVING
PROBLEM
2050 - 3050
As a global society we have already been shown to be
far out of our depth with dealing with the current refugee
crisis. The current population of refugees though
pales in comparison to what is predicted for the future
of this dilemma. 60 million globally displaced people
are expected to swell to as many as 250 million by 2050
based on the exponential rate at which these numbers
have progressed over the past few years, compounded
by the ever present problems provided by global warming,
contributing to the production of environmental
refugees.
Taking a hypothetical look at the future, based on data
that supports the plausibility of such events, a hypothetical
summary of some of the major crisis which
could come into play is provided.
2050
NUCLEAR TERRORISM
WASHINGTON
Radical Islam and its resentment of the West continue to
produce new Jihadists. In addition, underground groups
ranging from those angry at the first world’s neglect, to
anarcho-primitivists, have sprung up. By 2050, at least
one terrorist nuclear attack on a major world city has
been conducted by one of these groups. Large amounts
of nuclear material had been missing from Russia since
the 1990s and some inevitably fell into the wrong hands.
Being orders of magnitude greater than 9/11, the effects
of this attack leave a deep psychological scar on many
people alive today.
2050 -2060
FISHING CRISIS
GLOBAL
By far the greatest impact from global warming has
been in the seas and oceans, where changes in heat
content, oxygen levels and other biogeochemical properties
have devastated marine ecosystems. Globally, the
average body size of fish has declined by up to 24 per
cent compared with 2000. About half of this shrinkage
has come from changes in distribution and abundance,
the remainder from changes in physiology. The tropics
have been the worst affected regions. The plentifulness
of global fish stock are a thing of the past with many
species already extinct and many others now protected.
The 17% of the global population that relied on fish as
their primary source of sustanance have been greatly
effected.
2056
HURRICANE KATE
MEDITERRANEAN
In Europe, food riots have continued to spread. Temperatures
that were previously found only in North Africa
and the Middle East have become the norm in central
and southern parts of the continent. Britain now has a
Mediterranean climate and is engaged in a food-sharing
process with its neighbour Ireland. Rising sea levels, erosion
and storm surges are wreaking havoc on the coastline.
The first hurricane to hit the mediterranean region
as a result of this climate change devastates coastal
villages creating nearly 1 million European refugees.
2060 -2100
WATER WARS
NORTH AFRICA
Rapid population growth and industrial expansion
is having a major impact on food, water and energy
supplies. During the early 2000s, there were six billion
people on Earth. By 2030, there are an additional two
billion, most of them from poor countries. Humanity’s
footprint is such that it now requires the equivalent of
two whole Earths to sustain itself in the long term. Farmland,
fresh water and natural resources are becoming
scarcer by the day. However, this exponential progress
was dwarfed by the sheer volume of water required by
an ever-expanding global economy, which now included
the burgeoning middle classes of China and India. The
world was adding an extra 80 million people each year
– equivalent to the entire population of Germany. By
2017, Yemen was in a state of emergency, with its capital
almost entirely depleted of groundwater. Significant
regional instability began to affect the Middle East,
North Africa and South Asia, as water resources became
weapons of war.

0
100000
200000
300000
400000
500000
600000
700000
800000
900000
1000000
2000000
3000000
4000000
5000000
8000000
11000000
14000000
17000000
20000000
30000000
40000000
Nuclear Terrorism
(Washington)
Fishing Crisis
Hurricane Kate
(Mediterranean)
Rising Sea Level
(Global)
War on Water
(North Africa)
Tibetan Uprising
Fukoshima
Tsunami
Persectution of
Whites (South Africa)
Holland Deluge
49 STATISTICAL NIGHTMARE
DELUGE: Rising sea levels as a result of the polar ice caps melting due to global warming is an ever present threat. A
large portion of the world coastal cities would be lost to such a cataclysmic event, displacing unforeseen amounts of
people. Environmental refugees will be by and large one of the greatest disasters of the future humankind.

Amid this turmoil, even greater advances were being
made in desalination. It was acknowledged that present
trends in capacity – though impressive compared to earlier
decades – were insufficient to satisfy global demand
and therefore a major, fundamental breakthrough would
be needed on a large scale.
2063
TIBETAN UPRISING
TIBET
In light of the unfolding crisis in Europe, this constitutes
a significant shift in power and resources, which
inevitably results in friction with the other superpowers.
One side effect of this, however, is the increasing
flow of immigrants and refugees attracted by Russia’s
new-found abundance and wealth. Many are fleeing
resource conflicts throughout Eurasia. Due to its sheer
size, it is virtually impossible for Russia to fully close its
borders. This is a particular issue with those fleeing the
drought-stricken Tibetan Plateau of Western China, who
after a failed uprising against China itself has been left
decimated in terms of infrastructure and public services.
NEW STRATEGIES ARE NEEDED
GLOBALLY
In light of some of the catastrophes that mankind will
undoubtedly face going forward, it is a lack of preparation
and collaboration into how we deal with such
events that leads to such devastating consequences,
which often go on for many years after the catalytic
event has already past. This strange thinking can be
found in mans readiness for an event that potentially
could not happen, with an extensive evacuation plan in
place for the slopes and hill towns of Mount Vesuvius by
the Italian government, which has full contingency plans
in place already for such an event. This compared to the
monsoons in South East Asia, which generate refugees
on an annual basis in the region, yet the maximum level
of planning that is done to help support this polemic is
to open public buildings such as schools as makeshift
shelters. It is within these contrasting approaches a major
flaw can be seen. The crisis of refugees has not been
approached from a planning perspective, further than
laws and legislature that often exasperate the situation
rather than help to mitigate the problem.
The people of Bangladesh are no strangers to drastically changing
climates. This annual deteriorating condition has become a quasi way of
life for many of the countries rural populations.

VOLCANO
STORMS
TSUNAMI
DROUGHT
51 STATISTICAL NIGHTMARE
FAMINE
TOXIC
EARTHQUAKES
REFUGEES
CATALYST: Global potentiality for disaster is constantly rising. Analysis of impending and current environmental
threats highlights the areas most likely to have future refugee crisis.

52 REFUGIUM

53 REFUGIUM
02
DANGEROUS JOURNEY
This section is dedicated to the analysis of data, experiences
and interviews of refugees during their Journey.
The aim is better understanding the problematics of the journey
itself, isolated from both starting and end point.

THIS IS ALL
MONEY I’VE
GOT. WHAT IS
THE PLAN?
I HAVE TO
LEAVE OR I
WILL DIE.
WE ARE
LEAVING
TOMORROW.
DON’T ASK
QUESTIONS.
THIS IS ULI. HE IS TRAPPED IN HIS
WAR TORN HOME COUNTRY.
THE SMUG-
GLERS PUT
ULRICH IN
THE TRUCK
WITH OTHER
REFUGEES AND
DROVE OFF.
THE PEOPLE
WERE TRAPPED
WITH NO
POSSIBILITY
TO LEAVE.
WHY DID THEY
HAVE TO TIE
OUR HANDS?
SOMETHING
IS TERRIBLY
WRONG HERE!
54 REFUGIUM
THE SMUGGLERS TOOK THE HOSTAGES TO A LONELY HOUSE
WHERE THEY ASKED FOR MORE MONEY AND CALLED THE
FAMILIES FOR RANSOM.
THOSE WHO DID
NOT PAY WILL
DIE. THERE IS
NO SPACE ON
THE BOAT.
WE ARE GO-
ING TO SINK!
HELP!
I FELL OFF!
HELP!
PLEASE HOLD
ME! PLEASE!!!
THE BOAT SUNK. PEOPLE GOT SEPARATED IN THE WATER. SOME ARE
ALREADY DROWNED. MEN ARE TRYING TO SAVE WOMEN AND CHILDREN.
THE POLICE CAME TO SAVE REFU-
GEES FROM WATER. ULI SURVIVED,
BUT MANY OTHERS DID NOT.
I WISH I
DIED IN
WAR. WHAT
FUTURE CAN I
EXPECT?
SURVIVORS
WERE TAKEN TO
THE REFUGEE
CAMP...
I LIVE LIKE
A CRIMINAL
IN PRISON
BEHIND THE
FENCE ...

WHY IS THE JOURNEY IN THE
CENTER OF ATTENTION?
Hungary, for example built a fence on their border with
Serbia, preventing the refugees from entering their territory.
Australian navy was reported by Amnesty International
for ‘‘illegally forcing refugees to return to countries
where they would be in danger”, shooting at the boats.
Refugee crises have very complex roots. The triggers for
massive dislocation vary from natural disasters to those
caused directly by men, either on a regional or national
level, or as a part of greater geopolitical interest.
The causes of why people become refugees, are out of a
scope of an architect, considering previously mentioned
complexity.
Wars, persecutions, oppression and foreign interventions
for a start, which force people to leave their
homes, should be dealt with according to the international
law and are puzzles of a broader picture where
architects do not have influence. Unpredictable natural
disasters such as tsunamis, volcanic eruptions or earthquakes,
cannot be prevented by architects either.
On the other side of the refugee dislocation ‘‘equation’’
there is, however, destination, wrapped with its own
policies, cultural and ethnic complexities. The influx of
foreign citizens could be greeted with discrimination,
hostility and neglect. In some cases, the host government
and citizens would be welcoming and helpful
during the integration of refugees, but this is not guaranteed
2015 witnessed both of these cases around the world;
Meanwhile, Lebanon and Jordan hosted most of the refugees
from surrounding countries, and refugees located
there have found understanding from the local citizens.
However, the public and government in countries hit by
influx of refugees are divided and confronted in attitudes.
Germany so far has accepted 800 000 refugees
and asylum seekers, and while having a clear program
for their integration, the nation is not united in the approach
of refugees treatment. The reasons for accepting
foreign refugees could be pure ethical or practical, such
as ‘‘replacing the aging population’’ according to David
Cameron, ex Prime Minister of United Kingdom (from
the interview with Andrew Marr, September 2015).
The treatment of Destination therefore is as complex as
the starting point, including cultural or religious similarities,
government orientation (left or right), historical
relationships, etc. This is absolutely out of a scope of
architects and designers.
The missing link between starting point and destination
is Journey, which we believe, is where people are
faced with the most difficult and testing situations of
their lives. Violation of human rights and administrative
regulations are just some of the obstacles refugees face
during their Journey from destroyed countries. Journey
is however left to be dealt with by refugees alone.
55 DANGEROUS JOURNEY

The Journey for most of us,
is an act of traveling from
one place to
another. But for a refugee,
it represents a struggle,
uncertainty, overcoming
numerous obstacles to
reach safe ground.
The Journey for most of us is an act of traveling from one place to another.
But for a refugee, it represents a struggle, uncertainty, overcoming
numerouus obstacles to reach the safe ground.
Every year, thousands of people die crossing international borders—
perishing in oceans, rivers, and deserts, and at the hands of soldiers,
border security personnel, and unauthorized vigilante groups. According
to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) some 60,000
migrants have died in transit since 2000. Experts warn that this could
be a third of the true death toll.
If properly accounted for, migrant deaths might easily rival terrorism
deaths—the Institute for Economics and Peace’s Global Terrorism
index reported that some 107,000 people have died in terror attacks in
roughly the same time period.
56 REFUGIUM
Unlike terror victims, who often die in cities, and whose deaths are
widely covered in local and national media, migrants often die in
remote places, without documentation or witnesses who are willing
or able to come forth, and their bodies are often undiscovered or too
decomposed to identify. Countless bodies are never found, countless
missing persons are never reported; fatal journeys lost from all record.
For example, in May 2015, mass graves of unidentified migrants were
found in smuggler camps in Thailand and Malaysia. On April 21 2015,
the IOM reported that the known death toll in the Mediterranean was
30 times the previous year’s total by the same date. Yet, unlike counter-terrorism
efforts, the response to the crisis of migrant deaths and
efforts to make the journey safer has not enjoyed a commensurate
degree of international coordination and cooperation.
It is estimated that 5400 people died during 2015, 200 more than in
2014. The number of deaths in first months of 2016 has not declined
and has reached 4715 victims by the beginning of December when this
book was published.
Most of those who survive the journey have dealt with the issues that
can cause death or leave lifelong physical and mental consequences.
economic migrant
-a person who moves countries in order to take up
a job or seek a better economic future.
flee
/fliː/ -run away from a place or situation of danger.
foreign national
-a person who is neither a citizen nor a permanent
resident.
Caught in limbo between the terror on one side and hope on the other,
refugees suffer serious violation of their human rights. With no legal
protection and obstacles they meet on the way, people are forced
to find their own means to overcome them. The vulnerability of such
migration is that it creates an opportunity for other parties to exploit
them along the way. This includes smugglers, armed groups, officials
and ‘ordinary’ citizens. More than half of refugees are extorted in some
way. There are countless testimonials about sexual assault of women
and children, violence, human trafficking and abduction.
The Journey of refugees is a humanitarian crisis; threatening in terms
of health, safety or well being of this group of people. In many cases

there are no shelters, clean water and sanitation along
the way.
Swedish photographer Magnus Wennman in his collection
‘‘Where the children sleep’’ documented the terrible
conditions in which refugee children live; some sleeping
in the streets, a sick child resting on an old mattress at
the train station... Improvised refugee camps showed to
lack facilities to make the journey bearable.
Weather change could be fatal for the refugees ‘‘on
route’’: Tens of thousands, including the very young and
the very old, find themselves trapped in the open as the
skies darken and the first night frosts take hold. Hypothermia,
pneumonia and opportunistic diseases are
the main threats, along with the growing desperation of
refugees trying to save the lives of their families.
Life in movement is difficult facing all these obstacles
and life threatening situations. Among those, there are
the legal obstacles consisting of borders and policies
imposed by the states that are on the refugee routes.
One such regulation, in force in European Union, is the
Dublin Regulation. This states that an asylum seeker has
to apply for asylum in the first EU country he or she entered
and the EU Member State is responsible to examine
the application of the person seeking international
protection. According to European Council on Refugees
and Exiles (ECRE) and UNHCR the current system fails in
providing fair, efficient and effective protection. Around
2008, those refugees transferred under Dublin were not
always able to access an asylum procedure. This put
people at risk of being returned to persecution.
On the other hand, these first member states upon
arrival become overburdened by the number of refugees
which they do not have capacities to handle.
The aforementioned obstacles are just a small piece
of the puzzle, Dangerous Journey, people are willing to
take. Some routes are determined by the combination
of these factors, and their different intensities.
To analyze them properly, the factors defining the journey
are divided into the following categories:
I Natural obstacles. Such as deserts, water bodies and
mountains. These vast uncontrolled areas, not suitable
for human stay are often a deadly and vulnerable phase
of a refugees journey.
II Man-made obstacles. This category includes all acts
in physical or administrative form executed by humans,
in both legal and illegal manner: borders, walls,
inefficient policies, third party (smugglers and corrupt
officials) exploiting refugees resulting in violations of
human rights.
57 DANGEROUS JOURNEY
DESTINATION
START
Journey for refugees today represents a complicated trajectory, full of obstacles on every corner.

58 REFUGIUM
3770 787 321 133 103 95
Mediterranean
South Eastern
Asia
US - Mexico
Border
Europe
North Africa and
Sahara
Horn of Africa
Cen

The info-graphic on the left displays
numbers of the recorded
deaths broken down by region
during 2015. It is visible that
84 percent of cases belong to
regions of Mediterranean and
South Asia.
Data is collected by Missing Migrant
Project, launched in 2013
by International Organization
for Migration (IOM) due to the
lack of data on migrants deaths.
A joint initiative of IOM’s Global
Migration Data Analysis Centre
(GMDAC) and Media and Communications
Division (MCD),
the project aims to track deaths
around the world during migration
and maintains a publicly
accessible online database.
While aiming to be as comprehensive
as possible, data,
particularly in some regions,
is severely lacking and figures
contained in the database are
minimum numbers and far from
complete. These data difficulties
are due to the nature of
deaths during clandestine migration
that leaves many – possibly
the majority – undetected
and unreported. Compiled and
analyzed at GMDAC, data is collected
from a variety of sources,
including authorities – mainly
coast guards, sheriff’s offices,
medical examiners and consulates
– and interviews with
survivors of shipwrecks, media
reports, NGOs and UNHCR.
59 DANGEROUS JOURNEY
79 50 46 30 15
tral America Carribean South East Middle East
East Asia
Africa
Notes: Numbers on the left refer only
to deaths about which IOM is aware:
for most regions, the data represents
a minimum of the actual number of
migrant deaths. The comprehensiveness
and quality of the data varies
by region. Precise values presented
reflect the data available to IOM
and do not claim to represent the
exact number of dead and missing
migrants in each region; all figures
are approximate.

60 REFUGIUM
PREDATOR NATURE

Daily, hundreds of people
are trying to cross the
Mediterranean, Mexican
Gulf, South Eastern waters
or Bay of Bengal to reach
safe land going through
vast tracts of the Sahara,
Chihuahua and Sonora
Deserts.
The refugee routes often include deserts, vast mountains and water-bodies.
Crossing them illegally brings more risks than the elements
alone.
The journey through deserts and seas are similar in many ways - huge
uncontrolled human-unfriendly areas where unscrupulous people
rule.
Many of the refugees begin their journey in the backs of trucks, which
smugglers use to transport them through the desert or on old outdated
and overcrowded boats.
Being at sea carries a wide range of risks, some applicable to persons
at sea generally, and others specific to unauthorized travel. The
general risks of being at sea include bad weather, rough seas and poor
visibility. The dangers associated with such conditions are heightened
for irregular migrants for various reasons. While faced by all sea vessels,
migrant boats are at greater risk of losing direction or running out
of supplies of food or, more devastatingly, drinking water. Often every
space on a boat used to carry unauthorized refugees is reserved for
additional paying passengers rather than food, water or fuel; furthermore,
these boats are more likely to get lost as they may be operated
by inexperienced captains with little to no navigation equipment on
board. Migrant boats tend to be of very low quality, increasingly so
since the likelihood of confiscation has increased with stricter surveillance.
Since the boat will presumably be lost, smugglers have an incentive
to invest as little as possible in the boat itself. Those who cross from
West Africa to the Canary Islands may quite easily miss the mark and
drift out to the Atlantic. Boats that run out of fuel can drift for weeks,
passengers dying slowly of dehydration, starvation, hypothermia
or sun stroke. These boats are also at greater risk of shipwreck and
capsizing due to overcrowding, inexperienced crew and captain, and
substandard quality of the boats, which means that leaks and motor
failure occur frequently.
Indonesian fishing boats, for example, designed for shorter journeys
and lighter loads have typically been used to carry those hoping to
seek asylum in Australia. The number of passengers carried may vary
from fewer than 10 to several hundred [Phillips and Spinks, 2013], and
some analysts claim that the type of vessel used may shift in response
to operational changes in interdiction policies. For example, policies of
seizing or scuttling boats deemed not to be seaworthy by border authorities
may encourage the use of poorly maintained vessels that are
considered to be expendable and therefore contain little or no safety
equipment [Barker, 2013]. Stepping up prosecutions of human smugglers
has also been associated with the use of inexperienced crews,
often Indonesian minors, since these low-level operatives are the most
likely to be apprehended [Barker, 2013; Weber and Grewcock, 2011].
61 DANGEROUS JOURNEY

The tragic loss of 50 lives in December 2010, many of them women
and children, when a boat carrying asylum-seekers broke up on rocks
on Christmas Island, was attributed in part to the lack of a competent
crew.
It must also be acknowledged that refugees and migrants at times
endanger their own lives and those of others by sabotaging their own
boats in desperate attempts to prevent their return to the country of
origin. Thus there was an explosion on a vessel that was under the
control of the Australian navy near Ashmore Reef which caused the
death of five asylum-seekers and injured other passengers and military
personnel in 2009.
62 REFUGIUM
humanitarian
/hjʊˌmanɪˈtɛːrɪən/ -concerned with or seeking to
promote human welfare.
internally displaced person
(idp) -someone who is forced to flee his or her
home but who remains within his or her country’s
borders. They are often referred to as refugees,
although they do not fall within the current legal
definition of a refugee.
immigrant
/ˈɪm.ɪ.ɡrən/ -a person who has settled permanently
in another country. Immigrants choose to move,
whereas refugees are forced to flee.
migrant
/ˈmʌɪɡr(ə)nt/ -a person who moves from one
place to another in order to find work or better
living conditions.
In addition to the troubles at sea, crossing the desert is also rife with
dangers. The routes leading from the Horn of Africa and West Africa to
Libya (and other North African destinations) necessarily pass through
the desert, either the Sahara or the Algerian desert, depending on
which routes refugees follow. This leaves refugees vulnerable. When
deaths do occur, they are usually due to the perilous nature of desert
crossing, and also to migrants’ contact with unscrupulous smugglers,
traffickers, certain state officials and, in some cases, violent non - state
actors. The same analogy is applied to the journey over Chihuahua
and Sonora desert. The fauna there is as tough as the flora — desert
centipedes, bark scorpions, collared lizards and diamondback
rattlesnakes: creatures with rugged skin and the ability to cope with
extreme temperatures.
The desert climate, particularly the cold nights, reportedly lead to
sickness among refugees. For some, the lack of medical treatment
and their general level of exhaustion may lead to deteriorating health
and, eventually, death. The human body shuts down slowly, over the
course of a few days or, in some cases, hours. In his award-winning
book “The Devil’s Highway,” which follows the case of the Yuma 14,
Luis Alberto Urrea describes the steps in gripping detail. “Your temperature
redlines — you hit 41, 42, 43 degrees. Your body panics and
dilates all blood capillaries near the surface, hoping to flood your skin
with blood to cool it off. You blush. Your eyes turn red: Blood vessels
burst, and later, the tissue of the whites literally cooks until it goes
pink, then a well-done crimson.” If refugees and migrants become sick,
it is not unusual for smugglers to dump them in the desert in order to
prevent the sickness from spreading to the rest.
Refugees die in deserts from a combination of mistreatment, indifference,
misadventure and lack of preparedness. They may also suffer
violence in the desert through banditry, at the hands of State officials
and smugglers, or vehicle accidents due to overcrowding, bad roads
and dangerous driving.
However, as most, but not all, migrants move through deserts under
the aegis of smugglers or independent transporters, their deaths cannot
be merely seen as accidents.

