Abstract
This article studies the depiction of the global migration crisis of 2015 in Chinese artist/activist Ai Weiwei’s documentary film Human Flow, released in 2017, which documents the Rohingyas, Syrians, and Afghanis to name a few. The paper demonstrates the use of the art of documentary film as a means of activism. In this effort, the narrative of the film addresses issues that are also targeted by other migration activists and experts. This article compares the themes contained in the film with the themes present in the wider migration activism to determine where there is convergence. The article explores the insufficient/failed responses to the crisis and potential solutions, while also revisiting the concept of human rights, and the definition of the term ‘refugee.’ Human Flow is unique in its approach both as an art form and an activism tool in its depiction of the migration crisis. The author argues that refugees are facing the brunt of a “globalization of indifference,” a “barbed-wire mentality,” and a “crisis of solidarity” among the wealthy nations of the global north.
Keywords: Art Activism, Documentary Film, Migration Crisis, Refugees, Humanitarianism
The migration crisis of 2015 displaced over 65 million people due to climate change, war, and fear of political persecution (UNHCR 2016, 2). The 140-minute documentary film, Human Flow, released in 2017, uses this statistic powerfully: it shows a visual of this number through footage of the people who make up the statistic that has been cited across activism, media, and literature. Much of the film is shot from above to display hordes of people walking, seemingly with no destination in sight. From above, the viewer sees an expanse of refugee camps with flimsy white coverings that are their shelter. The migration crisis generated debate in the public and private spheres, in media, research, and even political campaigns. Within the debate, activism addresses the crisis by advocating for the safety and well-being of refugees and other displaced peoples. Activism can, of course, take different forms such as protests (peaceful, legal, or otherwise), as well as fundraisers. Although Human Flow follows the traditional documentary approach to inform and educate, it is unique in its cinematography and the use of migrant voices. The film was screened at prominent events such as the 74th annual Venice Film Festival in 2017 and was even shortlisted for an Oscar in 2018.
This paper offers a qualitative analysis of the resulting humanitarian crisis by reviewing Human Flow as a form of activism, and by comparing its narrative to other discussions and portrayals of the crisis in other forms of activism in the media and by experts. Two prominent topics that emerge from the migration crisis are human rights and collective or shared responsibility. Human Flow brings both the issues to the forefront in a unique manner. Specific scenes from the film depict the refugee experience such as the lack of basic necessities of food, shelter, healthcare, as well as education and mobility rights. The film is still fairly new and has not been fully discussed in the scholarly literature. However, the issues raised in the film are heavily debated in academia. This paper interrogates the representation of the migration crisis in Human Flow, and how the issues the film raises are discussed in the media, governmental policies, activism, and academic literature. It explores a slew of potential solutions offered in these sources to see if there is convergence between activists, politicians, and researchers on how to solve the crisis.
Sociology, in general, is concerned with human social relationships, institutions, social conflict, and stability. In studying the sociology of immigration, scholars not only consider theoretical and empirical research on how and why people migrate across international borders, and the consequences of international migration for immigrants and natives in the host countries, but they also frame the discussion in terms of multiculturalism, social cohesion, and belonging. Immigration sociology also encompasses other sociological theories including economic sociology and political sociology that serve as tools to evaluate immigration policies. According to Anthony Richmond, “Sociological theories of international migration (including refugees) should be capable of explaining the scale, direction and composition of population movements that cross state boundaries, the factors which determine the decision to move, and the choice of destination, the characteristic modes of social integration” (1988, 7). Human Flow certainly describes the scale of the crisis and the composition of the migrant population as well as exposes their decision to move.
Not only does social conflict drive people to emigrate from a country; it can also occur when the migrant arrives in a new country. Such a phenomenon has been analyzed in sociology since at least the 1970s, but the most recent migration crisis exposes the insufficient explanations for the social and political response to refugees. Migration sociology has increasingly addressed and distinguished immigration from the forced migration of refugees. The Oxford Handbook series has a specific book on refugees and forced migration whose latest publication dedicates its seventh chapter to the sociology of forced migration. This chapter explores issues that appear in Human Flow and other migration activism such as labels and categorization, which have become normalized and tend to objectify and reduce people to terms such as refugee, migrant, or displaced person (Stepputat & Nyberg Sørensen 2014, 89). It is worth mentioning that this study was published in 2014, the year before the migration crisis of 2015. Since then, due to inadequate/insufficient governmental policies as well as expert knowledge on the topic, activism has become a significant avenue for the refugee cause.
Activism sociology initially emerged due, in part, to such situations of mass populations of refugees being introduced into new societies and having their rights infringed upon. Pertinently, collective action and social movements need to include not only refugees but also members of the host community who show support and solidarity with the refugees. Peter Millward and Shaminder Takhar emphasize the importance of emotion in collective action, which the film Human Flow elicits. The authors also refer to activism being concerned with equality, justice, and inclusion. These three activist concepts need to be extended to the refugee cause as they may not be treated equally, or with justice, and are excluded from having access to many rights and freedoms (2019, 5), which the film also depicts.
Art, long considered a form of activism, encompasses documentary film, and thus documentary film can be considered activism and more specifically a form of art activism. The director of Human Flow, Ai Weiwei, fits the paradigm, not only being an artist by trade but also a child refugee who was born in 1957 in China, the year the Chinese Communist Party purged more than 300,000 intellectuals, including writers, teachers, journalists, and others that dared to criticize the newly established communist government (Ai 2018). Under the anti-rightist movement, intellectuals were sent to labor camps for “re-education.” In an article, Ai explains, “Because my father, Ai Qing, was the most renowned poet in China then, the government made a symbolic example of him. In 1958, my family was forced from our home in Beijing and banished to the most remote area of the country—we had no idea that this was the beginning of a very dark, long journey that would last for two decades.” Ai writes that his father was sentenced to hard labor cleaning latrines in a work camp in north-west China, and that he was forced to criticize himself publicly. He adds, “From my youth, I experienced inhumane treatment from society. At the camp we had to live in an underground dugout and were subjected to unexplainable hatred, discrimination, unprovoked insults and assaults, all of which aimed to crush the basic human spirit rooted in my father’s beliefs.” Further, “As a result, I remember experiencing what felt like endless injustice. In such circumstances, there is no place to hide and there is no way to escape. You feel like your life is up against a wall, or that life itself is a dimming light, on the verge of being completely extinguished. Coping with the humiliation and suffering became the only way to survive.”
