7 December 2024

Today's contribution comes from RIELA PhD student and Affiliate Artist Hannah Rose Thomas. Hannah has kindly shared one of the portraits from her amazing book Tears of Gold, which presents her paintings of Yazidi women who escaped ISIS captivity, Rohingya women who fled violence in Myanmar, and Nigerian women who survived Boko Haram violence, alongside their own words, stories, and self-portraits. A final chapter features portraits and stories of Afghan, Ukrainian, Uyghur, and Palestinian women.

Maria and Nadiia

Painting of two women. The younger woman with long brunette hair is embracing the older woman with short white hair from behind with her chin resting on the older woman's shoulder. Both their gazes are pointed downwards.

The war is endless and thousands of people there are waiting to be heard in prayer. My mother and I were among them. It is a traumatic experience to have to leave home without a plan.

Maria and her mother Nadiia were living in Kyiv when the war began on February 24, 2022. Maria awoke to her mother screaming: "Masha, wake up! The war has started." Initially they were in denial, but after twelve sleepless days and nights hiding in their basement as a bomb shelter, they decided to leave the country and seek refuge in the United Kingdom.

Since the onset of the Russian invasion, one-third of Ukrainians have been forced from their homes. This is the largest movement of refugees in Europe since World War II, with nearly eight million refugees from Ukraine spread across Europe. There has been an outpouring of support, which has led many to hope that this has set a precedent for treating all refugees more humanely. If nothing else, it has exposed the politicised, and often discriminatory, nature of refugee protection. Refugees arriving in Europe from the Middle East, Asia, and Africa are far more likely to face border violence, detention, and drawn-out asylum procedures. Who are we to determine which refugees are worthy of compassion? As Maria herself expresses it: "It does not matter what nationality you are; what matters is what you are doing in this present moment. For humanity has no geography and kindness has no nationality."

Thomas, H. R. (2024) Tears of Gold: Portraits of Yazidi, Rohingya, and Nigerian Women. Walden, NY: Plough Publishing House.

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