Syrian refugees walk through a dust storm at the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan.
63 DANGEROUS JOURNEY
Refugees in an overcrowded boat waiting for help in Mediterranean.

2014 2015 2016
South East Asia
750
789 61
Horn of Africa
265
108
80
North Africa/Sahara
324
374 483
US - Mexico border
230
333 219
64 REFUGIUM
Carribean
68 50
Mediterranean
3308
3770 3165
4945
5424 4038
The info-graphics above are showing approximate numbers of deaths in waters worldwide. The accuracy varies considerably
by region, with the Mediterranean perhaps being the most documented, given the swivel of the world’s eye
on it in the past few years. Even so, figures are uncertain and are estimates. With no passenger lists, with boats sinking
without the knowledge of authorities and bodies washing up on shore with no identifying information, it is next to
impossible to have a precise count. Along the US- Mexico border, the numbers are produced only for the US -side by
the patrol, while the death data on the Mexican side are not consolidated by the authorities. In Africa, however, there
is almost no information; the data is collected from media reports and is a huge underestimation of real numbers.
Similarly the regions of Bengal Bay and Andaman sea where the numbers presented are a vague estimate on lives lost
during the crossing.

1200
1000
800
600
2016 400
200
2015
2014
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
2016
2014 2015 2016*
2016
2015
2014
The Mediterranean region is one of the most documented 2015 in terms of accidents and deaths at sea, considering the
2014
recent surge of popular interest in and increasing public awareness of an influx of migrants and refugees into the
southern members of EU. The Union had activated a rescue operation called Mare Nostrum that was superseded by
Frontex’s Operation Triton.
The recent years have been the deadliest so far recorded. In October 2013 the world watched a horror when some 360
refugees lost their lives in the attempt to swim to the shores of Lampedusa; up to 500 migrants met their death at
sea off Malta in only one day in September 2014 and around 800 people drowned in the last night of April when their
boat sunk.
*The chart contains Data for 2016 concluding with 16th October.
65 DANGEROUS JOURNEY
Heat
Sickness
Cold
Unknown
Train related
Starvation/Dehydration
Motor vehicle related
Drowning
Water related
Vehicle Accident
Other
Undetermined
Skeletal remains
%
2
1
7
11
14
16
18
Violence
Suffocation
%
4
10
10
16
18
18
24
Figure A
Figure B
30
Figures A and B are presenting reported causes of migrant / refugees deaths in the desert of US - Mexico border (fiscal
year 2008) and Africa ( 1 Jan–30 June 2016) retrospectively.
Sickness, cold-or heat related issues if not causing death, can leave long lasting physical consequences. These include
serious skin problems, gangrene, breathing difficulties and severe cases of diarrhea.

66 REFUGIUM
EXPERIENCES FROM THE EDGE
CROSSING THE SEA
Louay Khalid fled from the violent outbreak in the Syrian
Arab Republic via Lebanon and Egypt, eventually ending
up in Libya. After working there for a year, he decided to
leave the troubled country. Unable to return to his home
country or to bring his family to Libya, Louay Khalid
planned his crossing to Europe. However, he was completely
unaware of the risks of the journey. The boat on
which he crossed the Mediterranean tragically sank on 10
October 2013.
After paying a smuggler 1,300 Libyan dinars (about USD
1,075) for the trip, Louay Khalid was locked in a house
for about two weeks with around 450 other aspiring
migrants. They were not allowed to leave the house and
were told that if they did they would be shot. Eventually,
they were loaded onto trucks before being stuffed onto
a heavily overloaded boat that was steered by other
migrants.
‘‘Once I saw the vessel . . . I could immediately tell that
we were too many people. There were people everywhere
you could look – people in the engine room,
people on the mast even – literally everywhere.’’
Shortly after departure, police approached the boat
twice, urging the vessel to return. However, the migrants
continued their journey until maritime police appeared.
The police requested the vessel to stop its journey, but
the vessel kept on moving, at which point, the police
fired shots and began to “round” the vessel, throwing
ropes to jam the engine fan. Even though passengers
were crying and parents holding their children closely to
them, the firing continued until the cabin broke down.
During the commotion, two women gave birth. Finally,
the police left.
The following day, the migrants called the Red Cross in
Lampedusa for help. When an airplane arrived after four
hours, the people on board attempted so desperately to
attract its attention that the
vessel capsized. When the plane returned with life
buoys, many of the people had already drowned.
‘‘I was wearing a life-jacket . . . that saved my life. The
people who were inside the boat all died.’’
DESERT STRUGGLE
The extremes of the Sonoran Desert have a dominant and
prevailing influence over southern Arizona. It is not all
picture-perfect, sand-duned desert, but more like the wilderness
the Israelites sojourned through for 40 years after
the Exodus from Egypt. There is scrub vegetation with lots
of dirt, rocks and craggy mountains. Temperatures can
dip way below freezing at night and soar into the 40s by
day—and that’s just in winter. The biggest enemy of life in
this wilderness are the elements. Those traveling by foot
regularly die of dehydration, hypothermia/hyperthermia,
sepsis from frostbite or infected, gangrenous foot blisters.
Drowned world: artist Jason deCaires Taylor ‘s extraordinary
series of concrete sculptures representing desperate refugees
It’s hard enough to drive through the Arizona desert,
where the sun is harsh and the distances immense. This
is the story of Brenda.
The interview took place in Nogales, Sonora, on the
northern border of Mexico opposite Arizona. She was
living in a shelter for deported people, where she told of
her brief and difficult stay in the United States.
She’d come all the way from southern Mexico, and
crossed the border into Arizona in 2014. Then her group
of migrants was spotted by the U.S. Border Patrol somewhere
outside of Tucson. How did she escape? “I ran,”
she said simply, but she was separated from her group,
and was soon lost in the desert.

Outside settled areas, southern Arizona features stark
mountains and cactus-filled valleys, breathtakingly
beautiful but difficult to survive in. In this landscape, she
wandered for three days.
admitted, all but begging the Border Patrol to come and
remove her from the country.
Arizona remains a major corridor for cross-border
smuggling and migration, though much of the traffic has
shifted eastward to Texas. Improved border fences in
recent years have made it harder to bring vehicles across
— some of the border fences are built using recycled train
rails. Such fences do not stop people on foot; for them,
the true barricade is nature.
Some of the most severe territory is also some of the
busiest: near the Tohono O’odham reservation that straddles
the border whose the public safety director Malcolm
Lewis explained a chart depicting scores of dead people
found year by year on tribal land. “Our highest was 125,
which is really a real burden on us because of the possibility
of it being a homicide,” he said. Investigators have
to determine whether the deaths were caused by the
elements, or by people.
Tribal public safety officer Lt. Michael Ford, who has
spent 17 years on this police force says:
“I kept seeing lights, I’d walk toward them but get no
closer.” She was, she said, “dying of hunger.” And she
might have actually died except that in all that vastness,
she discovered a discarded cigarette lighter.
She used it to light a brush fire so that she might be
spotted by the Border Patrol helicopters flying over the
area.
The desert had become so intolerable that she was, she
“When people cross these mountain ranges here, those
are huge mountains. And it takes awhile to get out there
to do the recovery, and bring people back,”
He knows from experience: Collecting bodies was the
job of the last unit he supervised.
“The way I always like to look at it is, the worst possible
scenario already happened. That person lost their life.
They’re gone. At least you can help them get back to
where they belong to and help somebody somewhere
have some resolution and have some closure for something
that happened. There are always some bodies that
are never claimed, though.
“Don’t expose your life to the elements; It’s not worth the trouble”
“It’s like an ocean. And there’s just some people that are
lost at sea that you’re never going to find”
Driving along the border fence, one can see many signs
of people who had tried to prepare themselves to cross
it. The area was littered with empty water bottles.
People also left signs that they were avoiding detection:
a pair of overshoes made out of white carpet, which
could hide tracks along the roadway.
These carpet shoes were discarded right by some
tire tracks. Yet the same people who try to hide from
the authorities sometimes end up needing them, like
Brenda, who set the fire to signal the Border Patrol in the
desert. The Border Patrol says in the fiscal year of 2013,
it rescued 2,346 people — from lost hikers to lost border
crossers.
As you one drives the border fence, there are yellow
warning signs: “Don’t expose your life to the elements;
It’s not worth the trouble,” written in Spanish.
‘‘Crossing the sea’’ summarizes the encounter given by Louay
Khalid to IOM Malta’s Martine Cassar. It is adapted from the
transcript of the original interview at the Hal Far Center, Malta,
in April 2014.
‘‘Desert struggle’’ is adapted from the npr.org report (see
references)
67 DANGEROUS JOURNEY

68 REFUGIUM
HUMANS AGAINST HUMANS

Unlike the natural barriers
which are inevitable and
have existed for thousands
of years in the same place,
the obstacles that human
civilization has created are
flexible and can change
over time.
Borders are relative.
Big empires have fallen apart and the new have risen; the borders
created by men have been changing constantly throughout history.
Where the borders existed before, now there are none, or where there
never have been, now are sprouting.
The European Union is just one of the examples when it comes to
open borders. Despite the diversity of 28 sovereign states, 29 different
languages (24 official and 5 semi-official), and even 6 different religions,
movement within the Union is free.
However, hit by an influx of refugees, certain countries of the Union
decided to close their borders based on national security and economic
reasons, xenophobia and so called identity protection, leaving
hundreds of refugees stuck and without the possibility to continue
their journey. Meanwhile, in Asia, Thailand and Malaysia also closed
their borders - those along the coast preventing boats of refugees from
disembarking on their shores, leaving them at sea for weeks.
These problems are deeply rooted in the mix of national sovereignty
and human rights reflected in the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights of 1948. It affirms that everyone has a right to leave a country,
yet no one has a right to enter a country without its sovereign permission.
They cannot be expelled, but there is no provision for them
to enter a country legally, and the decision as to whether they are a
refugee can only be made once they reach the country of asylum. Here
we see an enormous invitation to - and an indirect funding scheme for
- illegal border crossing and smuggling, leaving refugees in vulnerable
and manipulative situations.
Administration failed to provide proper response to the refugee problem
and asylum seekers. In fact, after WWI International community
approached a task of establishing an internationally recognized status
for refugees and one of the first steps was providing them with papers
that would enable them to travel. That led to creation of document
called “Convention Travel Document” and was supposed to be issued
by the state of arrival. However, the experience of United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has shown that the Governments
do not always issue these documents, making this system ineffective
and problem-causing for already exhausted people.
69 DANGEROUS JOURNEY
permanent resident
-a person who has been granted permanent
resident status.
person without status
-a person who has not been granted permission to
stay in the country, or has overstayed their visa.
Being left at a‘‘dead end’ without any protection, refugees and
migrants have no other option, but to go through illegal channels of
entering the country. That leads to serious violations of human rights,
since most often smugglers do not spare their customers. Numerous
reports show presence of human and organ trafficking, and according
to the Independent magazine ‘‘human smugglers made a record profit
last year [2015] of between $3bn and $6bn by exploiting the misery of
refugees.’’ The exploitation of women and children along with their
subsequent abuse, is reported widely, all as a result of human cruelty
and ruthless smuggling industry.

BORDERS
A border is a real or artificial line that separates geographic areas.
Borders are political boundaries. They separate countries, states,
provinces, counties, cities, and towns. A border outlines the area that
a particular governing body controls. The government of a region can
only create and enforce laws within its borders.
In their earliest forms, borders were the edges of highly organized
political empires such as the Chinese and Roman empires; later, they
became the expressions of centrally-organized nation-states such as
France and Germany, which tried to enforce their borders from adjacent
land-based national groups and states. In all cases, the police
power of states were/are critical to the creation and maintenance of
borders. Throughout history, borders ranged from controlled but otherwise
open, to restricted, to highly fortified and even militarized, and
thus borders effectively close off areas in one way or another.
US - Mexico
Israel - Palestine
Maginot line
China wall
US - Mexico
Most fortified
borders
Geographically, international borders are expressed in varying degrees
of severity: border markers, custom and immigration controls for
passports and visas, fences, walls, border guards, and even national
military troops.
70 REFUGIUM
WALLED
FENCED
HARD
B O R D E R S
Border types can be classified into soft and hard borders. Soft borders
include open and regulated and controlled frontiers. Hard borders,
referred to in this paper as fortified borders, include: wire fenced borders,
wire fenced and walled borders, walled borders and militarized
borders.
Today, the 145 land-based nation-states around the world (excluding
the 50 island countries, or 26 percent of the 195 countries in the world)
employ three major international border types: 15-28 countries (8-14
percent) have open borders; 88-75 countries (45-39 percent) have
regulated or controlled borders; and 42 countries (22 percent) had/
have fortified borders.
SOFT
Borders change over time. They could be changed through violence or
peacefully - when land is sold or after a conflict through international
agreements.
OPEN
European Union
Historical borders
REGULATED
EU - Non EU
USA - Canada
Types of international borders
Sometimes, borders fall along natural boundaries like rivers or mountain
ranges. For example, the boundary between France and Spain
follows the crest of the Pyrenees mountains. For part of its length, the
boundary between the United States and Mexico follows a river called
the Rio Grande. The borders of four countries divide Africa’s Lake
Chad: Niger, Chad, Cameroon, and Nigeria.
When neighboring countries have similar wealth and political systems,
their borders may be open and undefended. For example, citizens of
the 28-country European Union may travel freely among any of the
member states. Only five EU members—Bulgaria, Cyprus, Ireland,

Romania, and the United Kingdom—require travelers
from other EU states to present a passport or ID card at
the border.
guards. Citizens of most countries must have a passport
and official permission to enter the borders of North
Korea. North Koreans must also have official permission
before they leave their secretive nation.
Every country has its own rules about who may travel,
work, and reside within its borders. Visas and work permits
are government documents issued to non-citizens
that limit the type of work or travel they may do in the
country, and for how long.
Border between the Netherlands and Belgium: two neighboring
countries have open borders. The line becomes an artistic
installation fictively separating their identities.
On the opposite extreme, the Korean Demilitarized
Zone—the border between communist North Korea and
capitalist South Korea—is the most heavily militarized
border in the world. The zone, which is 4 kilometers
wide and 243 kilometers long, separates the two countries
with barbed-wire fences, land mines, and armed
Closing borders for people fleeing conflicts or natural
disasters contributes to creating places of congestion
in front of the erected walls, fences or checkpoints, in
many instances resulting in humanitarian crisis. The
crowded conditions lead to shortages of food, shelter,
water and sanitation.
Left stranded without seeing a way to move forward,
refugees are forced to find other ways of overcoming this
obstacle: sometimes that means taking another route
and often walking for weeks or hiring a smuggler.
Border Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea)
and the Republic of Korea (South Korea): Demilitarized zone.

WALLS
To wall is human and, if the story
of the Garden of Eden is true,
to exclude is divine.
These physical walls feel like a throwback to antiquity. It
is widely spoken of globalization, international markets
and global villages. Barriers to trade and travel keep
falling, and we can communicate with anyone instantly
from nearly anywhere in the world. Borders themselves
matter less and less. The contemporary angels and
demons – multinational corporations, climate change,
global terror networks, Hollywood movies, bird flu – are
nation-less and border-less and care nothing about the
lines we draw on our maps.
Security fears and a widespread refusal to help refugees
and migrants have fueled a new spate of wall-building
across the world, with a third of the world’s countries
constructing them along their borders.
72 REFUGIUM
Since the beginning of civilization, people have built
walls to keep things in, or out. The ancient Egyptians
constructed massive mud brick walls around their
temples. The wavy walls that represented the primeval
waters of chaos and served to ensure the purity of
their sacred enclaves by keeping out everyone but the
priests. The Roman emperor Hadrian, with his usual
efficiency, commissioned a wall, backed by a series of
defensive forts, to protect his empire’s northernmost
frontier from a troublesome neighbor. Walls, it would
seem, are part of the human story.
When the Berlin Wall was torn down a quarter-century
ago, there were 16 border fences around the world.
Today, there are 65 either completed or under construction,
according to Quebec University expert Elisabeth
Vallet.
From Israel’s separation barrier (or ‘apartheid wall’ as
it is known by the Palestinians), to the 4050 kilometers
barbed-wire fence India is building around Bangladesh,
to the enormous sand ‘berm’ that separates Morocco
from rebel-held parts of the Western Sahara – walls and
Wall between Israel and Palestine as a Symbol of aggression. Palestinians climb over a section of Israel’s separation wall near Qalandia checkpoint
between Ramallah to enter Jerusalem for Friday prayer in the al-Aqsa mosque compound, Islam’s third-holiest site, during the holy month of Ramadan.

fences are ever-more popular with politicians wanting to look tough
on migration and security.
In July 2015, Hungary’s right-wing government began building a
four-meter-high fence along its border with Serbia to stem the flow of
refugees from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.
‘We have only recently taken down walls in Europe; we should not be
putting them up,’ was one EU spokes-person’s exasperated response.
Three other countries – Kenya, Saudi Arabia and Turkey – are all constructing
border fences in a bid to keep out jihadist groups neighboring
in Somalia, Iraq and Syria respectively.
Seven miles of barrier have already been erected along the border
at Reyhanli town in Hatay province - a main point for smuggling and
border-crossing from Syria - the private Dogan news agency said.
The fence in Turkey will eventually stretch for 28 miles along a key
stretch of its border with Syria.
But the Turkish wall pales into insignificance when compared to the
multi-layered fence which will one day stretch 600 miles from Jordan
to Kuwait along Saudi Arabia’s border with Iraq.
‘‘I was struck every time
at how a structure so
simple as a wall or fence
can have these profound
psychological effects’’
In spite of the aggressive symbolism, it is not clear that walls are truly
effective.
‘The one thing all these walls have in common is that their main function
is theatre,’ said Marcello Di Cintio, author of ‘Walls: Travels Along
the Barricades’.
‘You can’t dismiss that illusion, it’s important to people, but they provide
the sense of security, not real security.’
The limits of their effectiveness are visible everywhere - not least, with
the migrants and refugees sitting on top of the fence along the border
with Morocco and the small Spanish enclave of Mellila, on the North
African coast. Even the fearsome Berlin Wall with its trigger-happy
sentries still leaked thousands of refugees even in its most forbidding
years.
73 DANGEROUS JOURNEY
Walls supporters claim that a few leaks are better than a flood. However,
Di Cintio argues we must also consider the psychological effect
the walls have. According to his research, elders of Tohono O’odham
- Native American tribes started to die off in apparent grief because the
fence on the Mexican border cut them off from their ceremonial sites.
Their story carries shades of the ‘wall disease’ diagnosed by Berlin
psychologist Dietfried Muller-Hegemann in the 1970s after he found
heightened levels of depression, alcoholism and domestic abuse
among those living in the shadow of the barricade. Di Cintio recalls his
conversation with Bangladeshi farmers separated from their neighbors
by a fence raised by India. Within a few months, he said, they had started
expressing distrust and dislike for ‘those people’ on the other side.
‘I was struck every time at how a structure so simple as a wall or fence
can have these profound psychological effects,’ says Di Cintio.