Ai Weiwei currently lives in Portugal, frequently visits Cambridge in the UK, and works in Berlin. In addition to being an artist, he now identifies as an activist that has created many pieces of art depicting human rights violations. For example, before the film was released, he created an art installation, in early 2016, composed of 14,000 life jackets that were abandoned by refugees after crossing the Mediterranean Sea and landing in Greece (Said-Moorhouse 2016). However, a film of this caliber is unique. It shows that activism cannot exist in its truest form without empathy: one reason art can be employed as a form of activism is that it can invoke empathetic feelings. Art as activism is not an entirely new concept. However, Michael Shank argues, social justice movements are beginning to be defined by emotions and feelings, which art activism is particularly well suited for (2004, 533).
Generally created to inform, educate, raise awareness, advocate, or persuade a larger audience on the subject at hand, documentary film is also considered an art form as it includes visual images and sound that infuse it with cultural and aesthetic value. Human Flow uses silent narration to move the film along with various poems, scenic imagery of an open sky, or land in the background, statistics on the number of migrants, the conflicts in countries they are coming from, significant dates, and news headlines scrolling along the bottom of the screen. When a different camp is shown, the city and country names are displayed to indicate a location change. Scenes show refugees arriving by sea, the conditions in the camps, and their journeys overland by foot to a new destination. The film incorporates artistic elements such as a consistent soundtrack of wind, rain, rushing water as people cross a river, and their coughing, chattering, crying, screaming, and laughing. Within the first five minutes of the film, the camera focuses on one migrant covered in blankets, sniffling: he is offered hot tea and made to sit near a fire. He is interviewed and the first thing he is asked is his name (Ai, Yap, Decker, and Cohen 2017, 0:04:32).
Migration activism, for the purposes of this essay, denotes an effort to campaign on behalf of refugees in order to effect positive social and political change. In this way, Human Flow is not only a participant in migration activism, but the film’s depiction of the migrants’ real-life situation in real-time contributes to migration research and to public debates centering around how migrants are perceived, received, and supported by society. Although the film does not have a voice-over narration, the production notes made available on the film’s website specify what the film intended to portray and what it wanted the audience to learn from it. For example, the notes detail how the film “allows each viewer to consider what it’s like to live life at its most vulnerable—and to ponder what we owe to one another” (Cowal & Ayers 2017, 3).
Idomeni Camp, Greece, March 2016. Photo by the courtesy of Ai Weiwei, Human Flow. http://www.humanflow.com/gallery/
Since the “refugee” crisis began in 2015, it has been widely covered in the media. It is difficult to imagine that people were unaware of the humanitarian crisis. The problem, then, was not just that people were not seeking out information on the crisis, but that they were actively avoiding it since it was widely reported in its humanitarian, political, and economic dimensions. This is described in the film’s production notes where one of the producers argues, “This is the biggest subject of our times. The reasons for this human flow have been building but now we see it all very clearly in front of us with more people on the move and more people dying trying to get to safety. This is not a topic you can turn away from. Even if you try to turn away, it will still be there and we’ll have to deal with it” (Cowal & Ayers, 4).
Human Flow’s focus on the conditions at the borders and in the camps is an appeal to spread the message of the migrants’ plight specifically. The focus is on the basic necessities not being met, rights being infringed upon, as well as a need to properly define the situation and the group of people involved in the crisis. The next section explores how the film portrays these issues by referencing specific scenes. In addition, the article discusses Ted Talks on these topics in order to compare the narratives in these sources of information and activism.
Through its focus on the migration crisis on a global scale, Human Flow portrays camps in twenty-three countries in Asia, Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. The fact that the film covers a number of countries already marks a different approach from the media portrayals which often focus just on the Middle East or on Syria in particular. After watching the film and identifying certain themes, the author reviewed media and academic articles on the subject, and collected sources with similar themes and theories that emerged to evaluate convergence on the narrative. The study used content analysis to identify key concepts that appear across the data collection. Further, the author employed grounded theory with discourse analysis as she did not know if, or the extent to which, the film related to other activism and expertise on the topic of migration, particularly with reference to human rights issues of this group. The volume of literature on the subject and the themes identified in the film were plentiful. To decide when to stop collecting data, the goal was to find three to five related sources on the topic and connect them. The media articles selected were within the past three to five years, from the time the migration crisis started in 2015 to the release of the film in 2017 when mass media coverage peaked and fell. There was no shortage of news articles on the topic of the migration crisis. In order to collect articles, the author reviewed Google news and looked for headlines with such keywords as “migration,” “refugee,” “crisis,” “myth,” “human rights,” and “activism.” In addition, she searched these keywords on specific news websites as The Guardian and The New York Times which reported on the crisis every day.
Some articles found in the search ranged from discussions of various government responses and public responses to the “refugee” crisis as well as myths about the crisis, how to help, policy commentary, and personal refugee stories. The goal or expectation of this study was to find more sources on treating the migration crisis as a human issue rather than an economic one. The author, however, found this aspect lacking in academic discussions. In this sense, there is a large discrepancy between activism and academia. The gap is important to address particularly because governmental policies, which are influenced by activism and the public, are also responsive to academic and expert knowledge (Van Hear 2011, 15).
