Syria, Afghanistan, South Sudan, Myanmar, and Somalia are the world’s top 5 refugee crisis.







TOP 5 REFUGEES.png








Yet, despite overwhelming evidence of this crisis, photographic documentation of such does not correlate to the severity.








Some years, there are hundreds of images captured and documented.








Other years, there are none.







 
 
 

Number of queries in Getty Images per year for each refugee group. Parameters used were refugee group origin, a one year time period (e.g. January 1st, 2011 - January 1st, 2012), and the search term “refugee.”







Why is that?


 
 
 
 

The refugee crisis is fundamentally an ethical and moral issue.








Ideally, a country with greater capacity – as measured by affluence, aka GDP – would be able to accept refugees seeking asylum.







 

Which is to say: can you measure a country’s ethical and moral compass by its affluence?





 







I would argue no.









My opinions aside, there is a severe inequity in which countries with the largest GDPs take in less refugees than other countries with smaller GDPs,









As well as a severe disconnect in the scale of a refugee crisis and how well it is photographically documented,





If at all.









So it begs to question:










If a population is not photographed, does the data indicating their plight matter less?










And if a population is photographed,









What will it take for political leadership to act not in interest of affluence,









But in the interest of ethical and moral standing?





syria.jpeg

Sources:

  1. The world's 5 biggest refugee crises. (2018, September 26). Retrieved from https://www.mercycorps.org/articles/worlds-5-biggest-refugee-crises

  2. Specia, M. (2018, June 19). The Five Conflicts Driving the Bulk of the World's Refugee Crisis. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/19/world/five-conflicts-driving-refugees.html

  3. World Population Prospects - Population Division. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://population.un.org/wpp/

  4. List of countries by refugee population. (2018, November 30). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_refugee_population

  5. List of countries by GDP (nominal). (2018, December 08). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal)

  6. Moving the world with images. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.gettyimages.com/

  7. Syrian Refugee Getty Images, 2011: https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/refugee?autocorrect=none&begindate=2011-01-01&enddate=2012-01-01&family=editorial&locations=61045&phrase=refugee&recency=daterange&sort=mostpopular#license

  8. Syrian Refugee Getty Images, 2012: https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/refugee?autocorrect=none&begindate=2012-01-01&enddate=2013-01-01&family=editorial&locations=61045&phrase=refugee&recency=daterange&sort=mostpopular#license

  9. Syrian Refugee Getty Images, 2013: https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/refugee?autocorrect=none&begindate=2013-01-01&enddate=2014-01-01&family=editorial&locations=61045&phrase=refugee&recency=daterange&sort=mostpopular#license

  10. Syrian Refugee Getty Images, 2014: https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/refugee?autocorrect=none&begindate=2014-01-01&enddate=2015-01-01&family=editorial&locations=61045&phrase=refugee&recency=daterange&sort=mostpopular#license

  11. Syrian Refugee Getty Images, 2015: https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/refugee?autocorrect=none&begindate=2015-01-01&enddate=2018-01-01&groupbyevent=true&family=editorial&locations=61045&phrase=refugee&recency=daterange&sort=mostpopular#license

  12. Syrian Refugee Getty Images, 2016: https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/refugee?autocorrect=none&begindate=2016-01-01&enddate=2017-01-01&groupbyevent=true&family=editorial&locations=61045&phrase=refugee&recency=daterange&sort=mostpopular#license

  13. Syrian Refugee Getty Images, 2017: https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/refugee?autocorrect=none&begindate=2017-01-01&enddate=2018-01-01&groupbyevent=true&family=editorial&locations=61045&phrase=refugee&recency=daterange&sort=mostpopular#license

  14. Afghanistan Refugee Getty Images, 2011: https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/refugee?autocorrect=none&begindate=2011-01-01&enddate=2012-01-01&family=editorial&locations=61011&phrase=refugee&recency=daterange&sort=mostpopular#license

  15. Afghanistan Refugee Getty Images, 2012: https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/refugee?autocorrect=none&begindate=2012-01-01&enddate=2013-01-01&family=editorial&locations=61011&phrase=refugee&recency=daterange&sort=mostpopular#license

  16. Afghanistan Refugee Getty Images, 2013: https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/refugee?autocorrect=none&begindate=2013-01-01&enddate=2014-01-01&family=editorial&locations=61011&phrase=refugee&recency=daterange&sort=mostpopular#license

  17. Afghanistan Refugee Getty Images, 2014: https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/refugee?autocorrect=none&begindate=2014-01-01&enddate=2015-01-01&family=editorial&locations=61011&phrase=refugee&recency=daterange&sort=mostpopular#license

  18. Afghanistan Refugee Getty Images, 2015: https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/refugee?autocorrect=none&begindate=2015-01-01&enddate=2016-01-01&family=editorial&locations=61011&phrase=refugee&recency=daterange&sort=mostpopular#license

  19. Afghanistan Refugee Getty Images, 2016: https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/refugee?autocorrect=none&begindate=2016-01-01&enddate=2017-01-01&family=editorial&locations=61011&phrase=refugee&recency=daterange&sort=mostpopular#license

  20. Afghanistan Refugee Getty Images, 2017: https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/refugee?autocorrect=none&begindate=2017-01-01&enddate=2018-01-01&family=editorial&locations=61011&phrase=refugee&recency=daterange&sort=mostpopular#license