There have always been natural obstacles to the movement
of plants and animals: climate, mountain ranges,
oceans, but the pace of change with these obstructions
offers a chance to adapt and therefore often ignites the
flames of natural diversity. Human-wrought barriers
however, whether they are suburban roads or international
border walls, tend to have the opposite effect:
They are sudden, defy nature’s logic, and, though some
species may see benefits, the overall impact erodes
biological diversity.
Walls, however, can significantly affect natural processes too. A
research from College of Life Science at Peking University found that
the Great Wall of China has altered the genetic structure of the same
species of plants on both sides of the wall by blocking its natural gene
flow, that aids in the evolution of a species.
Another version of a contemporary ‘‘Chinese wall’’ - almost 5 meter
high fence in the US- Mexico border is said to block the natural flow of
flood water, which in turn disrupts plant life at a UNESCO biosphere
reserve in southwestern Arizona, known as Organ Pipe Cactus National
Monument.
‘‘The fences can curtail animals mobility,
fragment populations and cause
direct mortality.”
Review of European, Comparative and International
Environmental Law, October 2016
74 REFUGIUM
When the Berlin Wall
was torn down a quarter-century
ago, there
were 16 border fences
around the world. Today,
there are 65 either
completed or under construction.
The walls do little to address the roots of insecurity and migration
– global asylum applications and terrorist attacks have risen hugely
despite the flurry of wall-building.
They are mostly effective against the poorest and most desperate,
says Reece Jones, a University of Hawaii professor and author of ‘Border
Walls: Security and the War on Terror in the United States, India
and Israel’.
Like the French Maginot Line—a defensive system built in the 1930s
that the Nazis merely avoided while invading France in World War II—a
border wall can sometimes be sidestepped with an alternative route,
albeit one that is often more dangerous. Jones states that, “The substantial
increase in deaths at borders is the predictable result, since it
funnels immigrants to more dangerous routes through the deserts of
the US southwest or on rickety boats across the Mediterranean.’’
The experience showed that the walls are not efficient against the
drug threat. ‘Well-funded drug cartels and terrorist groups are not affected
by walls at all because they have the resources to enter by safer
methods, most likely using fake documents,’ Jones claims. In 2015
Mexican police discovered an 800 meters long underground canal for
drugs transportation extending from a house in Tijuana to San Diego.
The canal was equipped with a rail car system, lined with metal beams
to prevent collapse and ventilated.
With the rising poverty and effects of climate change people will
migrate no matter what the nature of the wall is - there is always an
alternative, but often dangerous route. The choice is left to the governments
to make - either to continue building barricades or to seek for a
more future-oriented and sustainable solution.

The Moroccan Wall of Western Sahara is an approximately 2,700 km (1,700 mi) long structure, mostly a sand wall (or “berm”), running through Western
Sahara and the southeastern portion of Morocco. It separates[1] the Moroccan occupied, and controlled, areas (Southern Provinces) and the Polisario-controlled
areas (Free Zone, nominally Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic) that lies along its eastern and southern border.
75 DANGEROUS JOURNEY
The wall between United States and Mexico is not one continuous structure, but a grouping of relatively short physical walls, secured in between with a
“virtual fence” which includes a system of sensors and cameras.

THE WORLD’S WALLS
built or under construction
planned
76 REFUGIUM
1980 1990s 2002
2003 2005
2005
2006
India has built a
US - Mexico
Israel has
Brasil
Botswana has India has
Morocco
The
Hungary
US has built Since
Ukraine
2006 there
fence along the
fences along is a 13- mile
Line of Control
in Kashmir
between Indianand
Pakistaniadministered
1050 miles of its
3145 km border
with Mexico,
many of them
since 2005.
fence between
China and North
Korea. New sections
have been
systematically.
territories
Since 1980
Morocco has
constructed a
system of 2735
km of sand and
stone walls in
the Sahara. In
2015 it began
fencing off its
border with
Algeria.
largely fenced erected 480 km constructed the
off its borders long fence with Indo-Bangladeshi
with Lebanon, Zimbabwe due
barrier,
Syria, Egypt to the biggest a 3406-kilometre
and Jordan. It is immigration
fence of
also building a problem since barbed wire and
barrier around its independence
concrete just
the occupied
from
under 3 meters
West Bank.
Britain.
high, to prevent
smuggling of
narcotics.
Morocco India Israel Botswana India US China

77 DANGEROUS JOURNEY
2007
2013 2014 2014
2015
2015
2016
The wall
Israel
is
Brazil began
Kenya
In 2014
Saudi
Ukraine Saudi Arabia Since August In 2015 Kenya Austria has
Arabia India China
being constructed
building mostly began building has built fences 2015 Hungary started to build started building
to stop
illegal border
crossings and
stem the flow
of drugs,and is
also a response
to terror attacks.
virtual ‘walls’
under remote
surveillance in
2013 along its
borders with
Paraguay and
Bolivia resulting
in 4765 km
length.
a wall along the
sections that it
controls on its
1973 km border
with Russia.
along its borders
with Yemen
and Iraq, and is
adding similar
ones along borders
with Oman
and United Arab
Emirates.
has built a 175
km fence on
its border with
Serbia and 370
km fence with
Croatia.
a 1097 mile
barrier on its
border with
Somalia.
barbed wire
fences on key
Alpine passes in
order to prevent
refugees coming
from Italy.
Iran Brazil Ukraine Saudi Arabia Hungary Kenya Austria

FORTIFIED EUROPE
As the EU struggles to handle its
refugee crisis, passport-free travel
across the region is under threat.
First to do so was Hungary, stating that ‘‘the influx of
Muslim refugees poses a threat to Europe’s Christian
identity’’. The fences were erected on the borders with
Serbia and Croatia, while announcing a new fence with
Romania. The Hungarian anti - refugee politics escalated
in a referendum related to the European Union’s
migrant resettlement plans. While an overwhelming majority
of voters (98%) rejected the EU’s migrant quotas,
turnout was too low to make the poll valid.
Austria erected a four-kilometer-long fence at the Slovenian
border, deployed armed forces around the border
and limited asylum applications to 80 a day and the
number of people allowed to transit through the country
to 3 200. The Austrian government also announced
to build a 400-metre-long fence at its Brenner border
with Italy, which would be erected even if Italy does not
cooperate. The plans, however, have been criticized as
violating the Schengen Agreement of free movement
across borders for EU nationals.
Bulgaria followed the same path, although not towards
their EU -neighbors: 135 km razor fence has been
erected on its border with Turkey hoping to prevent the
‘‘illegal migration’’.
78 REFUGIUM
Intensifying in 2014 and reaching its peak in autumn
2015, the refugee crisis has tested Europe’s unity. Borders
started germinating between the Union’s members
along the refugee routes.
‘‘Most of us fortunately do not know the state of complete
exhaustion, combined with fear for ones life or for
the life of ones family. People that are coming here from
Eritrea, Syria or Northern Iraq have to endure situations
and fear that would let us collapse straight up.
[...] Europe as a whole has to move. The states have to
share the responsibilities for refugees coming here. The
universal civil rights have been closely connected to Europe
and its history. This was one of the main founding
principles for the EU. Should Europe fail to address this
crisis, this connection will break loose. [...]’’
Angela Merkel (often called ‘‘Mutti’’ meaning Mum in
German) thanks to her enthusiasm and inviting refugees,
won a lot of fans among the newly arrived. However
many member states did not welcome this decision
with excitement; shortly after, some countries started
erecting the fences or closing the border crossings for
refugees.
Croatia has suddenly erected a fence on a bridge on
the border with Serbia, reportedly to block the entry of
illegal migrants and the activities of people-smugglers.
Norway has put up a steel fence at a remote Arctic
border post with Russia after seeing an influx of migrants
crossing into the country. The erection of the
fence, at a spot where 5 500 migrants mainly from Syria
crossed into Norway last year, reflects a wider shift in
public attitudes against refugees. Refugee groups and
some opposition politicians say Norway’s fence will
deter people fleeing persecution and is an unwelcome
echo of the Cold War in a region where relations have
generally flourished since the collapse of the Soviet
Union. The country is also considering erecting a fence
with Sweden.
As a result of large number of asylum seekers have
made their way to northern Finland via Sweden, Finland
decided to close their borders with Sweden.
French authorities have closed its border with Italy due
to the migrant crisis, leaving thousands of refugees,
mainly from Sudan, massing in camps near Italian town
of Ventimiglia. This resulted in hundreds of migrants
taking to rugged trails across the vast mountain range of
Alps in a bid to get into France.
Following the closing-borders trend Macedonia fully
sealed its border with Greece, shutting down the Balkan
trail used by more than a million people, and triggering
fears migrants would take far more dangerous routes to
Western Europe.
It is said that the ongoing refugee crisis played a crucial

Both EU members and
Schengen Area members
Only European Members
Only Schengen Members
Refugee Flows
Border control or fences introduced
Barriers planned
79 DANGEROUS JOURNEY
role in the outcome of the British referendum on the EU
membership, so the UK would not have to implement
the EU’s refugee quota plan. There are far fewer asylum
applications per head to the UK than to other countries
in the EU. Britain received 60 asylum applications per
100,000 people in 2015.
Since August 2015, Italy has not been responding to
readmission requests from Switzerland. Swiss authorities,
however, continue to send refugees back if there
is any evidence that they have entered Switzerland via
Italy. In some cases asylum seekers in Switzerland have
been sent to Italy even if they never traveled through
that country.
While Europe’s overall refugee flows are declining, Italy
and Greece are still facing large numbers of new arrivals
on daily basis. Only 8162 people of the promised 160000
have been resettled from the two countries at the front
line of the migration crisis.

DEAD WORDS ON PAPER
Insight into 1951 UN Refugee
convention, 1967
Protocol and European
Union’s Dublin Regulation
The UN’s Refugee Convention, also known as the 1951 Refugee Convention
or Geneva Convention, is a United Nations multilateral treaty
that defines who is a refugee. It sets out the rights of individuals who
are granted asylum and the responsibilities of nations that grant asylum.
It was updated with the 1967 Protocol, which removed both the
temporal and geographic restrictions, “as a result of events occurring
before 1 January 1951” and “events occurring in Europe” or “events
occurring in Europe or elsewhere”.
Certain regions have their own regional policies, e.g., the Cartagena
Declaration on Refugees for Latin America, the Organization for African
Unity, and the EU’s Dublin Regulation, analyzed in this chapter.
GENEVA REFUGEE CONVENTION AND 1967 PROTOCOL
1. DEFINITION
“A Refugee is a person owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted
for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a
particular social group, or political opinion, is outside the country of
his nationality, and is unable to or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to
avail himself of the protection of that country.”
80 REFUGIUM
The Convention has
three main challenges:
the scope of the definition,
what protection it
offers, and its status in
international law.
The problem is that this definition excludes refugees who are fleeing
violence. The vast majority of people we consider refugees are not outside
of their country because they fear persecution. They are fleeing
violence and their home is no longer safe: for example, it has become
a war zone. So most of those seeking shelter from violence are not,
as far as the Geneva Convention is concerned, actually refugees. The
Office of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR)
itself is working outside the framework of the Convention by using the
catchall term “persons of concern” to describe all people in need of
UNHCR assistance.
Another issue is that in order to be a refugee, one has to cross a
national border – otherwise he or she is classified as an Internally Displaced
Person. The number of IDPs is double the number of refugees,
and many are probably struggling to leave their national territory.
It seems wrong and arbitrary that the recognition of one’s refugee
status is reliant upon crossing the home country’s border. According
to the Geneva Convention, one is only a refugee once a host state has
granted the status – in the meantime, a person remains an asylum
seeker. So once more the vast majority of people fleeing violence in
the world today are not, according to the Convention, “refugees” –
they are “people seeking refuge”.
A displaced person is at the mercy of the host country in which he
finds himself. Each country individually interprets whether the person
meets the definition of “refugee” or not and, accordingly, whether

he will receive the rights granted to those with refugee
status. Having no legitimate refugee status inter alia
means the displaced person cannot obtain a refugee
travel document, and must remain in a country without
the ability to move freely.
2. PROTECTION
Travel document
Refugees are unlikely to be
able to obtain passports
from their state of nationality
(from which they have
sought asylum) and therefore
need travel documents
so that they might engage
in international travel.
The 145 states which are
parties to the 1951 Convention
Relating to the Status
of Refugees are obliged to
issue travel documents to
refugees lawfully resident
in their territory.
“No Contracting State shall expel or return (‘refouler’)
a refugee in any manner whatsoever to the frontiers of
territories where his life or freedom would be threatened
on account of his race, religion, nationality, membership
of a particular social group of political opinion.”
One of the rights of refugee status is that of “non-refoulement”,
or non-return. Host countries are not allowed
to return refugees or asylum seekers to a country
where they are liable to be subjected to persecution.
However, non-refoulement requires host countries only
to protect the displaced person from coming to harm
while inside its borders, with no obligation to assist the
person. It allows host countries to only grant temporary
shelter that can be revoked when it is decided the refugees
can go home.
When introducing the draft of the Geneva Convention
some 65 years ago, the UN’s first Secretary General
explained that “[t]his phase... will be characterized by
the fact that the refugees will lead an independent life
in the countries which have given them shelter. With the
exception of the ‘hard core’ cases, the refugees will no
longer be maintained by an international organization
as they are at present. They will be integrated in the
economic system of the countries of asylum and will
themselves provide for their own needs and for those of
their families.” This means refugees are granted social
and economic rights that allow them to, for example,
access education, to seek work and to start businesses.
However, in practice the situation is quite different:
most refugees today are not living independently and
are maintained by international aid organizations. Most
refugees today are emphatically not allowed to provide
for their own needs. They do not enjoy the ability to
move freely, as they are sentenced to refugee camps.
This situation is a clear violation of a right as granted to
them under international law.
Being ‘‘caged up’’ is unlawful and counterproductive,
making the refugees burdens of their hosts and the
international community. There is little possibility of
integrating into the new society, and the chances are
even slimmer for resettling or even returning home. The
Geneva Convention itself rejects a charity-based model
in favor of refugee empowerment.
In case of a refugee individual or a group reasonably
suspected of being a criminal and a threat to their safety
or security, it requires the exclusion from refugee status
and sending them away – even back to the country of
persecution .
3. INTERNATIONAL LAW
Whether or not the mandates of the Geneva Convention
will apply in a specific country depends on whether the
country has ratified. This becomes very important if we
concentrate on the ongoing Syrian crisis.
None of the people who fled to Lebanon, Jordan and
Iraq have a legal right to be recognized as refugees because
these countries are not signatories to the Geneva
Convention. Turkey, on the other hand, did ratify the
original Convention, but made an important exception
with the 1967 Protocol. Turkey did not accept the erasure
of regional exceptions – it agreed only to continue
to accept refugees from the Council of Europe. So technically,
Turkey recognizes only the original Convention
referring to Europe, and can only grant refugee status to
Europeans. Thus, people fleeing from Syria or elsewhere
into Turkey have no right to be recognized as refugees.
In the end, the perspective from Europe is that the
Middle East region is filled with refugees who become
migrants once they cross into Europe. This view seems
to miss the point that the region is filled with desperate
people who only have the chance to become refugees
once they cross into Europe, regardless of what they will
do afterwards.
81 DANGEROUS JOURNEY

DUBLIN REGULATION
The Dublin Regulation is a European Union (EU) law that determines
which EU Member State is responsible for examining the applications
of asylum seekers requesting international protection under the Geneva
Convention and the EU Qualification Directive.
The Convention was formed with two principle objectives: to prevent
an asylum seeker from submitting applications in multiple Member
States , and to reduce the number of ‘‘orbiting applicants‘‘ who are
shuttled from member state to member state.
The worsening of the refugee crisis has exposed deficiencies in the
Dublin Regulation. On August 27, 2015, after participating in the
Western Balkans Summit, German chancellor Angela Merkel spoke out
at a press conference. She stated that the Dublin Regulation “doesn’t
work” and that we “need a common response for Europe as a whole”.
What followed was the partial suspension of the regulation and “fair
distribution” of refugees in Europe.
82 REFUGIUM
There are basically
three important weaknesses
of the Regulation:
it does not work
fairly, it is inefficient
and jeopardizes refugees’
rights.
1. NOT FAIR
First, it does not work fairly. The “first country of arrival” policy disproportionately
burdens the border countries (Italy, Greece and Hungary
in the current crisis). Registering in the first country of arrival means
being unable to seek asylum in other member states, or run the risk of
being returned.
2. INEFFICIENT
Secondly, the Dublin Regulation is inefficient. Despite the rule that the
first country of arrival is responsible for the asylum seeker, most of the
applicants seek asylum in a different country to the one in which they
arrived. For example, according to Eurostat and Frontex statistics, only
64,625 of the 170,000 irregular arrivals in Italy sought asylum there. In
2013, more than a third of the asylum claims were made by people
who had previously applied in another European Union country. Of
those, 11 percent applied in Italy and did so again in Germany, Sweden
or Switzerland.
The preferences of asylum seekers are often linked to personal issues
such as presence of family and friends in a certain country, or knowledge
of the language. The receiving countries often differ in terms of
reception conditions as well as social and economic rights. Refugees
avoid seeking status in countries that do not recognize refugees or
lack efficient reception facilities (e.g., Spain).
Some countries resorted to returning refugees to the previous country.

Germany returned refugees to Austria, Austria to Hungary or Slovenia,
and Hungary to the Serbian border. Austria has threatened to sue
Hungary for letting migrants cross its border, referring to the Dublin
Regulation’s rule of registration in the first country of arrival.
3. JEOPARDIZING REFUGEES’ RIGHTS
The third criticism is that the Dublin Regulation jeopardizes refugees’
rights. As condemned in the report by the European Council on Refugees
and Exiles, the fair and efficient examination of asylum applications
is not guaranteed in all member states.
The Dublin Regulation applies its humanitarian clause restrictively as
it enforces the first country of arrival rule. It does not take into account,
for example, reuniting family members in one place. This is one of the
contradictory principles of the Regulation that may be theoretically
sound but does not work in practice.
Apart from these three main criticisms, the Dublin Regulation is
claimed to be expensive. The costs include the maintenance of
EURODAC, the processes related to transfer requests, and the costs of
detention and deportation of those who are ultimately transferred.
It has become clear that the Dublin Regulation does not work either
for the member states nor for the refugees. European leaders have
already admitted that an alternative system must be generated. The
European commission proposed two options, which still have to be
agreed by EU member states. The widely trailed option of scrapping
the Dublin rules remains: under this proposal the EU would have a
mandatory redistribution system for asylum seekers based on a country’s
wealth and ability to absorb newcomers. A second option would
preserve the existing Dublin rules, but add a “corrective fairness mechanism”
so refugees could be redistributed around the bloc in times of
crisis to take the pressure off front line arrival states.
How the Dublin Regulation will change, remains to be seen.
83 DANGEROUS JOURNEY
Fingerprinting migrants
protected person
-a person who has been determined to be either a
Convention Refugee or a person in need of protection.
refugee claimant
a person who has made a claim for protection as
a refugee.
repatriation
/riːˈpæt.ri.eɪt/ -process of refugee or group of
refugees returning to their home country, usually
with the assistance of government or a non-governmental
organization.
resettled refugee
-a refugee who has been offered a permanent
home in a country while still outside that country.