This article also uses six presentations from Ted Talks, a non-profit, nonpartisan organization, as the main comparison since they are presented by both experts and/or activists. The author chose Ted Talks as a source since their mission complements the purpose of Human Flow. Their website describes TED as “… a global community, welcoming people from every discipline and culture who seek a deeper understanding of the world. We believe passionately in the power of ideas to change attitudes, lives and, ultimately, the world” (TED, n.d.). For instance, some of the talks are presented by people like the president of the International Rescue Committee, a representative from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and the UN Secretary General. They discuss human rights violations as well as the failed policies, especially of the European Union, and some myths surrounding the migrant crisis. Some of the activists referred to in this paper were former refugees themselves such as Ai Weiwei, or had parents or grandparents who were refugees especially after the Second World War. Most of them were middle-aged and were of a different ethnicity than the group they were advocating for. In addition, most of them worked on the frontlines, on the borders, in refugee camps, or with refugees in the receiving countries. Many of the experts and activists did not refer to Africa or the Middle East as a whole but to specific, individual countries such as Afghanistan, Nigeria, Honduras, etc.
In her Ted Talk, immigrants’ rights attorney Melanie Nezer provides a breakdown of three options that refugees have when trying to escape conflict. The first is encampment (2019), which is the setting of Human Flow. Nezer quotes a stay of five years in camps, which is lower compared to other activists who believe it was at least a decade (Miliband 2017), or seventeen years (Fleming 2014). Human Flow interviews Princess Dana Firas of Jordan who believes the stay was twenty-five years (Ai, 0:36:15). The second option for refugees, according to Nezer, is “urban destitution areas” in cities where they arrive, which are characterized by high poverty, high crime, and low employment and, therefore, the issue is that they cannot work (2019). The third option is a “dangerous journey” wherein refugees risk their lives to go to another country (Ibid.). The journey is dangerous in what they have to overcome to reach another country including crossing an ocean in a fragile boat and, once they arrive in the next country, they may not be allowed to cross the border as showcased in Human Flow. The following discussion compares depictions in the film to media portrayals by analyzing three scenes from the film, which draw attention to major issues surrounding the crisis, namely lack of access to basic necessities, limitations on mobility rights, and how to define a “refugee.”
First, the film makes it evident that refugees were not receiving basic necessities as they burned dry grass to make fire to cook or to stay warm, and lined up for hours to get a cup of soup. In a clip depicting a doctor’s visit, Dr. Cem Terzi, who works with the Association of Bridging Peoples, criticizes the lack of care for a child born in the camp who did not get vaccinations. The doctor further explains that people had to walk one kilometre to get water and describes the hygiene situation as “very bad” (Ai, 1:09:00). He raises other issues, foremost among which is that refugees needed jobs to pay for rent and food, and children needed an education as the majority had not attended even one day of school in five years, as well as the lack of social integration (Ibid.). In regard to educating refugees, in her Ted Talk, Melissa Fleming, Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications at the United Nations, claims that children want an education and “a place for healing, learning and opportunity is desired” (2014). She relates a revealing story: when she asked refugees what they take with them when they are fleeing, a young male said he took his high school diploma (Ibid.).
Border Guards, Hungary, March 2016. Photo by the courtesy of Ai Weiwei, Human Flow. http://www.humanflow.com/gallery/
Second, the film, set in various refugee camps built at the borders of countries that refugees are denied entry into, depicts the limitation of a significant human right, the freedom of movement. According to the film’s production notes, in 2016, there were 70 countries with bordered crossings, including Balkan states which implemented guards and fences in response to the humanitarian crisis (Cowal & Ayers 2017, 6). Mobility rights provide the ability for one to move freely within and between countries, but once citizens leave their home countries, these rights become limited as they are disallowed from entering another country. Consequently, camps are set up in the border regions. In a scene depicting the limitation on mobility rights, Ai Weiwei is filmed switching passports with a Syrian refugee and wondering how different their lives would be if they each had the other’s travel documents (0:50:47). This role-playing scene, lasting a minute, is presented in a light-hearted manner, but sheds light on how people are in the situations they are in due to a piece of paper. The scene ends with Ai Weiwei and the Syrian refugee genuinely thanking each other and declaring that they respect each other.
In contrast, there is a lack of empathy in policies which is apparent when migrants are forced to make the decision to flee, and to explicitly state that they will not return to their homeland (Nassar and Hamou 2019). To force someone to make that kind of decision at any point of their lives is not something that should so easily be enforced. It is difficult to imagine that someone could confidently and happily make that decision. In Germany, for example, the media and government officials, such as the German Interior Minister, were concerned about refugees visiting Syria and proposed withdrawing asylum or deporting them if they returned to their country (Ibid.). When fleeing, refugees essentially must declare their exit is a matter of life and death. In some cases, migrants may want to go as far away from the conflict as possible and not settle close by because surrounding areas have their own civil unrest that may erupt at any time. However, most migrants, from Syria, for example, did stay in neighboring countries such as Jordan and Turkey. An article by Stephanie Schwartz in Foreign Policy warns of policies that allow, or even encourage, displaced populations to return home as historically those returning may face violent backlash (2019). She argues, “Repatriating refugees to dangerous countries violates international law and breeds conflict, instability, and future crises” (Ibid.). Moreover, when one reads articles in the newspaper exposing the EU for paying other countries such as Turkey, Libya and Sudan to house migrants so they do not cross into European borders (Malik 2019), one does not get a sense of humanity from the organizations and governments towards refugees that Human Flow tries to invoke. The production notes of Human Flow offer a strong example of its activism in the way the film challenges current governmental policies when the notes describe how the film in general is meant to serve as “... a reminder that only the good fortune of being born in a peaceful country stands between the viewers and the refugees we meet on the journey” (Cowal & Ayers, 4).
