In February this year, The Guardian published an archival photo taken eleven years ago by the renowned photojournalist Rodi Said/Reuters. It carries the same narrative as photos taken today in any of the world’s conflict zones – Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan.
It shows a Yazidi [Kurdish] mother, traversing a vast landscape of hot sand, carrying a small child, with two others walking each side of her. Exhaustion, thirst and heat-stress are evident. Behind them come more mothers with children, reported as fleeing Islamic State [ISIL] violence near the Syria-Iraq border in 2014.
The mother’s expression shows resignation and courage. The older of the walking children stares down with a stoic countenance. The third walks with her eyes half closed and arms limp.
This year celebrates the 25th anniversary of the publication of my novel Skyline which is dedicated to child victims of war.
A quote by Princess, one of the characters, seems fitting: “And many people they die because there is no water and the sun crack their skin and the feet swells up … There is no place for these many peoples …They just live in the refugee camps with the scorpions… Now she move, this woman, like the wind, she move down, away from her country… Like us too, moving from our country. You know the wind? It can carry nothing. Just some bit of paper with address or some name.”
What became of this Yazidi mother and her children, who had absolutely nothing with them, not even a bottle of water? Is this merciless image all that remains of them?
—————————–
Image: Kurdish Refugees MotionAge Designs based on photograph by Rodi Said/Reuters