GODLESS PEOPLE
AND
INVISIBLE VICTIMS
“You don’t imagine that your dreams can end in a moment on this journey…
He [the soldier] pulled me by the hand and told me to walk further
into the bushes. He took me far away from the train tracks until we were
completely alone. He told me to take my clothes off so that he could see
if I was carrying drugs. He said that if I did what he said he would let me
go.”
Margarita (not her real name), a 27-year-old Salvadoran migrant,
describing how she was sexually abused by a soldier, Amnesty
International interview, June 2009
84 REFUGIUM
‘‘When you have a gun
pointed at your head,
you don’t really have
a choice if you want to
survive. I was raped
twice by three men…I
didn’t want to lose my
life.’’
Every year thousands of migrants are ill treated, abducted or raped.
Although these atrocities leave lifelong scars on the people who
endure them, these actions are rarely reported and almost never make
it to the media headlines. They are committed by smugglers, traffickers,
other criminals, and even state officials. Arbitrary detention and
extortion by public officials are common.
Human crimes committed by smugglers or other criminals are rarely
reported, and are sometimes actively covered up by international organizations
and communities. Mistreatment involving state corruption
and complicity are kept silent, and abuse that occurs in remote areas
is often only captured in the memories of survivors.
Women and children are by far the most vulnerable. Men tend to be
affected differently – they are kept as hostages and used for organ
trafficking, among other heinous abuses.
VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
New research conducted by Amnesty International shows that women
and girl refugees face violence, assault, exploitation and sexual harassment
at every stage of their journey, including on European soil.
According to testimonies, women are sexually assaulted either by the
smugglers themselves, traffickers, members of armed groups, or state
officials. An untold number of attacks take place along the smuggling
route, while women are being held in private homes or abandoned
warehouses near the coast, waiting to board boats to Europe.
Antoinette, a 28-year-old woman from Cameroon, said of the traffickers
who held her captive in April 2016: “They don’t care if you’re
a woman or a child…They used sticks [to beat us] and would shoot
in the air. Maybe because I had a child they didn’t rape me but they
raped pregnant women and single women. I saw this happen.”
Amnesty International in Sicily and Puglia confirmed that women
reported a high level of sexual violence during the journey.
Huffington Post reports that 80 percent of women and girls are raped
while crossing into the U.S. Sometimes sex is used as a form of payment
when women and girls don’t have money to pay bribes. The rape
along these routes is so common that women take contraceptive pills
before the journey because they know what is ahead for them.

KIDNAPPING, THREATS, HUMAN TRAFFICKING
A new report has revealed the shocking scale of abuse
by criminal gangs who prey on asylum seekers traveling
across Africa. The most common events take place in
Libya, which has become the main launching point for
smugglers’ boats in the chaos following its civil war.
Research by the International Organisation for Migration
(IOM) found that almost three quarters of migrants
attempting to cross the central Mediterranean have
experienced exploitation and human trafficking. Amnesty
International spoke to refugees and migrants who
described facing abuse at every stage of the journey,
from their arrival in Libya until they reached the northern
coast.
Many victims said the smugglers held them captive to
extort a ransom from their families. They kept them in
deplorable and often squalid conditions, deprived them
of food and water, and would beat, harass and insult
them ceaselessly.
Semre, 22, from Eritrea, said he saw four people including
a 14-year-old boy and a 22-year-old woman die
from illness and starvation while he was held captive for
‘‘When you arrive in [Libya],
that’s when the struggle starts.
That’s when they start to beat
you.’’
Ahmed, an 18-year-old from Somalia
ransom. “No one took them to the hospital so we had
to bury them ourselves,” he said. His father eventually
paid the traffickers in exchange for Semre’s freedom,
but instead of releasing him they sold him on to another
criminal group.
Paolos is a 24-year-old Eritrean man who traveled
through Sudan and Chad and arrived in Libya in April
2016. He told how the smugglers abandoned a disabled
man in the desert along the way, as they crossed the
Libyan border heading to the southern town of Sabha.
“We saw them throw one man [out of the pick-up truck]
into the desert. He was still alive. He was a disabled
man,” he said.
Others recounted how they were repeatedly beaten by
those who held them captive, and those who could not

86 REFUGIUM
pay were forced to work for free to pay off the debt.
Abdulla, a 23-year-old Eritrean man, said the traffickers
would torture and beat people to force them to pay
ransoms, and make the victims speak to their families
to pressure them into paying. Saleh, 20, from Eritrea,
entered Libya in October 2015 and was immediately taken
to a storage hangar in Bani Walid run by traffickers.
During the 10 days he was held there, he witnessed how
a man who couldn’t pay was electrocuted in water and
died. ‘‘The people in control forced us to work for free,
in houses, to clean, any jobs. They didn’t give us proper
food. Even the water they gave us was salty. There were
no proper bathrooms. Many of us got skin problems.
The men would smoke hashish and would beat you
with their guns and anything they could find. They used
metal, rocks. They had no heart.”
“I was told that those who
could not pay were handed
to some Egyptians who killed
them to take their organs for
resale in Egypt.’’
The migrants’ routes through Mexico have also become
a lucrative source of income for criminal gangs, and the
kidnapping of migrants for ransom has almost become
routine. In many ways, the experience of Ramón (not his
real name) reflects that of many irregular migrants.
In November 2008, he and 35 other migrants were
abducted by armed men from a freight train in Veracruz
state. They were taken to a ranch in Tamaulipas state,
where scores of other migrants were being held by a
gang. The migrants were forced at gunpoint to reveal
the phone numbers of their relatives from whom ransoms
could be demanded. The ranch was later raided
by the military and some of the kidnappers were detained.
Ramón and others made statements to officials
from the Federal Attorney General’s Office (Procuraduría
General de la República, PGR). The migrants were expecting
to be able to file a complaint about the kidnapping
and threats to their lives. They hoped to secure a
temporary visa, pending the investigation into abuses
at the ranch. Instead, Ramón was placed in detention
in Iztapalapa Migrant Detention Centre. From there, he
spoke to a human rights organization to tell them that
other members of the kidnapping gang, who had not
been identified by the authorities, were held with the
migrants in the detention centre and were posing a
serious threat to witnesses. In December 2008, Ramón
was returned to Honduras.
Cases of corrupt officials have been reported all around
the world. The stories frequently describe close relationships
with smugglers and various forms of refugee
exploitation.
Multiple mass graves and suspected human trafficking
camps have been discovered along Malaysia’s border
with Thailand. The graves are said to contain the remains
of dozens of Bangladeshi and Burmese Rohingya
migrants at the centre of a human trafficking crisis. The
graves are reportedly located in the northern state of
Perlis, bordering Thailand’s Songkhla province. Just
weeks ago, two Thai teenagers stumbled upon a mass
grave at a former traffickers’ camp that once detained as
many as 800 people.
Human smugglers made a record profit in 2015 by
exploiting the misery of refugees – between $3 billion
and $6 billion. The business of human smuggling is now
in the “Champions League” of criminal enterprises in
Europe, close to rivaling the trade in illicit drugs.
Migrants who are unable to pay smugglers for their journey
are killed for their organs.
Nuredein Wehabrebi Atta, was recently sentenced to five
years in prison for his involvement in moving migrants.
He told Italian police that migrants who couldn’t pay
for journeys across the Mediterranean “were sold for
€15,000 to groups, particularly Egyptians, who are
equipped for harvesting organs”.
A CNN documentary ‘‘A Stand in the Sinai’’ reports that
medics travel from Cairo to camps in the heart of the
vast sands to harvest kidneys, livers, and corneas from
the helpless donors,
Thousands of refugees are believed to have died as a
result of the operations.
Mass grave sites in Malaysia

CHILDREN ON THE MOVE
With no family to help them, unaccompanied minors
have been killed, beaten, starved and raped by smugglers.
Save the Children states that 7,900 unaccompanied
minors have crossed so far in 2016, representing 90
percent of all child arrivals and about 15 percent of
total arrivals.
Most of the new arrivals are aged 14 to 17, but unaccompanied
children as young as nine and 10 are
becoming an increasingly familiar sight. In rare cases,
children as young as five make the journey to Europe
alone, almost always following the death of a parent
or relative.
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) medical staff estimates
that almost nine out of ten of all new arrivals in Italy
“The strangest thing about war
is that you get used to feeling
scared. I wouldn’t have believed
that’’
have experienced some kind of psychological trauma,
but only very few will get the level of care that they
need.
Many arrivals report having their feet burnt by hot pokers
in order to stop them running away. One survivor
told aid workers that they saw a Gambian boy being
shot dead by smugglers just for asking for more food
and water. In June 2016, the bodies of 32 migrants
abducted by people smugglers, including 20 migrant
children, were found in the Niger desert.
In Lebanon, according to Freedom Fund group, up to
70 percent of Syrian refugee children are forced into
slave labor. In the eastern Bekaa Valley on the border
with Syria, the report added, all Syrian children are put
to work, with many being exposed to hazardous conditions
with pay as little as US$1 a day. “The more you
have children outside of school, the more likely they
are going to be working,” the mother of a five-yearold
warns. “And as long as these children do not have
access to schools, they are expected to go to work.”
A full 3.7 million school-aged refugee children have no
school to go to, the UN refugee agency reported.
Gulistan loves houses. Back home in Aleppo, Syria, he used to enjoy
walking around the city looking at them. Now, many of his favourite
buildings have been destroyed by the war.

88 REFUGIUM

89 REFUGIUM
03
LIFE IN LIMBO
An insight into the life of refugee camps and their significance as a part of
the complex journey undertaken by the refugees.

Deprived of their statehood,
material possessions, and
in many cases, their loved
ones, refugees seek solace
in purpose-built refugee
camps and unplanned settlements,
where they wait
out their displacement, or
attempt to begin life anew.
At the beginning of 21st century, camps are constituting an increasingly
prominent feature of social landscapes around the globe. Of todays
60 million refuges and internally displaced people, around 15 million
live in refugee camps. Half of them are children. Although regularly
built as temporary emergency devices in an impromptu fashion for
refugees and people in refugee-like situations, camps often turn into
durable socio-spatial formations that can last for decades.
They are usually built and run by the government of a host country,
the United Nations, international organizations (such as the International
Committee of the Red Cross), or NGOs. There are also unofficial
refugee camps like Calais jungle in France (being demolished as this
text is written), Idomeni in Greece, or older Sahrawi Camps in Western
Sahara that have very little support of the governments or international
community.
Although the size of a small city, its residents are largely dependent on
the charity of others. Economic life is almost entirely controlled from
outside. However, when the community is well self-organized, the
camps can develop into fully fledged cities, replete with vibrant economies,
systems of governance, and even civic institutions (Sahrawi
refugee camps).
90 REFUGIUM
Refugees waiting in queue in order to register for entering a camp
repatriation
/riːˈpæt.ri.eɪt/ -process of refugee or group of
refugees returning to their home country, usually
with the assistance of government or a non-governmental
organization.
sanitation
/sanɪˈteɪʃ(ə)n/ -conditions relating to public
health, especially the provision of clean drinking
water and adequate sewage disposal.
According to UNHCR Emergency Handbook, an official guide for establishing
refugee camps, camp should include:
- Administrative headquarters that coordinate services such as the
police station can be placed outside the camp itself.
- Dwellings (frequently tents, prefabricated huts, or dwellings constructed
of locally available materials) where the norm is 3.5 sqm of
covered living area per person.
- Hygiene facilities, such as washing areas, latrines or toilets. UNHCR

ecommends one shower per 50 persons and one communal
latrine per 20 persons. Hygene facilities should
be separated by gender.
- Water collection places
- Clinics, hospitals and immunization centres: UNHCR
recommends one health centre per 20,000 persons and
one referral hospital per 200,000 persons.
- Food distribution and therapeutic feeding centres: UN-
HCR recommends one food distribution centre per 5,000
persons and one feeding centre per 20,000 persons.
- Schools and training centers: UNHCR recommends one
school per 5,000 persons.
Some facilities, such as schools or markets that make a
camp look or feel more permanent, could be prohibited
by host country government.
In reality, these already overcrowded facilities become
more overcrowded: new people arrive into the camp,
but the infrastructure remains the same.
In order to enter the camp, the refugees firstly need to
be registered at the camp’s reception center. Sometimes
queues are so long that waiting times up to two months
are possible. Suffering from mostly malnutrition and
dehydration many die while waiting, since the people
outside the reception center are not entitled to the official
support and medical care. After their refugee status
is granted, they are transported to the camp.
remedies against abuses and can’t appeal against their
own ‘courts’.
The host country is usually responsible for the security
of a refugee camp. It provides military or police, while
UNHCR is supposed to provide legal protection. However,
local police or the legal system of the camp-hosting
countries are not usually not willing to get involved
in issues occurring inside the camps. In many camps,
refugees create their own patrolling systems as police
protection is insufficient. Most camps are enclosed with
barbed wire fence. This is not only for the protection of
the refugees, but also to prevent refugees moving freely
or interacting with the local people.
Although under International law refugees are granted
freedom of movement, it is rarely the case in practice.
Possessing Movement Passes from the UNHCR or the
host country government does not guarantee an option
of leaving the camp; in Nauru camp, for example, refugees
are given travel documents, but they cannot leave
since they are isolated on the island.
Due to crowding and lack of infrastructure, camps can
become unhygienic, leading to a high incidence of infectious
diseases, even epidemics. Common illnesses are
malaria, cholera, jaundice, hepatitis, measles, meningitis
and malnutrition.
91 LIFE IN LIMBO
According to UNHCR vocabulary, a refugee camp
consists of: settlements, sectors, blocks, communities
and families. 16 families make up a community, 16
communities make up a block, four blocks make up a
sector and four sectors are called a settlement. Settlements
and markets in bigger camps are often arranged
according to nationalities, ethnicities, tribes and clans
of their inhabitants A large camp may consist of several
settlements. Each block elects a community leader to
represent the block.
Refugee camps are monuments to human suffering,
and the sheer size of these settlements testifies to the
severity of forced displacement around the world. Yet,
the settlements are also spaces of hope and optimism:
for many inhabitants, these camps represent a stepping
stone on the path to safety and prosperity.
The refugee community elects a leader who is responsible
of mediating and negotiating to resolve problems,
and liaise with refugees, UNHCR and other organizations.
Many refugees mistrust them and there are allegations
of aid agencies bribing them.
Refugees are allowed to establish their own
“court’’where the jurisdiction is provided by elders
and elected leaders of the communities, and financial
support from charities. Refugees are left without legal

THE BIGGEST LIMBOS
5
20
9
15
19
92 REFUGIUM
18
8
13
6
16
1 12
11
14
4
17
2
7 3
10
The map above shows the location of the 20 biggest
camps in the world in terms of population. Seen from
the chart on the right, there are two main types of
camp governance: planned/managed (from outside)
and self-governed. Being governed one way or another,
camps develop different functional patterns that are
described in two case studies in this chapter: Sahrawi
Refugee Camps in Western Sahara and Nauru Refugee
Centre in South-East Asia.
The first three camps of the list together make the largest
refugee camp, Dadaab. This camp, 24 years old and
originally set for 90 000 people, today hosts nearly half a
million people, primarily from Somalia. In May 2016 the
Kenyan government announced that the camp would
be shut down at the end of the year. No displacement
strategy was presented to the public. It remains to be
seen what will happen with its inhabitants, many of
whom born there and have never left the camp.

0.
LIST OF LIMBOS
1.
KAKUMA (KENYA)
2.
HAGADERA (KENYA)
1. Kakuma (Kenya)*
2. Hagadera (Kenya)*
3. Dagahaley (Kenya)*
4. Ifo (Kenya)
5. Zataari (Jordan)
6. Yida (South Sudan)
7.Katumba (Tanzania)
8. Pugnido (Ethiopia)
9. Panian (Pakistan)
10. Mishamo (Tanzania)
11. Melkadida (Ethiopia)
12. Bokolmanyo (Ethiopia)
13. Bredjing (Chad)
14. Batil (South Sudan)
15. Old Akora (Pakistan)
16. Buramino (Ethiopia)
17. Fugnido (Ethiopia)
18. Oure Cassoni (Chad)
19. Beldangi (Nepal)
20. Gamkol (Pakistan)
5.
ZAATARI (JORDAN)
Population (2015): 184,550
Established or recognized in: 1992
Occupants primarily from: South
Sudan, Somalia
Type: planned/managed camp
3.
DAGAHALEY (KENYA)
Population (2015): 87,223
Established or recognized in: 1992
Occupants primarily from: Somalia
Type: planned/managed camp
6.
YIDA (SOUTH SUDAN)
Population (2015): 105,998
Established or recognized in: 1992
Occupants primarily from: Somalia
Type: planned/managed camp
4.
IFO (KENYA)
Population (2015): 84,089
Established or recognized in: 1992
Occupants primarily from: South
Sudan, Somalia
Type: planned/managed camp
7.
KATUMBA (TANZANIA)
93 LIFE IN LIMBO
Population (2015): 77,781
Population (2015): 70,331
Population (2015): 66,550
Established or recognized in: 2012
Established or recognized in: 2012
Established or recognized in: 1972
Occupants primarily from: Syria
Occupants primarily from: Sudan
Occupants primarily from: Burundi
Type: planned/managed camp
Type: self-governed camp
Type: self-governed camp
8.
PUGNIDO (ETHIOPIA)
9.
PANIAN (PAKISTAN)
10.
MISHAMO (TANZANIA)
Population (2015): 63,262
Population (2015): 62,264
Population (2015): 62,264
Established or recognized in: 1993
Established or recognized in: 2008
Established or recognized in: 2014
Occupants primarily from: South
Sudan
Type: planned/managed camp
Occupants primarily from: Afganistan
Type: planned/managed camp
Occupants primarily from: Burundi
Type: self-governed camp
* These camps are part of a refugee megalopolis Dadaab, the largest in the world.