An important aspect of mobility rights is the right to seek asylum. In her Ted Talk Melanie Nezer differentiates between refugees and asylum seekers, arguing that it is “illegal to say we are full and cannot accept any more people” (2019). Human Flow shows the opposite happening in reality, and calls attention to how various governments are not upholding the law in this sense. This segues to the third major theme in migration activism: the debate on the need to differentiate between refugees and asylum seekers and economic migrants, which appears in the media and academic literature. A scene in Human Flow depicts a Rohingya community leader in an emotional state expressing how he is aware of the various derogatory names that the people in his community are called such as “stateless people,” “boat people,” or “drifters” (Ai, 0:19:07). He clarifies that they have emotions and are human “too” (Ibid.).
In his article, Thomas Faist addresses this issue of “moral polity” by asking: “How can we (de)construct political perceptions around forced migration which lead to categorizations that exclude migrants from living in safety?” (2018, 413). He makes the important point that “one cannot justify research into situations of extreme human suffering if one does not have the suffering as an explicit focus of one’s research” (Ibid.). These questions are often overlooked as researchers arguably focus on economics to the neglect of human suffering. These issues are misappropriated in activism to make refugees look like victims when they can also be agents. Faist’s article wonders “whether there is a creative opening in escaping inequality-producing categorizations of forced migration?” (Ibid.). Human Flow seems to provide a way in its depictions of very human stories: brothers distraught over being separated from each other, children crying as well as children playing. When watching these scenes one should not consider if these individuals are economic migrants pretending to be refugees to gain access to Europe.
The importance of categories and definitions is signposted in Crawley and Skleparis’ warning: “Taking the dominant categories as the basis of our analytical approach can limit our understanding of migration and make us potentially complicit in a political process which has, over recent years, stigmatised, vilified and undermined the rights of refugees and migrants in Europe” (2018, 50). Distinguishing between “migrants” and “refugees” is important in order to understand their “decision” to leave their home country. The definition of refugee, still being used today, was first determined in the 1951 Refugee Convention as a result of the lack of response to the plight of Jews during and after the Second World War. At the very least if the term refugee, as defined in the convention, is going to be the standard then it should be honored, as Faist asserts (421).
In his Ted Talk, David Miliband, former British Foreign Secretary and current president and chief executive officer of the International Rescue Committee, makes the important distinction that these are not people seeking a better life but “fleeing for their lives” (2017). Karen Musalo, in her book chapter, describes the significance of the link between defining a refugee and expert testimony in the context of African asylum proceedings (2015). More specifically, her article addresses the question of “how shifting elements of eligibility affect the nature and focus of expert testimony in asylum proceedings” (Ibid.). To be clear, the author explains that as the burden of proof is actually on refugees, there is consequently a need for an expert opinion to help justify their status (Ibid.).
Not only have activists and academics raised this issue, the media has also weighed in on the debate. For example, a newspaper article in The Independent entitled, “Don’t call it the ‘refugee crisis’, it’s a humanitarian issue—failing to recognise that creates even more suffering,” argues that language matters and thus calling it a “refugee” crisis rather than humanitarian issue does not do it justice. For this reason, the article emphasizes the importance and necessity of not just differentiating between “migrant” and “refugee,” but actually refers to the crisis as a “humanitarian crisis,” which is rarely used to describe the situation (Ellis 2019). The article argues that even if the number of arrivals decrease, the actual conditions for refugees are still in crisis-mode as the physical and mental state of refugees puts them at risk (Ibid.).
Nizip Camp, Gaziantep, Turkey, March 2016. Photo by the courtesy of Ai Weiwei, Human Flow. http://www.humanflow.com/gallery/
There are, thus, two aspects of the definition debate. First, whether the migrant is a refugee or not and, second, if they are being protected as such. The film alludes to the definition issue by using the definition of a refugee as cited in the 1951 Convention (Ai, 0:08:41), and its production notes include a comment by one of the producers, Chin-chin Yap, who argues, “There are also too many popular misconceptions about refugees that continue to frustrate clear long-term policies and planning” (17). It is worth noting that this convention is mentioned in almost every single talk or paper on the topic of refugees. It does not seem likely that any definition that can be agreed upon will fully encapsulate what the real-life experience of these people is. As the clip of the Rohingya community leader described earlier shows, any such definition does not matter; the only word that should describe them is “human.”
Ai Weiwei’s film depicts very human stories that are meant to invoke a sense of duty to act or, at least, a responsibility to care. Some questions to consider when evaluating responses to the crisis are: In what way is mass migration and the global “refugee” crisis a human issue rather than an economic one? What are activists advocating for? And, do they agree? This section evaluates the responses, or lack thereof, of the public, the media, and governments.
During the crisis, new information became public almost every day with various European governments introducing legislation to block the entry of refugees whose numbers increased, or decreased, due to different countries’ responses. Some coverage depicted that refugees were educated in an effort to convince the public that refugees would become contributing members of the host society. The crisis, however, is ultimately a human issue and should not be treated as an economic one. By focusing on the latter, people were not motivated to act. More and more personal success stories were included in media portrayals, but it is difficult to determine if they would have an effect because personal success stories may be viewed as outliers or exceptions. Social justice activist and storyteller Sisonke Msimang, explains in her Ted Talk entitled, “If a story moves you, act on it,” that people were “… drawn to likable, human characters but if you don’t like them then you don’t see a moral reason to help them” (2016). It is not difficult to relate Msimang’s argument to the migration crisis based on the discrimination refugees face as they enter new societies and become victims of hate crime and the like. This raises the question of whether refugees’ stories move people or whether they possess limited power. For example, there was a strong reaction to the picture of a lifeless three-year-old Syrian child, Alan Kurdi, whose body washed up on shore (Betts 2016). However, as Msimang notes, people become “invested in personal narrative but do not link to bigger picture of ‘oppression’ or ‘discrimination’” (2016).