  21. South Sudan Refugee Getty Images, 2011: https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/refugee?autocorrect=none&begindate=2011-01-01&enddate=2012-01-01&family=editorial&locations=6536160&phrase=refugee&recency=daterange&sort=mostpopular#license

  22. South Sudan Refugee Getty Images, 2012: https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/refugee?autocorrect=none&begindate=2012-01-01&enddate=2013-01-01&family=editorial&locations=6536160&phrase=refugee&recency=daterange&sort=mostpopular#license

  23. South Sudan Refugee Getty Images, 2013: https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/refugee?autocorrect=none&begindate=2013-01-01&enddate=2014-01-01&family=editorial&locations=6536160&phrase=refugee&recency=daterange&sort=mostpopular#license

  24. South Sudan Refugee Getty Images, 2014: https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/refugee?autocorrect=none&begindate=2014-01-01&enddate=2015-01-01&family=editorial&locations=6536160&phrase=refugee&recency=daterange&sort=mostpopular#license

  25. South Sudan Refugee Getty Images, 2015: https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/refugee?autocorrect=none&begindate=2015-01-01&enddate=2016-01-01&family=editorial&locations=6536160&phrase=refugee&recency=daterange&sort=mostpopular#license

  26. South Sudan Refugee Getty Images, 2016: https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/refugee?autocorrect=none&begindate=2016-01-01&enddate=2017-01-01&family=editorial&locations=6536160&phrase=refugee&recency=daterange&sort=mostpopular#license

  27. South Sudan Refugee Getty Images, 2017: https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/refugee?autocorrect=none&begindate=2017-01-01&enddate=2018-01-01&family=editorial&locations=6536160&phrase=refugee&recency=daterange&sort=mostpopular#license

  28. Myanmar Refugee Getty Images, 2011: https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/refugee?autocorrect=none&begindate=2011-01-01&enddate=2018-01-20&family=editorial&locations=65063&phrase=refugee&recency=daterange&sort=mostpopular#license

  29. Myanmar Refugee Getty Images, 2012: https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/refugee?autocorrect=none&begindate=2012-01-01&enddate=2012-01-20&family=editorial&locations=65063&phrase=refugee&recency=daterange&sort=mostpopular#license

  30. Myanmar Refugee Getty Images, 2013: https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/refugee?autocorrect=none&begindate=2013-01-01&enddate=2014-01-01&family=editorial&locations=65063&phrase=refugee&recency=daterange&sort=mostpopular#license

  31. Myanmar Refugee Getty Images, 2014: https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/refugee?autocorrect=none&begindate=2014-01-01&enddate=2015-01-01&family=editorial&locations=65063&phrase=refugee&recency=daterange&sort=mostpopular#license

  32. Myanmar Refugee Getty Images, 2015: https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/refugee?autocorrect=none&begindate=2015-01-01&enddate=2016-01-01&family=editorial&locations=65063&phrase=refugee&recency=daterange&sort=mostpopular#license

  33. Myanmar Refugee Getty Images, 2016: https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/refugee?autocorrect=none&begindate=2016-01-01&enddate=2017-01-01&family=editorial&locations=65063&phrase=refugee&recency=daterange&sort=mostpopular#license

  34. Myanmar Refugee Getty Images, 2017: https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/refugee?autocorrect=none&begindate=2017-01-01&enddate=2018-01-01&family=editorial&locations=65063&phrase=refugee&recency=daterange&sort=mostpopular#license

  35. Somalia Refugee Getty Images, 2011: https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/refugee?autocorrect=none&begindate=2011-01-01&enddate=2012-01-01&family=editorial&locations=61085&phrase=refugee&recency=daterange&sort=mostpopular#license

  36. Somalia Refugee Getty Images, 2012: https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/refugee?autocorrect=none&begindate=2012-01-01&enddate=2013-01-01&family=editorial&locations=61085&phrase=refugee&recency=daterange&sort=mostpopular#license

  37. Somalia Refugee Getty Images, 2013: https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/refugee?autocorrect=none&begindate=2013-01-01&enddate=2014-01-01&family=editorial&locations=61085&phrase=refugee&recency=daterange&sort=mostpopular#license

  38. Somalia Refugee Getty Images, 2014: https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/refugee?autocorrect=none&begindate=2014-01-01&enddate=2015-01-01&family=editorial&locations=61085&phrase=refugee&recency=daterange&sort=mostpopular#license

  39. Somalia Refugee Getty Images, 2015: https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/refugee?autocorrect=none&begindate=2015-01-01&enddate=2016-01-01&family=editorial&locations=61085&phrase=refugee&recency=daterange&sort=mostpopular#license

  40. Somalia Refugee Getty Images, 2016: https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/refugee?autocorrect=none&begindate=2016-01-01&enddate=2017-01-01&family=editorial&locations=61085&phrase=refugee&recency=daterange&sort=mostpopular#license

  41. Somalia Refugee Getty Images, 2017: https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/refugee?autocorrect=none&begindate=2017-01-01&enddate=2018-01-01&family=editorial&locations=61085&phrase=refugee&recency=daterange&sort=mostpopular#license