Forced From Home uses 360-degree videos and virtual reality (VR) documentaries to deepen visitors‘ understanding of the global refugee crisis. These immersive videos detail the stories of displaced people forced to flee their homes and communities around the world.
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We are Rohingya
Mohammed and his family awoke one morning to the sound of gunfire in their village in Myanmar. The father of three describes how his son Ismail went from having a relatively normal life playing soccer with his friends, to trekking through rain-drenched forests to escape Myanmar, and falling sick with diphtheria while trying to settle into life at a refugee camp in Bangladesh. Their story echoes those of some 700,000 other Rohingya forced to flee their homes following a violent campaign by the Myanmar military starting in August 2017. [9.00]
Lives on Hold in Lebanon
Beirut’s Shatila camp was built in 1949 for 3,000 Palestinian refugees, but now hosts up to 40,000 people, including many Syrians displaced by war. Appalling conditions and bleak prospects for the future leave families longing for their lost homes. Three generations of a Palestinian family describe how the camp has evolved into an urban slum. A Syrian father recalls the shelling of his home and the dangers that drove him to flee the country with his four young children. [8:18]
A Honduran Family Survives
Pedro and Diana and their young children fled Honduras with nothing, running for their lives from organized crime. Hoping for a new life, but still dealing with the trauma of their experience, they are one family among hundreds of thousands of people from Central America who flee their homes and cross the border into Mexico every year. [7:49]
“I Want to Live Freely. I Want to Be Myself,” A Honduran Asylum-Seeker
After years of oppression due to his race and sexual orientation, a young Honduran man finally fled his country after being warned his life was in danger. [2:45]
“They’ve Really Lost Everything,” Burundian Refugees in Tanzania
A Doctors Without Borders psychologist describes what more than 100,000 Burundians in Tanzania’s Nduta and Nyarugusu camps have been going through since political violence began forcing them from their homes in April 2015. [2:10]
“We Had to Leave,” A Refugee Story from Greece
One refugee at Moria refugee camp explains why he and his family left war-torn Afghanistan, boarded a dangerously overcrowded boat, and set off into rough winter waters. [1:40]
Syrians “have to survive having no rights” in Lebanon
In Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, Syrian refugees are living in makeshift tent settlements under harsh conditions. Here, refugees have no legal rights and no right to work–leaving them largely dependent on humanitarian aid organizations. [2:18]
Syrians Trapped by War
As the bombing and shelling crept closer to their home in Damascus, Syria, Mashallah decided to flee her country along with her husband and four young children. They fled to Domiz camp in neighboring Iraq, expecting to return home within a couple of months. [9:58]
Finding Sisterhood in Tanzania
This documentary shares the story of Aline, a young Burundian woman who had to flee her country due to the severe political violence that erupted around the presidential election in 2015. As Aline says, “you have to make a decision either to die or to live.” [7:55]
Waiting for Peace in South Sudan
Soon after gaining independence in 2011, South Sudan was torn by violence. David and his family are among millions who fled home to find safety. After spending more than two years stuck at a UN camp in Bentiu, David shares his story. [7:12]