In this way, quality and quantity are two important considerations. During the migrant crisis, there was at least one article on refugees every day, sometimes on the frontpage in newspapers across the globe. Readers getting their information from these sources on a consistent basis may become apathetic as they are regularly inundated with these sad stories. However, the lack of social and appropriate political response cannot be attributed to the quantity of exposure, rather it may be one of quality. It is beyond the scope of this paper to examine media influence on the wider public, but it is clear that there is a need for more films like Human Flow to appeal to the human side of the crisis. To this end, it is unfair to expect the media to make emotional pleas for help in the crisis in the same way that a documentary film can.
To this point, Msimang makes the important argument that we “value what we feel rather than what we know” (Ibid.). This seems increasingly apparent in a world where, although most of us have access to Google, we are inundated with “alternative facts” and choose to believe things about other groups that do not have a strong basis. Msimang also warns about the declining influence of the media. She provides statistics for declining confidence in media, stating that “10% of young people place ‘a lot of trust’ in media,” and that “stories [are] replacing news” (Ibid.). For her, a solution must appeal to a sense of justice as “justice makes the world a better place,” and audiences can make the world a better place by “... being curious and skeptical, learn social context. Recognize storytelling is intellectual work. Demand more engagement with stories and engage with storyteller. Go into the real world and get off phones” (Ibid.). Ai Weiwei certainly takes this stance as he professes that his initial curiosity about the large numbers of people arriving in Lesbos led him to create the film (Cowal & Ayers, 10).
Besides documenting the actual experiences of refugees in the camps around the world, the film is critical of the response of the government and citizens even though that is not the focus of the film. On the failure to adequately respond, social scientist Alexander Betts’ Ted Talk entitled, “Our Refugee System is failing, here’s how we can fix it,” warns against several inconsistencies and contradictions in policies on shared responsibility, the concept of seeking asylum, labor shortages and liberal values (2016). For example, shared responsibility is not as equal as it connotes because countries geographically closer to conflicts bear more responsibility for refugees who enter their countries first. In terms of policy on asylum seekers, Betts, a professor of Forced Migration and International Affairs at the University of Oxford, explains that policies that require those fleeing to embark on spontaneous, dangerous journeys in order to be considered refugees or asylum seekers when other travel modes such as budget airlines has led to “tragedy” and “chaos.” Further, the existence of labor shortages in host countries generates the mistaken belief that refugees cannot be a resource and solution to this problem. Lastly, liberal values are not upheld during a crisis which is shown in the processes and treatment of dealing with refugees, which includes repressive policies that justify children being separated from their families.
This sentiment is echoed by David Miliband who states, “It’s not just a crisis. It is a test of who we are and what we stand for” (2017). Furthermore, arguing that we all have a personal responsibility to solve the crisis, he discusses the need to turn empathy and altruism into action (Ibid.). Even though Miliband refers to such countries as Afghanistan and Nigeria in his talk, his motivation seems to come from the fact that he relates the experience to that of his Polish parents who were refugees during the Second World War (Ibid.).
The myths about refugees and their struggles fuel a misperception that may lead people to not act. If people are not aware of a particular situation, or they lack an understanding or misperceive it, then they will not be likely to act in a positive manner. It is, therefore, essential to address the myths around mass migration and refugees. In an article in The Guardian, Daniel Trilling lists five myths he believes shape policy and public opinion (2018). The first myth is that the crisis is over because it is not in the news as much and that the number of arrivals has decreased since 2016 (Ibid.). This is particularly important to address because if people think the crisis is over then they will stop talking about it. Human Flow shows very clearly that this is far from the truth. The other four myths, addressed in both the film and in Ted Talks, surrounds the difficulty of being able to neatly separate refugees from economic migrants, that telling human stories is enough to change people’s minds, that the crisis is a threat to European values, and that history is repeating itself and there is nothing we can do about it.
Even when there has been a response to the crisis it has been inadequate. It is difficult to watch Human Flow and argue that such a human tragedy could happen if there was an adequate response by governments. Fleming’s Ted Talk addresses the insufficient and inappropriate response to the crisis. Most importantly, she argues that “no one fleeing war and persecution should arrive at a closed border” (2014). The fact of the matter is that people are certainly being denied entry at the border, as described in Human Flow. Oftentimes, people feel they can only help if they donate money, however, other solutions exist and were proposed decades ago. For example, Gil Loescher’s 1993 book, Beyond Charity, argues for the need for a different solution, namely global cooperation. Despite not taking a strong stance on solutions, Human Flow does speak out for the necessity of global cooperation.
The need for global cooperation and shared, collective responsibility is a common theme in most literature and activism on the migration crisis. The former Secretary-General of the UN, Antonio Guterres, argues in his Ted Talk entitled, “Refugees have the right to be protected,” that countries at the “entry point” need to be supported because that is where the pressure is (2019). As a viable solution Guterres suggests “... multilateral cooperation is essential…” as well as flexibility by international financial institutions in order “to be able to invest more massively in support to these countries” (Ibid.). Furthermore, Guterres warns of the consequences of closing borders, arguing it will assist in terrorist recruitment as people will believe the “propaganda” that the world is against them is correct (Ibid.). This is also discussed in Human Flow in an interview with Maha Yahya, Acting Director of Carnegie Middle East Center, who explains the threat of radicalization in these camps, particularly for young men after they have experienced such trauma and want to fight to “... seek revenge for horrors they have lived through” (Ai, 01:18:00).
In terms of the number of refugees that should be accepted, Guterres addresses the “... false idea that Europe was being invaded and our way of life is going to change …”, and believes the scale of the crisis can be controlled, properly managed and distributed (Ibid). Noting that most refugees are in the developing world, Guterres presents a similar argument that is described in Human Flow, stating refugees have the right to be protected and that we cannot put a number on how many refugees countries can take and instead what we should ask is “…how can we organize ourselves to assume our international responsibilities?’” (Ibid.). Moreover, he asserts that Europe is too divided on how to address the influx of refugees and there is no solidarity (Ibid.). This was an on-going and important barrier to managing the crisis.
