international rescue committee

Ali is 16 and living alone in Greece while waiting to be reunited with his older brother in Germany. His lived experience as a child refugee travelling alone was reported by the IRC to draw attention to the high numbers of unaccompanied children seeking asylum around the world. The IRC requested a series of illustrations that depicted some of Ali’s biggest struggles - such as crossing a dangerous river with his sister and living in a refugee camp - but also his future hopes for a new life with his brother. The Ali in my illustrations is a composite character (Ali’s real identity is protected) because I felt it was important for him to have an identity and not just be an abstract representation; the report is telling the human story behind the statistics and the images needed to reflect that.

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