94 REFUGIUM
SAHRAWI REFUGEE REPUBLIC

“Sahrawi camps are
unique refugee settlements:
refugees govern
themselves instead of
being governed.’’
Instead of seeing the Sahrawi camps as pure spaces of exception, or as
the spatial state of emergency, we need to acknowledge the everyday
urban activities that play out in the camps, and how they are agents in
the production of space. Spaces of everyday life show how the camps
are used as fields of social, cultural, economic and political exchange,
thus giving them an urban quality. It recognizes the importance of
‘normality’ in abnormal conditions.
The camps started as a collection of tents erected on desert land,
organized in rows and clusters.
The camps received little help from the UN or the international community,
so the schools, medical facilities and hospitals were set up
and run by the refugees themselves.
As the camps grew, the tents were replaced or supplemented by clay
huts that multiplied over time. They evolved into the small residential
quarters that are now home to most of the Sahrawis. These nomadic
tribes initially settled in one camp – Rabouni. Then they established
two new ones – Smara and El Aaiun. Eventually they spread to five
camps in total, with Dakhla and Awserd established last. Meanwhile,
Rabouni was transformed into an administrative center.
The refugee camps have become a testing ground for the new vision
of community that the Saharwi independence movement created to
resist Spanish colonial rule. The community experiment was initially
to be implemented in the independent Western Sahara. The tribal
system, which had defined Sahrawi culture and identity for centuries,
was rejected in favor of a new national identity with a more modern
governance structure.
95 LIFE IN LIMBO
Algeria has ceded control of part of the Algerian Sahara, and has allowed
refugees to establish semi-autonomy there. Sahrawis who have
moved into that area now control access to their camps. They have
also developed an extensive network of governance and administration,
with the center located in Rabouni. All five camps together are
home to 160 000 people.
Tindouf
El Aaiun
Rabouni
Awserd
Smara
MOVING AND COMMUNICATION
In the “capital” of Rabouni one can see various government ministries,
the main national hospital, the national museum and the national
archive. The city also has a large central market located at the main
transport hub used by thousands of people who come to work at the
ministries. What emerges is unique for a refugee settlement: a seat of
government for a refugee nation where refugees govern themselves
instead of being governed by the host nation, international community
or humanitarian offices.
The network of Sawhrawi camps. Rabouni, founded
in 1975, is the administrative center of the Republic
Surprisingly, moving, transport and communication are a central focus
in camps. This can be traced back to the Sahrawi’s traditional nomadic
way of life. Participation in the trans-Saharan trading network made

the freedom to move around a critical aspect of survival. Mobility, in
fact, is much more than mere utility for them. The camps are located in
the middle of the largest desert in the world; thus, movement is essential
in connecting to the surrounding regions and the world in general.
Communication is still fairly basic: each family normally possesses one
mobile phone, radio and television.
Rabouni administration center
ECONOMY AND WORKING
The economy is not based on currency but on exchange in kind. Staple
foods have been donated by the Algerian state, and additional
goods and services are bartered among the refugees.
Some employment in institutions, such as schools and hospitals, is
unpaid and undertaken for the benefit of public interest. Sometimes
these workers are rewarded with extra portions of vegetables or
other goods.
However, the situation changed when the Spanish started paying
pensions to the Sahrawis who worked in the colonial administration.
The pensions enabled the Sahrawis working in Spain and Algeria to
send money to their families in the camps. The inflow of money into
the camps established economic differences among the inhabitants
for the first time.
96 REFUGIUM
“It seems that the tragedy
of loosing one’s
homeland had lead to
a system bringing the
emancipation to a refugee
nation.’’
HEALTH AND EDUCATION
The level of education and health care of Sahrawis was very basic
during Spanish colonial rule. To set up a decent education and
health system for a relatively small population over such a vast
territory was almost impossible. It seems that the tragedy of losing
one’s homeland had lead to a system of bringing emancipation to a
refugee nation: the relative density of life in the camps, mobility and
communication services allowed the creation of an extensive system
of schools and clinics. The level of education and life expectancy is
one of the highest among the countries of the Maghreb.
Sahrawi girls at school

RECREATION AND LEISURE
Recreation and leisure are almost never mentioned in the context
of a refugee camp. In UNCHR’s Handbook for Emergencies, which is
widely used for planning refugee camps, these aspects of human life
are mentioned nowhere. In fact, they may be intentionally omitted
because they are considered disrespectful in a situation of desperation.
The support systems and protocols address only basic survival,
and are limited to the provision of food and medications.
By contrast, Sahrawi districts provide spaces for various social activities:
weddings, tea ceremonies, and distribution centers that convert
into places for socializing, meeting and playing. Cultural activities,
such as youth theaters and painting, are also widely encouraged.
Inhabitants of this enhanced camp are also encouraged to pursue
sports. Football is the favourite and is played almost everywhere,
from empty spaces between dwellings to proper football fields located
in the center of each camp.
97 LIFE IN LIMBO
Camps
The camp spreads as new refugees
arrive. The tents are replaced or
supplemented by huts. Initially
rigid organization changes to a
more fluid or informal layout. Some
families, needing additional space,
move to the periphery of the camp
which results in blurring of the
camp’s borders.
Urban fabric
Rigid order of tents gets dissolved
and a more ‘‘organic’’ organization
begins to emerge. Starting with
single huts, households build new
additional objects. More recently,
these objects are surrounded by
walls creating enclosed courtyards,
separating in that way private from
public space.
Housing Typologies
When camps were established, the
refugees used to live in tents that
are donated by Algerian government
following the ones donated
by UNHCR . Later they build clay
huts and more recently the ones
made of cement bricks. All typologies
are still present in the camps
nowadays.

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NAURU REFUGEE CAMP

Nauru is a tiny, 34-square
kilometer island of barren
land in the heart of the
Pacific Ocean. Despite the
palm trees and picturesque
blue waters, it is far
from a tropical paradise.
The history of detention
centers on Nauru is brief,
but the island has been
central to Australia’s asylum
policies.
Australia has used Nauru – and its beholden and impoverished
government – as a remote site for the “offshore processing” of people
who seek asylum and protection. It first began as a hurried political
response to the arrival of one boat, the MV Tampa, on Australia’s
northern horizon. Over a decade and a half later, it has metamorphosed
into a permanent policy, with support from the country’s two
major political parties.
The government’s current policy states that no person who arrives in
the country by boat seeking asylum is ever settled in Australia (plane
arrivals are not subject to “mandatory detention”). Instead, they are
sent to Nauru, or to Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island, for “offshore
processing”. These asylum seekers face a bleak future because no
genuine resettlement ever takes place.
In effect, people accused of no crime are warehoused in appalling
conditions in arbitrary and indefinite detention. Dozens of countries,
the United Nations, and rights groups including Amnesty International
and Human Rights Watch, have documented and condemned the
illegal detention.
In comparison with the size of the world’s forced migration challenge,
the numbers are tiny. The latest statistics, from the end of June, show
there are 442 asylum seekers and refugees living in the Nauru “regional
processing centre”, including 49 children. Several hundred more
live “in the community” of Nauru. They fall outside the scope of the
government’s statistics but remain stuck on the tiny island. The “travel
documents” that some people have been issued are not travel documents
at all – they do not allow their holders to travel anywhere.
99 LIFE IN LIMBO
Australia
Nauru
Australia has sent more than three-quarters (77%) of its asylum seekers
to Nauru. When their asylum claims were assessed, the detainees
were falsely classified as refugees rather than asylum seekers, which
are legally protected if they have a “well-founded fear of persecution”.
The island’s government has steadfastly refused to let refugees stay
longer than five years. Thus, Nauru prefers to classify displaced people
as refugees to limit its obligation to them.
The first experiment of using the island as a refugee camp started after
the Tampa incident in 2001. Norwegian freighter MV Tampa saved 438
refugees from international waters near Christmas Island. The freighter
was refused permission to enter Australian waters, a clear violation of
international law. Shortly afterward, the government introduced the
“Pacific Solution”. This system sent asylum seekers directly to Nauru,
and their refugee status was assessed there rather than in Australia.
Very few foreign journalists are allowed to visit the island. Media visas
can be issued but are very difficult to obtain. However, information
always finds a way out. Refugees and asylum seekers have their
communications closely monitored, but they still speak out in letters
and electronic messages. Several shaky, hand-held phone videos

“The worst thing about
the Nauru is the waiting.
Nothing ever happens
here.”
have reached the world media. In one horrific video, Omid Masoumali
doused himself in petrol, set himself alight, and burned to death to
protest the conditions under which he was held.
In 2015, Australia passed the Australian Border Force Act, which carries
a two-year prison sentence for any staff who speak publicly of conditions
inside the camp.
The refugees and asylum seekers transferred to Nauru initially spend
a year or more housed in cramped vinyl tents in a detention facility
called the “Regional Processing Centre” (RPC). There, indoor temperatures
regularly reach 45 to 50 degrees Celsius, with conditions worsened
by torrential rains and flooding.
The Center is run by a private company hired by the Australian government,
which has effective control of the facility and is responsible for
ensuring the health and welfare of the refugees detained there.
Detainees describe conditions in these camps as “prison-like”. Regular
searches of their tents by guards result in confiscation of “prohibited”
items like food and sewing needles. Detainees are limited to two-minute
showers and their toilets are filthy.
100 REFUGIUM
Parent of three children, Construction Camp Detention
Centre: ‘’ Take the children out and keep us in.’’
Christmas Island, 2014.
‘‘I saw my wife lying
under the bed. The bed
didn’t have a mattress.
. . . I saw the nurse, an
Australian nurse, playing
on her tablet. My
wife was crying.”
MEDICAL CARE
The standard of medical care for refugees and asylum seekers on Nauru
is very poor. Medical equipment is rudimentary and lacks even basic
supplies, such as bandages or sterile gloves. Dental services are largely
limited to tooth extraction.
Specialist medical attention is rare. Detainees report that the medical
staff do not take their health complaints seriously. In most cases they
are simply prescribed painkillers, causing serious medical conditions
to develop: heart and kidney diseases, diabetes accompanied by
weight loss and rapidly deteriorating eyesight, reduced mobility, etc.
One father said, “My son has kidney problems. We have been visiting
IHMS for two years now and they keep promising he would see a regular
doctor, but it hasn’t happened. My daughter just needs a pair of eye
glasses, but it is also not possible to get them here.’’ A man described
terrible conditions while his wife was in labour: the baby was delivered
on a bed without a mattress, with no tissue or hand washing liquid.
Not being allowed to leave the island without authorization, the refugees
and asylum seekers are completely dependent on the Australian
government and aid agencies.
Drawing by 14 year old, Darwin detention centre, 2014.
Many of these displaced people develop dire mental health problems
and suffer overwhelming despair. Self-harm and suicide attempts
are frequent. All face prolonged uncertainty about their future. “I was
going to kill myself as well, I had the idea. Many of us here think about
suicide,” a 22-year old detainee said. Dr. Peter Young, formerly the chief
psychiatrist responsible for the care of asylum seekers in detention, de-

scribed the camps as “inherently toxic” and “the whole
system of detention is geared towards removing hope
for people so they agree to go back to where they came
from. The [immigration] department told us this was the
objective.’’ He added, “Everyone who works in mental
health knows that the main thing which makes people
suicidal is hopelessness, so there was a fundamental
contradiction with our professional ethics.’’
‘‘When you can’t change anything,
when you don’t have
hope, then what’s the difference
between being alive or
dead?”
SAFETY
Allegations of sexual assault are pervasive, particularly
against young women. Children are particularly vulnerable
to abuse. According to the organization Save the
Children, it is not uncommon for children to experience
violence and sexual misconduct by guards.
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International documented
cases in which Nauruans, alone or in groups,
assaulted and robbed refugees and asylum seekers,
sometimes at knifepoint. More than 80% of those interviewed
said Nauruans had attacked them.
A refugee from Bangladesh suffered serious head
trauma when a Nauruan man threw a large rock at
him, kicked him off his bicycle, and beat him after he
fell. A Somali woman reported that several Nauruan
men attacked her husband, hitting him on the head
with a machete. One young woman said she married
for protection after being released into the community.
“After I left the camp I felt very unsafe – I could not go
out. I decided to marry a man who is 15 years older just
to have protection.’’
EDUCATION
Children who attend local schools described frequent
bullying and harassment from Nauruan students, who
tell them to go back to their home countries. Many have
stopped attending classes altogether.
Save the Children Australia estimates that 85 percent of
asylum seekers and refugee children on Nauru do not
attend local schools, in part because of the prevalence
of bullying and harassment.
‘‘People here don’t have a real
life. We are just surviving. We
are dead souls in living bodies.
We are just husks. We don’t
have any hope or motivation.”
101 LIFE IN LIMBO
Drawing by a preschool boy, Christmas Island 2014

102 REFUGIUM
THE FAILURE OF REFU-
GEE CAMPS
Humanitarian aid today is
delivered the same way as
it was 70 years ago, despite
the global social and technological
changes.
“Their homes are constructed
with destruction
in mind.”
Marie Thomson, anthropologist
Political instability, climate change and other factors virtually guarantee
that in the near future we will see a startling increase in the
number of refugees and economic migrants worldwide. It is important
to understand the implications of the internationally adopted policy
for settling refugees into remote camps.
POLITICAL BACKGROUND
Theoretically, camps make the delivery of humanitarian aid more efficient.
By collecting displaced people in a central location, aid agencies
can reduce the costs associated with assessing refugees’ needs and
distributing relief supplies. However, third world countries often keep
displaced people offshore and out of sight, which suggests a political
agenda rather than a strictly humanitarian focus. The first modern
camps for displace people were within Europe’s borders. Shortly after
WWII British, French and German camps hosted an estimated 850 000
people. As the camps were gradually emptied the population was
resettled, mainly in Western Europe, Canada and the United States.
Yet since the 1950s, Western Europe has kept displaced people outside
its borders by funding large-scale refugee camps in the developing
countries. Eighty percent of the world’s displaced people reside for
extended periods of time in third world countries. By funding UNHCR
and other aid agencies, the world’s wealthiest countries pay to keep
them there.
PERMANENTLY TEMPORARY STATE
Despite the United Nations High Commission for Refugees’ call for
“durable solutions” for displaced people, the plan for most refugees is
for them to wait in camps until they can return home, even when there
is no foreseeable end to the wars or occupations that have displaced
them.
Refugee camps are designed for temporary stay: to meet an emergency
and then disappear. This is obvious in the architecture of
camps – thousands of people are housed in rows of simple tents
that barely offer any protection from snow, subzero temperatures, or
flooding. Despite these conditions, there is no plan for the refugees to
be resettled or returned home in a reasonable time frame. In Tanzania,
Congolese refugees in the Nyarugusu camp are forced to build
their own shelters from unbaked bricks and thatch. This allows the
camp manager, UNCHR, to tear down the structures at any moment.
“Impermanence is designed into the refugees’ most intimate spaces,”
anthropologist Marnie Thomson says. “Their homes are constructed
with destruction in mind.”
Neither host states, aid agencies nor the United Nations want camps
to be permanent. But the purgatory of camp life lasts decades, or
even generations, as the politics of refugees’ home countries remains
unstable. For example, Palestinians are entering their 68th year of
displacement. The average stay in refugee camps around the world
has reached 14 years, which UNCHR calls “a situation of protracted

displacement.” Neither likely to return to their home
countries, nor to integrate into their host society, refugees
remain in these limbos of congestion
NO INTEGRATION PERPETUATES SEGREGATION
Protracted stays cause chronic problems: austere living
conditions, lack of basic services, and segregation from
the surrounding society. Most camps lack schools,
places of worship and markets. Although there are some
camps with more permanent infrastructure, most lack
the amenities of a town of equivalent size.
Unemployment is rampant in refugee camps. In order
to protect the local labor force, many camps are placed
far from urban areas, which makes it difficult or impossible
for refugees to find paying jobs. Being banned from
any form of legal employment, refugees living in camps
must resort to working underground, on the black market,
making them vulnerable to wage theft, arrest and
imprisonment.
Even if the time to go home ever comes, refugees cannot
afford to return, having spent all of their savings.
Worst of all are ‘‘closed camps’’, or detention centers,
where the host country prohibits refugees from leaving.
An extreme case is Nauru camp, which is maintained
by the Australian government and described in previous
section. In Nyarugusu Camp, in Tanzania, refugees
are not allowed to venture farther than four kilometers
from camp boundaries. However, the refugees regularly
disregard this rule because they need to work, buy
groceries or see family members who settled (illegally)
in surrounding cities. If stopped by police, they are
required to pay huge bribes or risk arrest.
“We have to live as if we’re going
to live here stuck forever.”
hopelessness. The World Food Program, which gets its
funding through the United Nations’ joint appeal process,
dropped the budget for feeding Syrian refugees in
camps to a mere $13.50 per month. For refugees trying
to get into Europe, it is not just about having a better life
– it is about staying alive.
CONCLUSION
Immobilizing refugees in permanently temporary spaces
and segregating them from surrounding societies is
failing as a solution for the crisis that is clearly here to
stay. Instead of fencing them out, the International
community should find ways to manage the unstoppable
crisis in a way that it benefits local economies and
environments, which is one of the challenges the project
in this book is dealing with.
Prezeti, a camp for displaced people in the Republic of Georgia, is so
remote that residents complain that packs of wolves follow children on
their way to school. Because the camp is far away from jobs and urban
services
103 LIFE IN LIMBO
Mamuka Khaduri,
a refugee veterinarian in IDP camp in Georgia
Although they are not criminals, refugees are effectively
incarcerated for an indefinite term. Cast into a permanently
temporary state, in city-sized camps offering little
hope of economic self-sufficiency, displaced people
live in situations of imposed and institutionalized

104 REFUGIUM

105 REFUGIUM
04
LIFE IN MOTION
Escape is not just about running away; it’s about having
somewhere to go, about setting down roots in a different kind
of place
Excerpt From: Bonnett, Alastair. “Unruly Places”

PROLOGUE
There is a world full of partitions and borders. This world is self-destructive.
It is inhabited by individuals whose luck and prosperity in life
are determined by their place of birth. Some of them are lucky, some
of them are not. And that is their biggest sin.
The sinners find themselves in a dark forest. The darkness they are
surrounded with is colored with bloody combats or demonstrations of
the cataclysmic power of nature. They must not stay there anymore,
but there is hardly a way out. Remaining trapped, they turn to Virgil,
their inner instinct and a guide to salvation to show them the way to
Heaven, a better life.
106 REFUGIUM
‘‘In the middle of the
journey of our life, I
came to myself in a
dark forest where the
straight way was lost’’
Nel mezzo del cammino
di nostra vita mi
ritrovai per una selva
oscura ché la diritta via
era smarrita.
Dante Alighieri
Divina Commedia
Canto I, lines 1–3
‘‘In the middle of the journey of our life, I came to myself in a dark forest
where the straight way was lost’’ /Nel mezzo del cammino di nostra
vita mi ritrovai per una selva oscura ché la diritta via era smarrita./
But Virgil knows no other way to Heaven than through Hell and Purgatory.
Yet the sinners’ Journey begins, on the banks of the dark rough
waters, where souls await passage into Hell proper.
The journey through hell is unpredictable, hardly bearable, the circles
are measured in kilometers passed. Reaching each gate gives a little
bit of hope whispering that the pain, sweat and tears were not in vain
and that Heaven is closer than it seems.
But self-proclaimed Gods have closed the gates. They have built towering
fences and walls around their heavens, leaving the sinners out
and allowing only the chosen ones in.
The state of flux becomes the state of congestion. Stuck in their Purgatory,
left feeling unfulfilled, due to their unfinished journey, they want
to enter the heaven they are prohibited from. As long as hope still has
its bit of green /Mentre che la speranza ha fior del verde/ they remain
permanently in this temporary limbo of their own salvation.
Gustave Doré - Purgatorio , illustration from Dante’s Divine Comedy

107 LIFE IN MOTION

REFUGIUM
/rɛfjuːdʒɪəm/ meaning: an area where special environmental circumstances
have enabled a species or a community to survive after extinction in surrounding
areas.
Not long after the first foundation of the city, tradition had it that Romulus opened a sanctuary
of refuge for all fugitives, which they called the temple of the god Asylaeus, where
they received and protected all, delivering none back, neither the servant to his master, the
debtor to his creditor, nor the murderer into the hands of the magistrate, saying it was a
privileged place, and they could so maintain it by an order of the holy oracle; insomuch that
the city grew presently very populous, for, they say, it consisted at first of no more than a
thousand houses.
ad aedem sacram
108 REFUGIUM
I
A Syrian toddler, dead on a Turkish beach, after the boat in which his family was attempting
to use to flee to Europe capsized at sea. Desperate families crowding a Hungarian
train station, their children sleeping on floors and sidewalks, fearing Hungary will intern
them in sinister-sounding “camps.” Greek tourism towns filling with tents and with humanitarian
workers, to accommodate the rickety boats of refugees that arrive daily at the
shores.
- THE JOURNEY IS AT THE HEART OF THE PROBLEM -
II
The starting point is an ever changing problem - the catalyst of which is more than likely
far outside the realm of architecture.
- THE ARCHITECT IS UNABLE TO SOLVE SUCH PROBLEMS -

III
The endpoint is a hybrid and complex solution involving a multitude of concerned
parties, stakeholders etc. A single architect cannot act with a ‘god complex’ imposing his
unique solution to a multitude of complex contexts and cultures which he does not understand.
One can however through deep understanding of cities and spatial structure,
propose strategy of integration to follow in order to create
successful communities and cities.
- COMPLEXITY BEYOND COMPREHENSION -
IV
The journey of the refugee is his plight.
The architect has the power to work within this space: a limbo between points. Borders
have become the new choking points of our global landscape, intensifying the looming
and preceding crisis of refugees.
- THE MOVEMENT OF REFUGEES GLOBALLY -
The journey is a state of flux -
109 LIFE IN MOTION
Darkness of night,
Barren Landscapes,
Watery graves,
Out of sight.
V
A global frame of X meters will be taken for humanity. A continuous and all encompassing
route circumnavigating the globe - border-less, perilous, free space.
- AS ARCHITECTS WE MAKE A STAND -

PURIFYING THE
JOURNEY
A line is the purest form
of a journey between two
places, the shortest and
most refined passage between
them.
“A line is the shortest distance from one point to another’’ was how
Euclid defined this element more than 2200 years ago.
As a journey is an act of reaching one place from another, in geometry
a line is also connecting two points.
Having seen that the journey of refugees is full of places of congestion,
obstacles and sidetracks, the line of Refugium is taken as the purest
form of a journey between two places, wherever they are, because the
line lies equally with respect to all the points on itself.
Instead of creating numberless impermanent limbos (today’s refugee
camps) that are part of the journey anyway but paradoxically represent
a bottleneck, points of stagnation and congestion, we challenge
that way of approaching the ‘‘crisis’’, proposing an infinite state of flux.
‘‘A line is a dot that went for a walk’’
Paul Klee
110 REFUGIUM
Refugium itself knows no borders and removes from within everything
that potentially can lead to congestion. An all encompassing stripe
where movement is free. It circumnavigates the world , making every
part of itself accessible from any place on earth. It is a global movement
for a global ‘‘crisis’’ that is here to stay.
The solution is not to fence out the refugees out or trap them in their
home countries but to help them resettle in ways that benefit local
economies and urban environments.
shelter
/ˈʃɛltə/ -a place giving temporary protection from
bad weather or danger.
temporary resident
-a person who has permission to remain in on a
temporary basis (the main categories are students,
temporary workers and visitors).