Guterres addresses the issue of social cohesion, which is, besides the economic argument, the second biggest reason people are against refugee settlement as they see it as a threat to their society and values. Human Flow tries to dispel this myth by showing that people simply want shelter and a chance to live, not to force themselves on another society. When asked which country was doing a good job handling the crisis, Guterres referenced Ethiopia and their “people to people policy,” which “does not deny any refugees” (Ibid.). This is an example of how people can integrate and get along with the right policy, particularly one that sees people treating migrants humanely. Guterres states that “African countries are welcoming in general” (Ibid.). Moreover, he explains that “investment in social cohesion is needed which is where Europe is failing as the future is multicultural and multiethnic” (Ibid.). Interestingly, of the several Ted Talks reviewed for this article this was the only one to mention the aspect of social cohesion. The next section reviews potential solutions suggested by activists and experts.
Al Ain-Hilweh, Lebanon, September 2016. Photo by the courtesy of Ai Weiwei, Human Flow. http://www.humanflow.com/gallery/
The debate on how society should handle the crisis, and whether or not they have at all, sheds light on the idea that it is somehow ‘optional’ to address the migration crisis. So, why in some cases was the response to the crisis virtually ‘non-existent’? Generally speaking, a lack of action is related to a lack of motivation.
Historically, motivation to respond to humanitarian issues such as the migration crisis is centered around religion. Certainly, many religious groups that were once persecuted may be able to relate to the plight of this group of refugees that sought safe havens in more recent years, but ideally people would not need to exhibit anything more than a basic sense of humanity to want to help. An article in Religion and Politics addresses this connection in its discussion of the policy of “welcoming strangers” as an “act of faith” (Wecker 2019). The article describes how religious activists were helping immigrants by providing legal services along the border, raising money to help them and their families, offering sanctuary to those at risk for deportation, and by educating communities about immigration policies (Ibid.). Although it is not necessary for one to be religious to want to help, it is important to consider the opposite situation where a Christian, for example, may choose not to act because they do not want to help Muslim populations, for example, who were coming from North Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East. Since they were viewed as “different” it may have caused people to feel disconnected and not want to, or feel the need to, help them. Human Flow does not take a particularly religious stance and seems to focus on compassion based on a common sense of humanity that is secular.
It is worth mentioning that religion is included in the Geneva Convention’s definition of protected rights. However, many religious minorities have faced persecution and exclusion over generations. The Rohingyas, for example, are particularly vulnerable in this sense and have experienced a profound statelessness. There is a variety of literature on how the health of the Rohingyas, including mental health, is threatened due to their refugee status. Milton et. al. visited a registered refugee camp and conducted twenty case studies on Rohingyas and found overcrowded conditions, malnutrition, poor hygienic environment, a high rate of physical and sexual abuse, and ad-hoc access to education (2017, 5). The authors ultimately refer to a moral responsibility to resolve the issue, arguing that the involvement of the global community is imperative (Ibid., 7).
In general, people’s response, or lack thereof, to refugees particularly from Muslim countries can be attributed to an “otherness” factor. However, there is a difference between not helping, or being apathetic, and actively excluding or discriminating against a group. Both are concerns for sociologists. David Miliband refers to a “duty to strangers” and mentions Pope Francis’ accusation of a “globalization of indifference” (2017). The indifference was a large obstacle that the film tried to overcome. Whether the global migration crisis was the result of a lack of action, or insufficient action, it is clear that the policies had failed, including the Geneva Convention. More specifically, the Convention states that refugees have rights to education, and access to justice and employment, yet Human Flow shows the access is limited, if not unavailable, in refugee camps as well as in the countries they settle in. It is easy to assume that the 196 states that signed the agreement, including all UN member states, would accept the highest number of refugees. However, there is evidence that refugees were being denied entry into the countries that signed the convention, such as Hungary and Bulgaria. In fact, as documented in Faist’s article, countries that have not actually ratified the convention house the most refugees (2018, 412). The former Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, states, “Countries in the developing world—Turkey, Pakistan, Uganda, Lebanon, Iran, Bangladesh and Sudan—are host to among the largest numbers of refugees, while the prosperous nations of the global north have failed (with the exception of Germany) to share the burden fairly. This needs to change” (2018). Similarly, Fleming notes that the “vast majority of refugees are in the developing world in countries struggling with helping their own populations and poverty which wealthy countries need to recognize” (2014). Where the film differs from the media and other organizations is that it does not point fingers. It does not speculate that the global North, or developed countries, or the Western world needs to take on all the responsibility. Nor does it single out specific countries. The message is that everyone is responsible. However, it seems to be implied that some countries, while trying to do their part, cannot function without the help of other, more affluent countries.
Although the film production notes explicitly state, “Human Flow does not propose a solution. It’s not meant to be a policy-oriented film...” (Cowal & Ayers, 7), it does pose questions “... to all concerned about humanity,” such as, “how did we get to this point of so many who are not being cared for? How must the world respond? Who should come to the aid of the stateless? What are the costs of helping and of not helping? And what creative policies can halt the causes driving so many from their homes?” (5). In the production notes, Ai Weiwei addresses the need for an international community with a common goal to protect humanity (10). Moreover, he states “I think when politicians forget about essential values and human rights, they just continue making more crises. It is time for the international community to put the refugee agenda on the table and start having a very broad discussion about how to address it” (Ibid.).
The main goal of Human Flow is to cast light on the sheer scale of the crisis, its producers believing that documenting what was happening would spark a human reaction. Its powerful message for the need for collective responsibility, echoed by many activists and experts, is particularly important because governments have a responsibility to act based on societal pressure. This is described in former UN Secretary General Ban Ki- moon’s opinion piece in the New York Times where he mentions his own flight from war as a child and characterizes the migrant issue “first and foremost as a crisis of solidarity” (2018). He specifically states, “An increase in political will is urgently needed from our world leaders, as is a readiness to partner with others. This political will must be guided by an enhanced sense of our common humanity, rather than a belief in barriers and barbed wire” (Ibid.). He blames the barbed-wire mentality on the fact that “too many leaders have lacked the necessary courage to respond with generosity and support” (Ibid.). Significantly, Ban Ki-moon explains that the issue is not just a lack of action but also a response in the wrong direction, elaborating that “some leaders have gone so far as to actively encourage prejudice against refugees and migrants simply to win votes” (Ibid.).
