Objects of love What refugees treasure

Having sacrificed most of their belongings in the search for safety, many of the refugees arriving in Europe have few items to their name. Megan Gibson and the photographer James Mollison travelled to Austria to record the objects people hold dearest as t

Standing at a refugee stop in the Austrian town of Nickelsdorf, near the Hungarian border, 17-year-old Ahmad explains that he no longer owns much of anything. After feeing their home in Deir Ezzor, Syria, Ahmad and his family hope to end up ‘in Germany, Finland, Sweden’ – whichever country will take them in. As Ahmad recounts how his family had to abandon all of their belongings – carrying only small packs of clothing with them – he unwraps a chocolate wafer handed out by Austrian volunteers. And though he has next to nothing, Ahmad breaks the chocolate in two and politely ofers me half.

This small but remarkable act of sharing was something the photographer James Mollison and I would witness over and over again as we interviewed refugees on a recent trip to Austria. Though everyone we met had an urgent need – for a hot meal, working phone signal, information – many were more than willing to share what little they did have, whether it was their time or their stories. One by one, refugees agreed to stop and have their portraits taken by James, in

‘THE SMUGGLERS TOOK OUR BAGS. WE ONLY HAD THE THINGS WE WERE WEARING, THE THINGS WE KNEW WE’D NEED’

a makeshift studio he had assembled in a tent, alongside discarded blankets and ruined articles of clothing. We heard story after story of smugglers shepherding desperate refugees into tiny, ramshackle dinghies and then forcing them to throw their only bags overboard, in order to prevent the boats from sinking. ‘We did it to save our lives,’ said Marie, 32, who had travelled from the Democratic Republic of Congo. As a result, many were left without papers or passports. Yet, amazingly, many people were willing to hand over, for a few instants, their last remaining possessions – a beloved watch, vials of insulin – so that James could photograph them.

Some people we met were even eager to show us what they carried: mobile phones or digital cameras with photographs of loved ones from whom they had been separated during the journey. These

WE HEARD STORY AFTER STORY OF SMUGGLERS SHEPHERDING REFUGEES INTO

RAMSHACKLE DINGHIES THEN FORCING THEM TO THROW THEIR BAGS OVERBOARD

devices, and the photographs on them, held their greatest hopes of being reunited with a missing mother, a lost son or a wife, two-months pregnant and nowhere to be found.

Of course, several people were initially mystifed by our assignment. Why did James want photographs of old clothing or an ordinary phone charger? But once he explained that we wanted to capture what they thought was worth holding on to throughout the gruelling and often dangerous route into Europe, people got it. And even if they still did not quite understand our interest, many refugees would hand over their bags with a smile all the same, before they went on their way, on to the next leg of their journey. This article and images frst appeared on Time.com on October 9, 2015

‘We’ve been travelling for two months. We’re going to Sweden – I don’t know where. I got this bag six months ago. I keep our papers in it that the smugglers needed to get us past the borders.’ Parisa, 15, from Afghanistan

Kader, nine, Caesar, three, and Muhammed, 10, from Syria ‘We came on a boat,’ the boys’ mother, Shakrea, 26, said. ‘We don’t have anything. They gave us these biscuits here. Travelling with children is hard.’

Ahmad, 17, from Syria ‘My friend gave me this watch. He’s like a brother. He’s in Syria still. He’s coming in a week. The watch helps me remember our history.’

‘I brought my charger because I need to use my phone to contact my friend in Sweden. We are going to live with him. My family was split up for hours on the journey and my phone didn’t work. It was horrible.’ Aisha, 14, from Syria

Abdullah, nine, from Turkmenistan ‘I had to leave all my toys behind. I don’t know when we left home. I don’t see the days.’ ‘My father [top photograph] is a lawyer. He’s in Jordan with my mother and brother and sister. In Syria there’s nobody....