111 LIFE IN MOTION

MANIFESTATION OF
AN IDEA
We need to change the
way the world currently
operates in order to generate
new outcomes.
The Birth of a New Society
As we have clearly seen within the confines of the journey upon which
refugees move along, as well as the cesspools that have formed (refugee
camps) the way of life of these people has been fundamentally
altered. Identified as the part of the equation within which we have
scope to study, the migration of these refugees hold clues as to how
this way of life has evolved this society, even more creating a New
Society. People from all cultures become unified through aspects such
as common fear, like that of survival while at the same time working to
reach a common Utopian goal of being able to lead a better life.
112 REFUGIUM
“The camp is the space that is opened
when the state of exception becomes
the rule. In the camp, the state of
exception, which was a temporary
suspension of the rule of law, is now
given as the permanent spatial
arrangement.”
G.Agamben
In a world full of greed and aggression the crisis of refugees continues
to evolve and develop. Geopolitical underpinnings form much of the
ongoing problem. We need to change the way the world currently
operates in order to generate new outcomes. Taking from the existing
situation we can see a clear shift in social thinking and behavior of
refugees. Arising first from the newly adopted nomadic lifestyle, both
voluntary and involuntary, and secondly from the displays of new
social development brought about by this way of life. The transition
from “homo faber” to “homo ludens” is evident. (Homo Ludens – Man
not bound by existential activity, therefore able to explore and broaden
his creativity.)
Homo faber
-the human being as the maker or creator.
Homo ludens
-creative human being, one that releases his
creative potential
ludus (lat.) play, game, sport, training
An example of this can be seen in the case of Syrian refugees that
have been stranded in refugee camps. Upon satiating their need
for survival, one of their first acts is to create ornate fountains, even
embellishing TV’s in them, within the camps. This as a result of the fact
that they are an important part of their daily life and culture – people
who have nothing are spending their time on creation/creativity
The new model of this society is to be expressed on a global scale.
Thus giving space to these refugees in which there is an inversion of
the existing ethical issues they face such as; injustice, danger, exclu-

sion, depravity, poverty. This becomes a system of rights that this new
society will be based upon such as; justice, safety, inclusion, surplus
and wealth.
This is by no means a practical solution for today, but a way to change
our perception and thinking in order to create alternative outcomes in
the future. An architectural provocation to the current way in this crisis
is approached. The beginning of a paradigm shift.
“You never change things by fighting
the existing reality. To change something
build a new model, that makes
the existing model obsolete.”
Buckminster Fuller
Architecture of Movement
The right to move is linked to the right to survive. This overriding concept
is at the crux of the refugee crisis. Thus, Refugium is expressed as
an architecture of movement, emulating the new nomadic existence
of its inhabitants. Movement means that the architecture is forever
in a state of flux, a displacement of its users constantly altering their
surroundings to suit their needs along their journey. Embracing and
enhancing the lifestyle of its ludic society, the architecture takes on the
role of allowing the liberation of the inhabitants ludic potential, thereby
liberating them as social beings. Living in a world that is currently
and ever advancingly automated, it is only right that the mundane,
repetitive nature of work become automated. The responsibility is on
the architecture to provide for its people, breaking humanities chains
of an unceasing struggle for existence. Such changes are so powerful
to the way in which the relationship between spatiality and society is
altered, yet we have no precedent in a historical sense to understand
what these changes would mean. It is not difficult however to understand
that these changes are impending based on the exponential
modernization of our society over the last few hundred years. The
ever flowing and adapting spatial configuration of Refugium can be
mapped but never fully captured in traditional cartographies, it can
be creatively imagined but only practiced and fully lived. This is due
to the fact that the structure takes part in the 4th dimension – that
of time - being in continuous transformation, constantly changing
its configuration. To capture it with image would be as frivolous as
photographing the ocean, only a part of this constant process would
be frozen in time.
113 LIFE IN MOTION

A citizen of Refugium
The people of such an architecture, of such a fundamentally different
way of life, would potentially develop a new set of values, a new
outlook and perception of the world around. This new perspective is
near impossible to understand without a historical precedent, as we
can only imagine his/her thought processes, decisions or reactions
from within our personal frame of reference. Through layered understanding
of the very real shifts of society along with the application
of theoretical rhetoric, we are able to generate possible outcomes or
models of what the architectural implications would be, if we were to
build freely with this state of mind.
114 REFUGIUM
Once entering the structure, Refugium’s citizens are no longer rooted
- they moves freely without restraints. Ones movement knows no
congestion, just a permanent state of flow. So what happens with a
persons identity within the space? Today, we form a certain identity
according to the spaces we live in, schools we attend, bars we drink
coffee at – which is all defined by our stationery way of life. The life in
constant motion is not inclined to forming (spatial) identity. People
move through a series of creative environments, which would possibly
be changed and recreated. The new refugee, has already been
deprived of everything he identified himself with - from his past stationary
life. He does not identify with this new space, since he is only
moving through it, while playing.
A man who moves freely and does not have to struggle for his existence
is without historical basis. That is why materiality is not important
for a new refugee. He already has nothing. His instinct of pure
physical survival and self defense, the primordial instincts of human
being, are satiated; the only instinct that takes over is the creative one.
Baptism
- Refugium -
Integration
Inhabitence of Refugium is akin to that of a new dimension

Refugium as a social space
The historically known division into social classes, nations and races
(due to the certain interest) blocks the development to the new ‘’global
culture”. In our current world one is always the oppressor, the other
is oppressed; some are privileged, others are excluded.
In a society that no longer knows the struggle for subsistence, which
is a cause of all divisions, competition disappears at both the individual
and collective level. Refugees who have found sanctuary withing
Refugium share the same feelings of fear, loss and hope that keeps
them together. Social barriers are no longer important. People start
to intermix, which results in the disappearance of racial and social
differences and the fusion into a new state of human evolution - a new
society in movement.
It is the ‘new’ worlds created by imagination
that individuals reformulate
their identities and their ‘cultures’
People in motion /Lotus international
115 LIFE IN MOTION
These radical shifts in terms of both the spatial and social relationships
formed within Refugium provide a plethora of avenues of insight,
drawing on questions of existentialism that are pertinent not only
to the project but the future the current trajectory of contemporary
society. Rapid modernization, and technological advancements of
robotics and AI are taking virtuoso leaps forward. This is leading to the
potential drastic change to the current way of life as we know it. The
concepts found within Refugium not only aim to create a paradigm
shift in the way in which we deal with the issue of a refugee crisis but
also look to utilize a highly exaggerated hypothesis of current social
trends providing a glimpse into a potential future that mankind is
heading towards.

THEORETICAL
UNDERPINNINGS
Radical Architecture
The architectural theory of our project has been loosely based on
many principles derived from some of the honorary and often controversial
minds within our field. The work done by Rem Koolhaas, the
proverbial father of our current epoch of architecture, in his project
Exodus provides a strong understanding in what it means to challenge
current norms of society, and the concept of inversion and in his case
perversion of social constructs, re-interpreting these as architectonic
manifestations. Where his project in its execution is highly dystopic,
we look to utilize his approach to challenging the norm and creating
a paradigm shift which ultimately is defined through the physical outcome
of the project itself. His work, radical by nature is put together
closely with the work by Superstudio’s - Continous Monument, which
again shows how a singular concept aimed to challenge a widely
accepted norm is used as the driver of the architectonic project.
Situationist International
116 REFUGIUM
“They rejected the idea that advanced capitalism’s apparent successes—such
as technological advancement, increased income, and
increased leisure—could ever outweigh the social dysfunction
and degradation of everyday life”
Despite of the mentioned progress and advancement nothing has
been undertaken to ease and make the refugee Journey less dangerous
and more humane. Situationist theory, intertwined with concepts
like unitary urbanism and psycho-geography, while strongly challenging
political norm through its avant-garde approach is what we see as
an indispensable precedent to learn from. Without a level of change
outside of architecture itself, there is no possibility to address a global
problem such as the refugee crisis.
The Society of the Spectacle
“The spectacle is not a collection of images,” Debord writes, “rather, it
is a social relationship between people that is mediated by images.”
The spectacle obfuscates the past, imploding it with the future into an
undifferentiated mass, a type of never-ending present; in this way the
spectacle prevents individuals from realizing that the society
of spectacle is only a moment in history. Aligned with this is the crisis
of refugees. Ever changing and fluctuating with intensity throughout
history.
The concept brought forward by the Society of Spectacle is found both
in the problem we face, and manifests itself simultaneously as the
solution, where the dichotomous relationship between refugees and
architecture needs to ebb and flow, integrating a multitude of aspects
and requiring an entirely new archetype in order to function.

117 LIFE IN MOTION

MAIN PRINCIPLES OF THE
NEW PARADIGM
01 02
The possibility of continuous movement is the core principle of the
proposed concept. It is extracted from the research and identified as
a fundamental problem in the contemporary approach to the refugee
crisis. The Constant Movement is obstacle-less within Refugium: no
frontiers, walls, debatable policies. Distributing people globally, from
any place in the world, would reduce the load on neighboring countries,
which are hosting majority of refugees today.
118 REFUGIUM
03 04
CONSTANT
MOVEMENT
02
The ‘‘belt’’ of the line represents a safe zone, accessible to anyone in
need. The people who enter are instantly united by the same fears and
hopes. ‘‘No man’s land’’ becomes everyone’s.
04
ACCESSIBILITY

01 02
03 04
Although allowed to enter from anywhere, the new global citizens
would not be allowed to exit Refugium - meaning to enter the country
they want - if they are not allowed to. In this way the sovereign countries
are left to decide whether they would offer home to the newly
arrived, without violating their fundamental right - the right to move
forward. The concept is inspired by air travel: one enters the airport
and travels over many countries (where hypothetically not allowed to
enter without a visa) to reach the destination. From there, the process
can be repeated again in whatever direction.
02
04
SELECTIVE EXIT
Mobility, the incessant fluctuation of the population, creates the new
relationship between man and his surroundings. This results in new
way of executing even the most simple activities. Since all the repetitive
and utilitarian processes are automated, ones energy is directed
towards creating, liberating the ‘‘Man of Play’’. This new ‘Refugee’,
relieved of existential worries, through play organizes his environment
spontaneously, accentuating sudden unexpected changes. The ever-changing
surrounding becomes a vast network of collective and individual
services, imperative to the creative population in movement.
119 LIFE IN MOTION
EVER-CHANGING
ENVIRONMENT

120 REFUGIUM
The current flow of refugees towards Europe
Redirected flow to the line of Refugium

FROM POINTS TO A LINE
Despite the global need of space for the
always growing human population, today
we witness vast refugee camps that last
for decades, remaining limbos for its
inhabitants and places of avoidance for
people from the other side of the fence.
A limited resource, such as space, should
be carefully and effectively used.
Footprint of the refugee camps spreading , but individually remaining isolated
The footprint of the refugee camp, instead
of being an isolated point, becomes a part
of the line which is Refugium, a link in a
chain, supporting the movement of the
people it previously used to keep in one
place.
A dot becomes a part of a line with the length as its dominant dimension.
For a scale idea, a small refugee camp of
10 square kilometers could produce 200
kilometers of a 50 meters wide line. The
‘‘linear refugee footprint’’ would therefore
be justified.
The adjacent diagrams show the process
of this concept. Following our intense and
analysis and deep understanding of refugee
camps and the people who live there
we are able to abstract this information.
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The current spatial disorganization, the
generator of squalor and unrest is synthesized.
Potentialities identified within the
existing context are extracted and brought
forward. The system of preceding dots are
amalgamated within the form of the line.
Refugium is born.
Amalgamation of concepts
Footprint of Refugium is justified.

CONGESTION AND FLOW:
REFLECTION ON THE URBAN
PATTERN
A radial form is a classical way of establishing a settlement.
The pattern consists of inner and outer ring
roads linked by radiating roads. The core is of historical
and economical importance, whereas the periphery is
usually dominated by a residential typology and green
belts. The advantages of such a shape is that the city
can spread in all directions, but on the other hand,
approaching the center from any direction leads to
congestion. The properties closer to the center normally
have higher values than the those on the outskirts of the
city, intensifying social segregation among its residents.
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The linear city design was first developed by Arturo Soria
y Mata in Madrid, Spain during the 19th century, but was
widely promoted by the Soviet planner Nikolai Alexander
Milyutin in the late 1920s. The idea is to expand the
city along the spine of transport, and reduce congestion
within city found in the aforementioned radial plan.
With the development of fast transportation systems
this model could become very feasible. Linear cities
foster quality of life through urban mobility and access,
while minimizing consumption of land and material
resources of all kinds, including energy resources.
Refugium is a spine connecting with the places in the
surrounding landscape, reviving and revitalizing abandoned
and undeveloped places with the influx of people
and new way of life. It acts as a main artery pumping
blood into every vessel in the organism. Existing towns
would grow while new ones could be established, thus
forming networks of political and cultural alliances.
Economical recovery would lead to the investment in
regional infrastructure. In the opposite direction, the
products and ideas generated in the newly revived cities
would be distributed globally by virtue of the line, therefore
Refugium would act as a global medium.

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NETWORK AND INFRASTRUCTURE

Globalization has torn
the walls when it comes
to trade, flows of goods,
services and capital. Innovation
and sustainable development
have become
the pillars of the modern
era thanks to global collaboration.
Global trade routes are by no means a new concept. The development
of human kind has always been driven through such activity. The most
famous of these networks is none other than the Silk Road, which now
after hundreds of years looks to be set to return. We have entered a
new epoch in our history, where technology is evolving at a rate that is
now allowing the realization of what was deemed previously impossible.
Infrastructure projects are no longer aimed at a regional scale, but
rather look further afield. Projects of such nature have been brought
forward throughout history, often touted though as impossible. Very
recently though we have found a paradigm shift in terms of global development
projects. These so called “mega-projects” are found within
a variety of sectors, ranging from Aerospace projects like intercontinental
flight, Disaster Containment projects such as those implemented
to clean up and contain the fallout of Chernobyl and Fukoshima.
Energy projects have historically been important but have today
reached an unprecedented scale, ranging from enormous Hydro-electric
power stations, Solar farms and Wind farms are all currently being
implemented around the world.
These mega-projects also extend into the field of Science with developments
of technology such as the Large Hadron Collider in Cern, or
the Human Genome project. These projects allow for global collaboration
for the betterment and understanding of our species.
Transport and City-Making are without a doubt two of the areas where
these mega projects have begun to make their mark as well. The unfathomable
growth of super cities like Dubai and Shenzen have shown
new potentialities of architecture and urban planning today.
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Developments in transport too have taken a leap forward, with
driver-less cars, drone delivery and high speed rail systems like the Hyperloop
on the horizon of a not too distant future. Man looks likely to
expand this network of trade and infrastructure even further abroad.
Space travel, often seen as the final frontier looks set to become an
all to real reality. Pioneers such as Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Richard
Branson are all aiming to make man a multi-planetary species within
the next decade, where trade between celestial bodies such as the
Earth, Mars and the moon will become the newest iterations of the Silk
Road.
UNHCR
-The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner
for Refugees, an international organization
that is part of the UN and is responsible for giving
help and support to refugees

THE SILK ROAD
ريرحلا قwيرط
Δρόμος του
μεταξιού
ABOUT THE SILK ROAD
The Silk Road was an historical trade route spanning from Chang’an
in China, across the East to Rome. The network of trade routes were
formally established under the Han Dynasty and allowed for a cross
pollination of cultures, exposing the Roman Empire at its other end
to the treasures of the unexplored East. Coined as the “Silk Road” by
Ferdinand von Richthofen in 1877, it was by no means a prehistoric
highway used for the transport of precious cloth from China to Europe.
These vast networks carried more than just merchandise and precious
commodities however: the constant movement and mixing of
populations also brought about the transmission of knowledge, ideas,
cultures and beliefs, which had a profound impact on the history and
civilizations of the Eurasian peoples. Travelers along the Silk Roads
were attracted not only by trade but also by the intellectual and cultural
exchange that was taking place in cities along the Silk Roads, many
of which developed into hubs of culture and learning. Science, arts
and literature, as well as crafts and technologies were thus shared and
disseminated into societies along the lengths of these routes, and in
this way, languages, religions and cultures developed and influenced
each other.
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MORE THAN JUST SILK
The production of silk was one of China’s best kept secrets. The
luxurious material became highly sort after in the West generating this
interest in mystery of the East. The material was used to adorn nobles,
emperors and even tombs. Its opulence was not unnoticed by those
abroad and it was even used as diplomatic gifts between China and
other nations. The trade of silk though opened the door to an expansive
network that comprised of much more. These new passages of
trade which included textiles, spices, grain, vegetables and fruit, animal
hides, tools, wood work, metal work, religious objects, art work,
precious stones and much more. Indeed, the Silk Roads became more
popular and increasingly well-traveled over the course of the Middle
Ages, and were still in use in the 19th century, a testimony not only
to their usefulness but also to their flexibility and adaptability to the
changing demands of society. Nor did these trading paths follow any
one trail – merchants had a wide choice of different routes crossing a
variety of regions of Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia and
the Far East, as well as the maritime routes, which transported goods
from China and South East Asia through the Indian Ocean to Africa,
India and the Near East.

The Silk Road pulsated with life,
ebbing and flowing with activity,
rising and falling with the
changes of multiple Dynasty’s
through out its history. The significant
Dynasty’s through this
period were
206 BC–24 AD
Western Han Dynasty - Zhang Qian set
out on his journey to the Western Regions
twice, pioneering the world-famous route.
Several successful wars against the Huns
were commanded by Wei Qing and Huo
Qubing (famous generals in Han Dynasty),
which removed obstacles along this trade
route. In 60 BC, Han Dynasty established
the Protectorate of the Western Regions,
which greatly protected the trade along this
time-honored route.
25–220 AD
CARAVANS - Travelers would move long distance often carrying many heavy items.
Caravans of camels were a stable along the route and become one of the symbols of
the Silk Road itself.
Ban Chao and Ban Yong conducted several
expeditions to the Western Regions to
suppress rebellions and re-established the
Protectorate of the Western Regions.
618–907 AD
With the establishment of the Tang Dynasty,
the road rose to its most flourishing period
in history. Before the Anshi Rebellion
(755–762) in the Tang Dynasty, this world-famous
road experienced its “Golden Age” of
development.
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1271–1368 AD
SLEEPLESS TRADE - The Silk Road afforded an abundance of trade, allowing for the
often spectacular mixture of cultures and societies from East to West.
Along with the growth of the Mongolian
Empire and the establishment of the Yuan
Dynasty, the route regained its vigor and
became prosperous once again. It enjoyed
the last glorious era during this period.
The Mongol Empire destroyed a great
number of toll-gates and corruption of the
Silk Road; therefore passing through the historic
trade route became more convenient.
The Mongolian emperors welcomed the
travelers of the West with open arms, and
appointed some foreigners high positions,
for example, Kublai Khan gave Marco Polo
a hospitable welcome and appointed him
a high post in his court. At that time, the
Mongolian emperor issued a special VIP
passport known as “Golden Tablet” which
entitled holders to receive food, horses and
guides throughout the Khan’s dominion.
The holders were able to travel freely and
carried out trade between East and the West
directly in the realm of the Mongol Empire.