In addition to the need for better leadership, David Miliband proposes several potential solutions to help with the migration crisis in his Ted Talk. First, he notes that economic support is needed to get refugees working, and then humanitarian aid will not be needed to the same extent even though it is needed initially for such things as rent and clothes (2017). Miliband warns that the most “controversial” aspect of migration is that the “most vulnerable need a new start in a new country including in the West” (Ibid.). Moreover, he notes that these extreme cases are not in the millions but only in the one hundred thousand (Ibid.). Miliband’s recommendations speak to individuals and to states: “If you are an employer, hire refugees; talk to friends and family about myths; if you have money donate; and as a citizen, vote for politicians who will put into practice solutions” (Ibid.). Miliband, believing these solutions are necessary, practical, and effective, provides a personal example of a farmer in Belgium who took in his mother and aunt during the Second World War (Ibid.). Miliband had the chance to meet the farmer and when asked why he helped them, he replied “one must” (Ibid.). It is important to note that people did help at their own peril, in that if they were caught helping, they would be imprisoned or killed. Nowadays, while being killed for helping refugees may not be a reality, imprisonment has increasingly been threatened for workers and volunteers for the cause. Most recently, for example, a group of 24 volunteers were detained in 2018 for assisting organized trafficking groups and are now on trial in Greece (Kirby 2023).
Kenya, August 2016. Photo by the courtesy of Ai Weiwei, Human Flow. http://www.humanflow.com/gallery/
Alexander Betts proposes a number of potential solutions for the humanitarian crisis. The first is to create a “enabling environment where refugees are treated as humans in extraordinary circumstances” (2019), strongly echoing the main narrative in Human Flow. Betts further details a specific example of the freedom of movement in Uganda which resulted in refugees actually creating jobs for host country residents (Ibid.). Since many who oppose immigration cite an economic argument, such examples can help dispel the myth that refugees are a financial burden. To this end, Betts stresses that refugees are “not inevitably dependent” as people assume, and receiving countries “must provide opportunity to flourish past the emergency phase” (Ibid.). Second, Betts discusses “economic zones” wherein host countries open their economies to refugees, and that allowing them to work in the host country actually benefits both sides as it will provide them with the ability to eventually return home with useful skills to rebuild as well (Ibid.). Third, the idea of “preference matching” asks refugees what they want, where they want to go, and also asks countries to rank types of refugees on skills and language criteria (Ibid.). He advises “quotas should be built in with diversity and vulnerability” (Ibid.). This seems to appeal to both sides as it gives them a voice and opportunity. Lastly, Betts presents the concept of “humanitarian visas,” describing the “tragedy and chaos” that had resulted due to a flaw in Europe’s asylum policy as avoidable. European policy requires that, in order to seek asylum, the arrival must be spontaneous in that they are not predictable or through standard immigration channels. Such a journey is often dangerous, as shown in Human Flow. Betts argues that such a journey is unnecessary and refugees should be able to travel directly with a humanitarian visa to an embassy or consulate and then claim refugee status (Ibid.). He explains this would be less expensive to do, and removes human smugglers from the equation (Ibid.). Betts ends his presentation with a statement that although refugees are a “humanitarian responsibility” they do not have to be a cost or burden to society, and that “they are human beings with skills, talents, aspirations, with the ability to make contributions if we let them” (Ibid.). Fleming, moreover, warns “not investing in refugees is a huge missed opportunity,” and that we are delaying peace and prosperity by ignoring them (Ibid.). This approach is further complicated by the fact that large, wide-scale support and cooperation is needed, which is even more difficult in a world where no one wants to hold the “burden” of the crisis. The crisis can be reimagined as an opportunity for populations to grow, to be introduced to new groups different than themselves that they can learn from and, of course, as people willing and able to contribute to the economy.
Human Flow attempts to show the refugees’ plight through a different visual perspective and a different narrative from the portrayal of the crisis in the popular media as well as in other forms of activism, which may reduce refugees to victims without agency. Although it does not explicitly offer a solution to the crisis, it provides an argument for a solution in its activism. To be clear, the way in which the film gives agency and a voice to the refugees provides an example of how governments and society at large should understand and perceive them. This is the most important way that the film is different from other forms of activism. What this film does differently is to give a voice to the refugees: you hear their stories and see their experiences firsthand, and in their own words. In most portrayals of the “refugee” crisis, the refugees do not get a voice. The film provides them with the voice to explain what is happening to them and how they feel about it. Human Flow is unique in that sense as the audience hears directly from the refugees when they are in the camps. Many times, we hear refugee stories after the event, once they have immigrated and “settled” into their new homes. They are sometimes praised as “success stories” but, unfortunately, they might be reduced by critics as mere “outliers” and exceptions rather than the rule.
This article began by assessing the role of activism in the context of migration and by considering how, and why, activism is necessary for improving the understanding of migration issues. Activism has been a key factor in social justice surrounding women’s rights, war, and climate change, and it is significant for migration issues. Activism is increasingly important because there are limitations on the extent and use of expert knowledge, and it seems that the role and effectiveness of researchers and politicians up to this point has been very limited in this context. This is illustrated by the lack of global cooperation, particularly the absence of shared responsibility that was meant to define the response to the humanitarian crisis. Moreover, most sociological theories relevant to migration focus solely on economic arguments, for or against it.