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Modern Cities on the Silk Road:
1. Aleppo
2. Alexandria
3. Almaty
4. Baku
5. Balkh
6. Bam
7. Bamiyan
8. Bukhara
9. Bursa
10. Dunhuang
11. Ephesus
12. Fatehpur Sikri
13. Herat
14. Isfahan
15. Jeddah
16. Karakorum
17. Kashgar
18. Samarkand
19. Shahrisabz
20. Umruqi
21. Xi’an
22. Yazd

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11
09
16
Unesco Status
02
01
15
14
04
22
13
06
03
08
18
05
19
07
17
12
20
10
21
Many sites along the silk road,
and the actual Silk Road itself
are protected under the Unesco
banner since 1990. The Importance
of such as aspect is fundamental in
preserving the historical integrity
of this integral part of history,
protecting it from development
and infrastructural projects which
have often looked to despose of
these sites.

THE WORLD LAND BRIDGE - A land belt connecting the entire world globally allowing for unprecedented
trade and travel, a new epoch in our evolution.
spine
network / sprawl
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THE SILK ROAD BECOMES THE
WORLD LAND BRIDGE
The historic Silk Road has slowly but surely been catalyzed
globally as new global trade routes and corridors
have sprung up around the world. These infrastructural
elements have the potential to work together as a
system such as the World Land Bridge, forever changing
the paradigms of trade on all levels from local to the
intercontinental.
At the heart of this is the One Belt, One Road project
which has been initiated by the Chinese government.
The core of the project lies the creation of an economic
land belt that includes countries on the original Silk
Road through Central Asia, West Asia, the Middle East
and Europe, as well as a maritime road that links China’s
port facilities with the African coast, pushing up through
the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean.
The project aims to redirect the country’s domestic
overcapacity and capital for regional infrastructure
development to improve trade and relations with Asian,
Central Asian and European countries.
Waning resources, growing populations
and technological advancements
will reshape our
landscapes.
This notion of land belt routes has been taken further
through the proposal protaganised by Helga Zepp-
LaRouche, with the project of the World Land Bridge.
Extensive research between the LaRouche Foundation
and the Executive Intelligence Review Agency has been
conducted on the viability and potentiality for such an
infrastructural project and the potential impact it could
have on shaping the future of mankind.
The work looks at the growing cooperation of singular
nations, developing networks of participation such as
BRICS, CELAC, Eurasia and other such deals between
powerhouses such as Russia,China and the USA.
The elements making up this global route have been
under development for differing periods of time. The
projects shown in the diagrams on the right form an
important notion of the recent increase in scale of
infrastructural projects and how this abacus of projects
could come together to serve and facilitate the concept
of the World Land Bridge.

NICARAGUA
BERING STRAIT
SAKHALIN TUNNEL
SEIKAN
SAKHALIN-HOKKAIDO
TUNNEL
JAPAN-KOREA UNDERSEA
TUNNEL
BOHAI TUNNEL
STRAIT OF MALACCA
BRIDGE
SUNDA STRAIT BRIDGE
ISTHMUS OF KRA
CANAL
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BOSPORUS STRAIT RAIL TUNNEL
SUEZ CANAL
ITALY TUNISIA LINK
STRAIT OF GIBRALTAR
ENGLISH CHANNEL
SCANDINAVIAN PEN-
INSULA-CONTINENTAL
LINKS
PERU-BRAZIL TRANS-
CONTINENTAL RAILWAY
DARIEN GAP
INTER-AMERICAN
RAILWAY
ALASKA-CANADA–LOW-
ER 48 RAIL LINE
TRANS SIBERIAN
RAILWAY
SILK ROAD

1KG PACKAGE FROM ULAAN-
BAATAR TO MILANO
75 days
if you had to WALK
Chinese companies have funded and built roads, bridges
and tunnels across the region. A ribbon of fresh projects,
such as the Khorgos “dry port” on the Kazakh-Chinese
border and a railway link connecting Kazakhstan
with Iran, is helping increase trade across central Asia.
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7 days
by current RAIL
10.5 hrs
total FLIGHT time
9 days
China is not the only investor in central Asian connectivity.
Multilateral financial institutions, such as the Asian
Development Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction
and Development and the World Bank have long
been investing in the region’s infrastructure. The Kazakh
government has its own $9bn stimulus plan, directing
money from its sovereign wealth fund to infrastructure
investment. Other countries, including Turkey, the US,
and the EU have also made improving Eurasian connectivity
a part of their foreign policy.
The elements making up this global route have been
under development for differing periods of time. The
projects shown on the page before are an important
notion of the recent increase in scale of infrastructural
projects and how this abacus of projects could come
together to serve and facilitate the concept of the World
Land Bridge.
courier by ROAD
40 days
delivered by SEA
7 hrs
by high speed MAG LEV

Flows - Mapping the migration phenomena. Movement of people based on multitude of factors such as economical, territorial,
political, religious tension or environmental consequences. Overlaid with this are curent zones of conflict and large refugee
enclaves.
- Conflict Zones
- Refugee Camps - Economic Migrants - Refugees
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Flows + World Land Bridge - A look at how the flow of migrants currently intersects and correlates
with the conceptual path of the World Land Bridge.
- World Land Bridge - Silk Road - Sea Trade

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MEDIAN OF CATASTROPHE
If one takes the potentiality for catastrophe previously
discussed under the future of what the refugee
crisis potentially holds in store, and combines
this with the planned network of the World Land
Bridge, a very distinct correlation can be found.
The World Land Bridge forms a near perfect median
to the data cloud of potential catastrophes.
This proves therefore the shortest path at any given
time from an event from which there is a large possibility
for refugees to the tailored line of the World
Land Bridge. Utilizing the WLB plus its support
networks as a safe zone for refugees would therefore
mitigate and shorten the Journey which they
would need to take in order to flee the impending
crisis and relocate to an area of safety.

Potentiality of Catastrophe Tailored WLB Support Networks of WLB
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ARCHITECTURE
The Architecture itself is the materialization of this aforementioned
Journey. The project therefore serves as a vessel that allows for the
fundamental principles of the refugee crisis that we have identified,
and the potentialities therein to be made manifest. The current
constraints and dangers of this Journey are themselves inverted to
become the driving rules by which the Architecture abides. At the crux
of this is the underlying concept of MOVEMENT.
“Free unimpeded movement to be at the basis of everything”
Distilled from these ideologies is therefore an architecture of movement,
a border-less place, creating a complete paradigm shift in order
to explore and provoke new ideas in the approach to what is seen as
a refugee “crisis”. Mankind is undoubtedly rhapsodic when it comes to
the formation of areas of anything “free”. Free Wifi zones have become
the newest constructs of ‘social’ space, and entire nations have risen
on the back of the principal of “tax free”. It is therefore only logical that
we take the next step in this evolution and create what is truly the first
border free space.
So at this point it is only fair to ask, “Well what exactly is this Architecture
of Movement?” In all earnest, the answer simply enough does
not actually exist. The proposed Architecture of the project is nothing
more than the container in which this continual flux is brought to life.
Much like the bones in our bodies we propose the structure itself, a
rigid element in space, but within it a plethora of vital elements are
free to move servicing this temporal space in any configuration that
is needed. Therefore the architecture itself can never really be fully
imagined or even captured in an image, as an image serves as a mere
fragment of frozen time, much the same as the result one gets when
photographing a wave in the ocean.
The architecture is therefore that of event, rather than that of object
itself, a suiting fit as it is able to alter its physical configuration in
anticipation of probable and possible patterns of use. The architecture
pre-empts the needs of society adjust itself parametrically with algorithmic
like precession, learning and adapting much like a computer
program in order to understand its social order.
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The architecture itself is a tool of provocation, allowing for one to
rethink the form of the solution to the refugee crisis on a global level
while also examining what role architectural discourse can play in this.
This provocation allows at the same time for all current policies and
regulations currently blanketing the subject of refugees, to be challenged
and tested.

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STRUCTURE
Once the possibility of free unimpeded movement is at the basis
of everything it is part of the ludic nature of people, born out of the
primitive being within us to construct. Embracing this primordial urge,
this creativity is made manifest. This occurrence is not unprecedented
and can be seen when delving deeper into the outputs of refugees
within this current crisis. Syrian refugees within the Zaatari refugee
camp have put this ludic tendency to work through the construction of
elaborate fountains within their ‘temporary’ living environment. As an
important part of their culture, these have been adorned with a plethora
of objects even going as far as in-casing within them flat screen
TV’s. Other forms of creative expression in similar circumstances can
be seen to such as the expansion of structures within caravans in gypsy
camps, where the temporary is expanded, adapted and improved
upon in order to satiate the needs of its inhabitants.
Dover Church
Thus structure is born.
The structure holds the space in which refugees can move freely, its
permeable sides allowing the flow of people and landscape through
it and within it. This demarcation of this safe zone becomes a visual
symbol in the landscape, working to identify itself as a visual beacon,
distinguishable and providing hope even from a distance. Built along
the existing railway, the structure can be assembled, upgraded and
dismantled as needed.
The processional emotion generated by the structure is akin to the
nave of a church, guiding its occupants through it triggering movement.
The structure allows for space itself to become pliable, taking
the simplest form in order to allow for the flexibility to accommodate
the most complex of functions. The space internally is forever changing,
functions fluctuating functions from day to night.
Basilica of Maxentius
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Old Saint Peters Basilica
The Axis of Procession
The concept of the church / basilica layout :
the nave is architecturally shaped for procession,
movement towards salvation (altar...)
; the priority in the spatial organization is
clear - the aisles are supporting spaces for
what happens in the middle. The early types
of basilica do not even contain the aisles, but
the Nave is always there.

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CATWALK
The catwalk is by definition synonymous with the concept of movement.
Whether it be an elevated walkway above a theater or industrial
space it provides safe passage without disturbing what lies below. The
term further refers to the continuous movement and observation of
people in a fashion sense, where the catwalk becomes the stage. The
movement of models is observed from those hidden in the darkened
gantries.
The catwalk informs the fundamental element at the center of our
project. Akin to the concepts of the architectural promenade brought
forward by Le Corbusier, the Catwalk is the genesis of this new Journey.
Raised off of the ground, this single gesture is fundamental in meaning.
To be raised off the ground allows the landscape to be free,
purging the ground of its previous responsibilities, transforming the
railway, a previous barren cut in the earth into an area now teaming
with life. The horizontal slab also a fundamental psychological element,
allowing openness and transparency to the outside world. This
is juxtaposed to the possibility of enclosing such a structure within vertical
walls, thereby creating exclusion between inside and out, while at
the same time disturbing the landscape by cutting it, creating a new
frontier. The open Catwalk is not only an important device inside the
structure, but also from without, as it is able to function much like its
haute couture counterpart, garnering interest and intrigue from the
places through which is passes.
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A space of interaction and social inclusion is formed by the Catwalk,
much like the Silk Road which preceded it. The refugees now have a
purified journey along which to walk, supplying them with all possible
necessities of life. Not excluding society in general though, the Catwalk
becomes a space of social aggregation, where people form all walks of
life are intertwined. Thus social inclusion is the dominant state of society
within the structure, relinquishing people of the urge for xenophobic
fear, and replacing it with a sense of community and acceptance.

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ESCALATOR
Reaching down from the Catwalk, like a great arm extended from the
heavens above, the Escalator becomes our refugees new symbol of
hope. A simple gesture controls vertical movement into the structure.
Access is always granted and everybody is welcome.
...Salvation is abundant...
The escalators function much like doors to the outside world. Countries
who are not able to host or welcome refugees are excluded
through an unadorned act, whereby the escalators only move in one
direction, upwards into the structure. Where people are welcomed to
exit the escalators allow movement in both directions.
Within the new landscape of our architecture of movement, the escalator
becomes the conductor of this great orchestra. Able to pivot on
point they arc through the air changing the organization of ancillary
spaces.
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COLLECTIVE ACTIVITIES
The central ‘Nave’ of the structure is home to all Collective Activities. Here
the refugees are sensually bombarded with any and all possible constructs.
The space of Collective Activities functions much like a giant sandbox, allowing
the former Homo Faber to unleash their ludic potential. The spaces and
elements are free to be shaped and reformed by all those moving through,
thus the architecture becomes a projection of the society itself, ever shifting
and changing its composition. The movement through the area of Collective
Activities is slow, where displacement of both people and objects becomes
a form of activity, the entire interior landscape in a state of constant flux.
Rapid movement though is still accommodated and can be achieved
through the use of high speed mag-Lev trains which are set to replace the
existing rail network. The multileveled and ever shifting layout of this space
results in an autonomy of networks, where the architecture itself predicts
and in turn adapts itself to possible patterns of movement.
Collective activities are reflections of social constructs within the structure
and reflect physically how this new way of living is made manifest. The
activities which can take place are innumerable but could include some of
those listed below.
Bowling, ski practice, karting, eating and drinking, dancing, swimming,
skating, music concerts, interactive studying, finger painting, restoration of
vintage cars...
Such activities can also take place in spatial constructs outside our scope of
current imagination, such as The Grotto of Kaleidoscopes, a dark cavernous
space filled with memories and historically fundamental points of humanities
past or constructs far beyond our imagination.
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SERVICING ACTIVITIES
Located within the galleries flanking the structure, the zones of Servicing
Activities are fundamental in inverting the current problems refugees face
within the existing paradigm of the refugee crisis. Access to shelter, food,
sanitation, counseling and any other manner of Service Activity can be
found here. The area of Servicing Activities works much the same as the
rest of the architecture fluctuating and adapting its functions based on the
predicted need of the refugees at any given point and time. The presence
of the servicing activities is also fundamental in the conversion of the social
construct of the user of the space from that of a utilitarian society instead
allowing them to become a ludic society, where the social consciousness
of every user is liberated through their ludic potential. In order to achieve
this the zone of Servicing Activities automates all non productive work, thus
increasing productivity and reducing scarcity, eliminating the unceasing
struggle for existence that refugees have been fighting up until this point.
The micro structures therefore work together as basics units of a network
which each form a link in the chain. The overall macro structure allows this
great freedom to the micro structures.

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Points
Identifying the potentialities within the project, a deeper look into what role
this global structure can play in terms of its contextual junctions is needed.
The points examined of Refugium serve as infrastructural hubs, helping to
serve not only the structure but also the surrounding context. Through this
mutual act, the structure creates a strong bond between itself and the local
forming a dichotomous relationship, essential to the survival of both of
them.
These points showcase the potentiality of growth and development of the
structure, socially becoming integral in interlinking town and cities together
to form a new global route of trade, where culture, knowledge and wealth
can be shared from the largest of cities such as Shanghai, while at the same
time allowing for the potential activation of dying cities like Timbuktu.
The points examined within the project are but the tip of the iceberg of
potentiality that such an architecture could bring with it.
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BRIDGING A SCAR IN THE LAND-
SCAPE: RAILROADS
Following the trajectory of the
selected railway, Refugium gives
a new character to the neglected
spaces around it, introducing a
new system of transportation.
THE SCAR
Railroads became a part of landscapes with
the outbreak of the industrial evolution. The
network has been growing ever since, following
new trends of society, free trade and globalization
in general.
However, railroads have formed cuts in the
landscape, restraining the movement and
forming an informal border. The spaces around
it are usually abandoned and less desirable for
local inhabitants.
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INTRODUCING THE CHANGE
With technological progress, more sustainable
transportation systems will be developed. The
railroads could evolve into MagLev systems, a
method that uses magnetic levitation to move
vehicles without making contact with the
ground. The system would be integrated into
the Refugium, elevated within the structure
itself.
NEW SYSTEM
In this way the ground would be given back to
the surrounding, enabling the circulation underneath
it. It represents a blank canvas ready
to be filled with the new needs or left for nature
to overtake.

CHRONOPROGRAM
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55
CLEAR STRIP
IMPLEMENTATION OF INFRASTRUCTURE
MOBILITY
PEDESTRIAN NETWORK
DISTRIBUTION TRUNK (MAG LEV)
SECONDARY TRAIN NETWORK
LANDSCAPE
SATELLITE CITIES
SLUMS REDUCED
BIODIVERSITY
WATER HARVESTING
GOVERNANCE INNOVATION
SOLAR NETWORK
REDUCTION OF DICATORSHIP
CARBON CAPTURE
3D PRINTING
CULTURAL DIVERSIFICATION
FREE MARKET TRADE
FUSION POWER
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Unlike the current treatment of refugees which seem
to be ‘‘stuck somewhere 100 years ago’’ ( Killian-Klein-
Schmidt), Refugium’s approach defines refugees as
protagonists of this new way of life in motion. As its
reflection, the evolution of Refugium will reflect mainly
in the fields of mobility, innovation, governance and its
influence on the surrounding landscape.
Mobility is, from the beginning, based on pedestrian
network. As the structure evolves, the Mag-Lev train
lines are implemented. Its importance also lies in the
mobility of goods that are transported from one side
of the world to another. As people move, they begin
inhabiting abandoned cities and establishing the new
ones along the way.
Refugium is an environmentally sustainable organism,
and like its inhabitants, is a protagonist of new technologies
such as fusion power, carbon capture and
3d printing, all automated and managed by artificial
intelligence.
While Refugium grows, the world around is evolving:
globalization is in its peak and the level of exchange is
the higher than ever. The economy is exclusively aimed
at the satisfaction of human needs, in the widest sense
of the term. Only such an economy permits complete
automation of non-creative activities, and consequently
the free development of creativity.
The new world order has set down: the Marxist kingdom
of freedom, a social model in which the idea of freedom
would become the real practice of freedom -- of a
‘freedom’ that for us is not the choice between many alternatives
but the optimum development of the creative
faculties of every human being, because there cannot
be true freedom without creativity.

COLLECTIVE AND SERVICE
ACTIVITIES
A refugee undergoes an intense amount of trauma
through the journey in order to escape their country. Refugium’s
proximity to all possible events mitigates this.
Upon arrival a refugee would first and foremost seek the
most basic of human needs. Access to healthcare is imperative,
tending to any ailments one may have suffered
along the way. These countless basic functions can be
seen in the diagram on the right. This incredibly intense
and exhaustive list is synthesized into the structure ever
and omnipresent to service the needs of its inhabitants.
Studying the diagram below one can understand the
basic principle of the spatial arrangement of Refugium.
The zonal demarcation of functions is the only order given
to the space. The outer extremities host the Service
Activities, allowing for privacy and not causing to much
traffic within the flowing central nave of Refugium.
The central area has the prime function of movement,
allowing for unimpeded pedestrian movement while at
the same time providing access to the mag lev network.
This central space becomes a hub of activity, a lively
pedestrian cityscape, bustling with any type of activity
one can conjure up.
154 REFUGIUM
HOUSE OF
COMMON
CLUB OF HEALTH
DANCING
PODIUM
MARKET
HALL OF SPORTS
CELEBRATION SQUARE
MOVEMENT
TIME BANK
ARENA
SHOPS
CINEMA
HOTEL OF
STRANGERS
FINDING
THE LOST
SERVICE
ACTIVITIES
COLLECTIVE
ACTIVITIES
FREE GROUND
Zoning scheme

HEALTH CARE
WOMEN AND CHILD CARE
SPEECH THERAPY
TRAUMA THERAPY
PHYSIOTHERAPY
HYGIENE
FIRST AID
EDUCATION
KINDER GARDEN
SCHOOL
SECONDARY EDUCATION
PROFESSIONAL TRAINING
CULTURE
COMMUNITY
INTEGRATION
SECURITY
REGISTRATION
POLICE STATION
DOCUMENTATION
UNCHR OFFICE
CIRCULATION
MAG LEV TRAIN
TRANSPORTATION OF PEOPLE AND
GOODS
MOVEMENT
PEDESTRIAN
BIKE SHARING
WALKING
HOUSING
RECREATION
ENTERTAINMENT
GREEN POCKETS
CHILDREN’S PLAYGROUND
UNCHR OFFICE
HOUSING
COMMUNITY
CONFERENCES
INTEGRATION
FIRST AID
HYGENE
TRAINING SCHOOL
SECONDARY EDUCATION
SECURITY
DOCUMENTS ISSUE
SPEECH COUNCILING TRAUMA
THERAPY
EDUCATION
KINDER GARDEN
POLICE STATION
REGISTRATION
CHILDREN PLAYGROUND
GREEN POCKETS
RECREATION
PEDESTRIAN
HEALTH CARE
PHISICAL PTS WOMANCHILD CARE
EXIT
BIKE SHARING WALKING
CIRCULATION
TRANSPORTATION OF PEOPLE AND GOODS
ENTRANCE
ENTERTAINMENT
MOVEMENT
MAG LEV TRAINS
155 LIFE IN MOTION
Programmatic visualization

No. Description Date
Owner
Unnamed
156 REFUGIUM
Exploded composition of elements

PM
11/28/2016 9:39:43 PM
No. Description Date
Owner
Unnamed
0001
Project number
A103
Date
Project Name
Author
Drawn by
www.autodesk.com/revit
Checker
Scale
Checked by
Structure
1
No. Description Date
Owner
Unnamed
Hotel Of Strangers
Shelter is one of the most basic of human needs. A mere
shelter though, once adorned by man becomes a home.
A place that one returns to each day. The concept of
a fixed place of existence is changing even in global
society today, with the rise of Airbnb type mobility,
never really setting down root. The Hotel of Strangers
provides shelter and the necessities of human life, but
for a limited time only. Refugium is in a constant state
of flux and so too should its inhabitants be.
Collective Activities
As described this is the central Nave of the structure
where anything can happen. Arriving from difficulty and
disaster, the narrative of ones life is inverted. The basics
of survival and life are taken care of, so the true ludic
expression of peoples imagination can come to fruition
Pedestrian Movement
Refugium is based around the unhindered movement
of its inhabitants. The central catwalk provides an uninterrupted
line of continuous movement while auxiliary
walk ways give rise to secondary axis of movement. The
escalator plays an important role in the movement of
people through Refugium, orchestrating ones ability to
navigate the space, thus constantly evolving the users
experience of it.
157 LIFE IN MOTION
Issue Date
High Speed Train Network
Based on existing rail networks, Refugium would
replace these antiquated structures with a system
of high speed rail networks, helping its inhabitants
travel long distances in short amounts of time and also
serving global interest, creating a super fast land based
network of trade.
Existing Rail Network
Mag Lev
www.autodesk.com/revit
1
No. Description Date
Owner
Project Name
Unnamed
Project number
0001
Date
Issue Date
Drawn by
Author
Checked by
Checker Scale
A104
11/28/2016 10:34:13 PM
This initial spine serves as a tool to help with the construction
of Refugium but will be returned to dust once
its efficacy has run its course.
1
Train Track
The Structure
www.autodesk.com/revit
No. Description Date
Owner
Project Name
Unnamed
Project number
0001
Date
Issue Date
Drawn by
Author
Checked by
Checker Scale
A105
11/28/2016 10:38:56 PM
Refugiums simple and unadorned structure allows for
the maximum functionality within its confines. At the
same time it provides a high possibility of adaptability
and flexibility to the structure itself.

LIFE IN MOVEMENT
The structure acts as a cocoon shaping movement that is happening
in different directions and levels within it.
Once entering Refugium via the movable Escalators, refugees find
themselves at the axis of procession - the Catwalk. The primary circulation
happens here as the refugees flow towards the desired exit
exposed to the series of different mass activities.
As they are moving forward, the secondary platforms containing different
and ever changing activities could be approached via series of
escalators, travelators and staircases.
The circulation within a piece of the line cannot be precisely predicted,
not based only on human choices, but because the internal system,
except the Catwalk, is always in state of flux: a certain space configuration
can be there for one day, and then would change to form spaces
for other activities. The changes would be introduced by an Artificial
Intelligence generated algorithm predicting the needs of upcoming
group of people.
158 REFUGIUM
Potential of complex vertical and horizontal circulation systems.

Circulation in motion
159 LIFE IN MOTION

160 REFUGIUM
CHANGING SPACES
The spaces within Refugium are nothing more than
open stages for human creativity and play. The natural
shift of day and night triggers different moods, and as
the new society’s behavior cannot be predicted, the
activities remain unknown. The hypothetical images on
the right capture the same space in different moments.

161 LIFE IN MOTION

HEALTH
CULTURE
ENTERTAIN-
MENT
HOUSES OF
COMMON
SECURITY
LEISURE
MOVEMENT
HOTEL OF
STRANGERS
RECEPTION
EDUCATION
162 REFUGIUM
FOOD
AUTOMATION
ENERGY
CLOTHING
Movement, becoming a way of life, shapes new ways of
doing even the most banal human activities. Although
without historical precedent, the flashes of this way of
life could be identified in the generations of so called
Millennials.
With systems such as Airbnb home is everywhere, online
strangers become friends and even spouses. Hotel
of strangers is one of many homes to all the people that
have ever visited it.
Man cannot be trusted with his own existence. In a
world where there is an ever increasing divide between
the “have’s” and “have not’s” one can not allow for
such a division to continue. The Service Activities of
Refugium, flanking the central Nave are therefore not
organised by man. Instead machine takes over, automating
all manner of processes that are necessary for
exestential survival. Food, clothing and energy are just
a few of the many tasks carried out by the structure in
order to support its occupents. This abundance and life
giving support allows for Refugiums ludic nature, where
the central Nave, a realm shaped by man, becomes a
metaphorical sandbox. The space within it is pushed,
pulled, constructed and deconstructed at will, furnising
the deepest and most creative desires of man.
The possibilities within Refugium are endless, as are its
processes, the space itself in constant transformation, a
place of worship becoming a school, an area of debate
transforming to that of erotic encounter.

163 LIFE IN MOTION

164 REFUGIUM

165 REFUGIUM

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Refugium - A paradigm shift
167 LIFE IN MOTION

168 REFUGIUM

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A TESTING GROUND
The challenge of choosing a ‘‘site’’ to test Refugium, consisted of exploring and proposing
the manners in which the project deals with the specific contexts, the
symbiosis between the underlying concepts and the surroundings.
Thanks to its historical tradition, but also its modern era significance, we chose Silk
Road. This timeless route was a trigger for sprouting of many ancient cities, an exchange
ground of ideas and goods. Refugium strives to rehearse the Silk Road model
of reviving and reactivating the regions while caring about its own principles.
Apart from its cultural and historical richness, the route snakes through 6 different
biomes reflecting different natural forces Refugium would encounter.

170 REFUGIUM
In order to better understand
the characteristics of the chosen
‘site’, we identified the biomes
along the route that resulted in 6
different categories: (1) Temperate
Broad - Leaf, (2) Montane
Grasslands, (3)Temperate Conifer
Forests, (4) Deserts, (5) Savannas
and (6) Mediterranean Forests.
Each of these categories is
bound to a different climate and
reflects certain potentials and
challenges based on it.
That being said, Mediterranean
forests, for example, as well as
deserts are generally characterized
by high number of sun
hours leaving an opportunity for
harvesting solar energy; temperate
broad leaf forest occur in
relatively rainy climates with the
possibility of rain collection or
fog catch.
This lead to identifying four lociplaces
where Refugium becomes
contextual and demonstrates
the possibilities it has to offer to
the surrounding, based on the
resources of the place itself.
Temperate Broad - Leaf
Montane Grasslands
Temperate Conifer Forests
Deserts
Apart from the environmental
diversity, all the chosen points,
have a history that is bound with
that of refugees.
Savannas
Mediterranean Forests

171 LIFE IN MOTION

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KASHGAR
ARAL SEA

173 LIFE IN MOTION
AGDAM
NAROULIA

ECOLOGICAL PARK OF
NAROULIA:
51°53′21″N 29°57′52″E
Located in Naroulia in south east Belarus,
this point on the line has a unique
surrounding: it is partially included in the
Polesie State Radioecological Reserve.
This area was created to enclose the
territory of Belarus most affected by radioactive
fallout from the Chernobyl disaster.
The reserve is one of the biggest in Europe
and hosts many rare and endangered
species, which thrive here thanks to the
virtual absence of humans. Within this
biodiversity, 70 species are listed in the
International Red Book of fauna and 18 in
the International Red Book of flora.
174 REFUGIUM
The solitary line of Refugium here diverges
into the existing landscape forming a 360
degrees vista on its upper decks: visitors
are offered safari-like experience of rare
spices such as European bison, Przewalski
horse, Golden and White-tailed eagle,
White-tailed, marsh turtle. Who knows,
one may catch a glimpse at an all new
species sprouting from the effects of the
radiation itself...
Apart from having cultural and educational
purpose, the structure plays host
to a research centre with the laboratories
placed on the lower levels. Research of
nuclear decontamination of soil, observation
of the wildlife without anthropogenic
influence are some of the activities that
could be carried out in the laboratories
and would be of an international importance.

EXHIBITION/EDUCATION
VISTA FOREST
VETERINARY
HOSPITAL
CHERNOBYL VISTA
LABORATORY
175 LIFE IN MOTION
INFLATABLE LABORATORIES - Protecting the users from
unwanted radiation, inflatable tent structures could be
used as lab spaces that allows visual connection to the
surrounding context.

176 REFUGIUM

177 LIFE IN MOTION

VERTICAL FARM
KASHGAR, CHINA:
39° 28′ 0″ N, 75° 59′ 0″ E
Kashgar, also spelled Kaxgar, in an oasis
city in Region of Xinjiang, far western China.
Its has been strategically important
trade center on the Silk Road between
China, the Middle East, and Europe.
In this highly fertile oasis, people live
mostly from agriculture growing wheat,
corn (maize), barley, rice, beans, and a
great deal of cotton. It is known for its
melons, grapes, peaches, apricots and
cherries. The inhabitants also engage in
a variety of handicrafts; both cotton and
silk textiles are produced, together with
felts, rugs, furs, leather and pottery.
178 REFUGIUM
Kashgar’s Sunday market is renowned
as the biggest market in central Asia. The
market is open every day but Sunday is
the largest. The town also has livestock
markets and bazaars, where variety of
crafts is sold. Since 2010 the area is classified
as a special economic zone.
Being an oasis in the desert with it’s
rich multicultural and historical background,
Kahsgar is strategically chosen
as a supporting point of the line. Vertical
hydroponics farming and its new
technologies implemented in Refugium
could contribute to the already existing
agricultural way of life, benefiting, on the
other side, refugees in food supply. Local
farmers and artisans would have a possibility
of exporting their products globally
by virtue of the mag-lev train network
contributing to the region’s economy.
Substituting current railway with the
new system will erase the division of the
town created by the former and spark
a creation of public spaces and market
squares, vital of the town’s economy and
identity.

VERTICAL FOREST
WALKWAYS
HYDROPONICS
HYDROPHONICE SYSTEM DIA-
GRAM
FOOD STORAGE
Green sky corridors
179 LIFE IN MOTION
Activation of
Public Space
VERTICAL FARMING- Vertical farming can be utilized to
feed both the people of Refugium and as an activator
of social spaces exterior-ally, such as within the market
setting of Kashgar.

180 REFUGIUM

181 LIFE IN MOTION

MUSEUM AND SOLAR
FARMS OF AGDAM:
39°59′35″N 46°55′50″E
The name Agdam is of Azerbaijan origin
and means “white house”, where ağ
means “white” and dam is “house” or
“attic”, thus referring to a “bright sun-lit,
white house”. Founded in the early 19th
century, it grew considerably during the
Soviet period and had 28,000 inhabitants
by 1989. In the war of 1993 the city was
destroyed, but more damage occurred in
the following years when locals looted the
abandoned town for building materials.
The city is now entirely abandoned and
has been burnt to the ground leaving little
more than the charred ruins of this once
bustling area.
182 REFUGIUM
Refugium in this contest becomes an
interactive museum exposing the layers
of the lost city within itself. This new city
of Refugium sits atop the site of Agdam
building up yet another layer of history
upon the soil. The standard composition
of a museum is inverted. Where traditionally
interior spaces house the exhibitions
and exterior space is used for reflection,
the system here is polarized. Exterior
space becomes that of exhibition, walking
through a cloud of memory boxes, offering
a glimpse into the lives of those that
have passed through before. The interior
spaces are created through vertical towers,
Contemplation Funnels, allowing for
moments of reflection and solitude within
this scarred landscape.

PHOTO-VOLTAIC
COVERING
MEMORY
BOXES
MEMORY BOXES- Lost but never forgotten, this living
exhibition is a space within which refugees can engage,
creating personal deposits of their memories, allowing
them to serve as a symbol of remembrance.
183 LIFE IN MOTION
CONTEMPLATION
FUNNELS
RUINS OF
AGDAM

184 REFUGIUM

Fleeing from Agdam, May 1993
Photo by Oleg Litvin
Fleeing from death,
But leaving behind our lives.
Fleeing from our past,
But leaving behind our future.
Fleeing our homes,
Running towards Hope.
But there was no time
To carry such an extra burden
in the stampede.
So we rid ourselves of
The heavy burden of Hope
Just as we had rid ourselves
Of the other things we couldn’t take
Our cemeteries,
Our homes and hearths,
Our trees and flowers.
Fleeing . . .
There was fear, blood and death
behind us.
But there was nothingness in front -
Not even time.
Running towards emptiness, void,
and timelessness.
Somewhere inside our brains and hearts,
In the hidden depths of our souls,
We felt that this fleeing
Was even more horrible
Than remaining where we were.
But there was no way out:
We were fleeing even from God.
185 LIFE IN MOTION
From now on,
Wherever we go
We will be strangers,
We will be guests,
We will be wanderers
in an alien place.
And though none of us is
an ordinary human being,
We share a common name -
“Refugee.”
Who can dare comprehend
Our unfathomable pain?

REVIVAL OF THE
ARAL SEA:
45°N 60°E
186 REFUGIUM
The Aral Sea used to be the fourth-largest
inland water body in the world. In 1960s
Soviet government introduced big irrigation
projects that consisted of diverting the
two rivers that fed the lake which caused its
drastic shrinking.
The fishing industry which in its heyday
had employed some 40,000 and produced
one-sixth of the Soviet Union’s entire fish
catch, has been devastated, and former
fishing towns along the original shores
have become ship graveyards. This brought
unemployment and economic hardship,
making the inhabitants of the former sea
into climatic refugees. The ecosystems of
the Aral Sea and the river deltas feeding
into it have been nearly destroyed and
it has been known as one of the biggest
environmental disasters.
The idea behind this contextual point
is based on contributing the efforts of
reviving the sea and nurturing its weak
ecosystem. It consists of elements for water
extraction and treatment: the structure
that extracts water from deep layers of the
ground connecting with flows of rivers that
used to fill the lake; desalination plant controlling
the salinity, since high concentration
of salts was one of the main obstacles
for re-establishing healthy ecosystem.
The structure is covered with fog catching
mesh,also creating water.
The Fish Nursery is introduced in order to
protect recovering species from pollution
and potential predators, uncovering the
memory of the humans dependence on the
sea and its resources. This reinvigoration of
the natural systems will undoubtedly bring
with it human life back to the shores ghost
towns.

Salmo trutta aralensis
Carassius carassius gibelio
Barbus capito conocephalus
Pungitius platygaster aralensis
Stizostedion lucioperca
Salmo trutta aralensis
Neogobius fluviatilis pallasi
Channa argus
Salmo trutta aralensis
WATER PRODUCTION - Reaching out from the existing banks of the
Aral Sea, the water is brought back to this arid landscape utilizing both
mist collection and deep soil pumps to regenerate the water. This in
turn will aid to bring back the dead villages along the coast and repopulate
fish species.
187 LIFE IN MOTION
Automated fish farming

188 REFUGIUM

189 LIFE IN MOTION

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191 LIFE IN MOTION

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193 DANGEROUS JOURNEY

194 REFUGIUM

REFUGIUM

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198 REFUGIUM
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LIST OF USED IMAGES:
pages 12, 13: https://cdn.weekendcollective.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/150108-editorial1.jpg
page 69: http://media.gettyimages.com/photos/world-war-two-allied-nations-18th-may-1940-london-england-betty-malek-picture-id79667624?s=594x594
pages 58, 59: http://d2nj4n4ep9vg2s.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/RF16886_High_res.jpg
page 69: https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2012/08/13/syria_crisis_refugees_attack_jordanian_police_at_refugee_camp.html
page 69: http://www.huffingtonpost.es/2015/07/18/nina-refugiada-insulina_n_7824866.html
page 72: http://www.lifegate.it/app/uploads/Jason_deCaires_Taylor_sculpture-4925.jpg
page 75: http://lh4.ggpht.com/-q4ZvfB0yN3w/UPT2PXVihHI/AAAAAAAAjJE/rr1nnrzk5cc/panmunjom-0%25255B6%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800
page 76: http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/08/21/08/2B8B84FC00000578-3205724-image-a-3_1440141217771.jpg
page 79: https://arb.rt.com/media/pics/2016.09/original/57d4834fc36188410f8b4599.jpg
page 79: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/_tmBrDCFEuU/maxresdefault.jpg
page 80: http://s.newsweek.com/sites/www.newsweek.com/files/styles/feature/public/2016/02/12/0226borderwall01.jpg
page 89: http://cdn.mg.co.za/crop/content/images/2013/03/15/SYRIAlady2.jpg/1280x720/
page 91: http://www.unocha.org/sites/default/files/OCHA_Category/Top_Stories/i-kFZp9ZR-X2.jpg
page 92,93: http://storage0.dms.mpinteractiv.ro/media/1/186/3929/15309396/6/an-aerial-view-of-the-za-atri-refugee-camp.jpg
http://i0.wp.com/labprolib.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/15Volunteers-slide-2YVI-master1050.jpg
page 94: https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/549924c88446bc5db9c9a87ad0191b4862b1a40c/0_695_4178_2507/4178.jpg?w=700&q=55&auto=format&usm=12&fit=max&s=73616954a6afd262be19fe4ce83ae9f9
page 100,101: http://cdn-02.independent.ie/incoming/article31085734.ece/45402/AUTOCROP/w620/sahara023.jpg
page 104: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/mar/06/aziza-brahim-abbar-el-harmada-review-songs-of-exile-sahrawi#img-1
page 111: http://www.worldofdante.org/gallery_dore.html
199 LIFE IN MOTION

the
go home blacks
refugees
dirty immigrants
asylum seekers
sucking our country dry
niggers with their hands out
they smell strange
savage
messed up their country and now they want
to mess ours up
how do the words
the dirty looks
roll off your backs
maybe because the blow is softer
than a limb torn off
or the words are more tender
than fourteen men between
your legs
or the insults are easier
to swallow
than rubble
than bone
than your child body
in pieces.
i want to go home,
but home is the mouth of a shark
home is the barrel of the gun
and no one would leave home
unless home chased you to the shore
unless home told you
to quicken your legs
leave your clothes behind
crawl through the desert
wade through the oceans
drown
save
be hunger
beg
forget pride
your survival is more important
no one leaves home until home is a sweaty voice in your ear
sayingleave,
run away from me now
i dont know what i’ve become
but i know that anywhere
is safer than here.