This paper, however, argues that the crisis cannot be narrowed down solely to an economic debate. The narrowing is a partial cause for why sociological theories fail to explain migration crises as there is a tendency to still prioritize economics in these theories. Ultimately, people who are against migration attempt to point to labor market trends that may, or may not, exist to try to justify stricter policies against migrants. Due to the constraints on the length of the article, this study has focused on human rights and the definition of a refugee. There are many other issues that could be discussed, not least of which is the strong presence of xenophobia that underlies the topic.
Where activists appeal to a sense of humanity, research still largely focuses on economics as do public debates, but some quarters of the public are not even willing to admit that these groups, fleeing for their lives, are in fact refugees. To be clear, there are still accusations that economic migrants are hiding behind the term “refugee” to gain entry to other countries. In terms of media depictions, there have been articles published to dispel these myths, but we rarely see the faces or hear the voices of refugees currently living in the camps, let alone know their names or stories. Generally, this information is presented after resettlement in an “underdog” cover story. Human Flow is unique and differs not only in its artistic style but also in the agency it provides to the refugees by allowing them to use their own voices to tell their own stories.
The aim of this research project was to find out if the issues surrounding the migration crisis portrayed in Human Flow were similar, or different, than what is portrayed in the media or in other forms of activism. The author attempted to find literature, media accounts, and activism that did not resort to economic arguments regarding the migration crisis, however finding such material proved to be extremely difficult. Most activism sought to convince naysayers that refugees can potentially help the economy if they were properly supported. It is not altogether surprising to see the use of a counter argument—that migrants actually bring an economic advantage—to dispel the main argument against immigration that it negatively affects the economy for nationals in the host country.
Human Flow, however, resorts to a strictly humanitarian approach and seeks to establish that such a policy is all that should be needed to help. This is the first and foremost way that the film is distinguished from other forms of migrant activism. Even if economic arguments are strong, refugees may still face opposition due to xenophobia. That is why it is even more important to showcase them as humans with the same needs, desires, and emotions as everyone else on earth, which the film does. The second significant aspect of Human Flow is the way it subtly addresses the agency versus victimhood debate that refugees have encountered during the ongoing migration crisis. This film was able to give refugees a voice without victimization. That is to say, the film does not try to focus on victimhood although it is clear they are suffering. Instead, it portrays a sense of humanity: people needing food and shelter, children wanting to play, families getting emotional about being separated from one another. They are victims, of course, but not in the sense that one should simply feel pity for them. They are victims that deserve our attention and certainly do not deserve to be used as scapegoats for economic and political issues.
Now that audiences have seen what migrants have to endure, it is difficult to make an accurate argument that it is their fault. How can one blame them for trying to survive? For maintaining the will to survive when so many would have given up? Moreover, it is worth noting that the definition of “refugee” does not include agency or a political voice. It does not guarantee a right to work and contribute to society, or address this gap. That is to say, if a refugee does not have any agency or a voice, what would enable them to be contributing, working members of any given society? The definition of a refugee insinuates that these individuals need somewhere to go. That leads to the assumption that refugees will just need “hand-outs” for the foreseeable future.
This paper has reviewed the level of divergence and convergence between the media, activists, policies, and research on the migration crisis. The film addresses such issues and themes that have emerged in existing literature, media portrayals, and policies especially regarding a sense of duty to act. It is a positive and necessary sign that messaging from activists, experts, academics, and politicians, included in this research essay, was consistent in this sense. Even though there was an increasing convergence on a need to act and commonality in narrative, the motivations and rhetoric were different. Not only is there a difference between mass media and activism in this sense, there is also a significant difference between academic research and activism. If social scientists are on the search for the truth, then activists are on the search for justice.
To assess the impact of the film, future research could determine the role activism plays in receiving countries accepting migrants, and the existence of a sense of “shared responsibility.” Ultimately, the use of expertise is still important, particularly in activism. That is to say, people may not be motivated to act based on compassion or even ethics, but if experts are advising that action is needed, then it may be taken more seriously. As the film was created by an artist/activist, and even though art can be a form of activism, it is still necessary to ask if people will listen to an artist.
It is worth noting that the filmmaker is a Chinese man who discusses the plight of people from the Middle East and Africa. For those who think these elements are somehow new and/or contradictory, which is not the position of this essay, the film includes many other experts in various fields and from various backgrounds. Moreover, the themes portrayed in this film are not so different, and do not seem to be negatively influenced by the fact that Ai Weiwei is not a migration expert, or of the same ethnic or religious background as the migrants. Nonetheless, as evidenced by the Ted Talks, there are well-known, educated, and respected figures presenting these issues and expressing the same sentiments as Ai Weiwei. An aura of legitimacy is added because expert knowledge echoes what is described in the film.
Undoubtedly, the migration crisis is a highly complex matter and the documentary film is a broad depiction of many of the issues migrants face in their journey from their home countries to their unknown destinations. A Ted Talk on the topic of humanity describes the theory or concept of “Ubuntu” by stating that “the only way for me to be human is for you to reflect my humanity back to me” (Abani 2008). This directly relates to the message that Ai Weiwei is trying to portray. The production notes raise the hope that the film “operates as a spark that, along with other sparks, might help light the flame of rethinking priorities and re-examining our capacity for compassion and creative problem solving” (Cowal & Ayers, 7).
Nicole Smith completed her M.A. in Sociology with a Double Degree from Bielefeld University in Bielefeld, Germany, and Bologna University in Bologna, Italy in September 2021, and a B.A. from McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada in 2013. Her background is in mental health and addiction. She is interested primarily in interpersonal relationships as well as social inequality and social justice. She has written papers on migrant ethics of care in home healthcare, consequences of misperceptions of social inequality, as well as the potential role of genetics in addressing educational inequality and pedagogical advancement. Her Master’s thesis explored the use of trauma-informed care by social services assisting people experiencing homelessness during the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic. In the future she plans on pursuing her PhD potentially in Anthropology with a keen interest on executing an ethnography on culture-based interventions employed in addiction treatment for Indigenous populations in Canada.
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