A Graphic Novel | Written & Illustrated by Don Brown
(Not the Angels & Demons guy. That’s Dan Brown)

Don Brown’s illustrations are bleak much like the life of Syrian refugees. The colours are muted and pale. The writing is simple in style and narration straight with no frills again like the refugees who carry no ornaments with them.

The Unwanted gives us a broad timeline and covers major events  of the Syrian Refugee crisis while adding background to the beginning of the crisis and how it created millions of homeless refugees. Don Brown at all times keeps the focus on the refugees and their grief and stays away from the Shia-Sunni- Kurd whoistoblame debate.

The narration starts with the imprisonment of the Dara’a boys and the subsequent breakout of protests.

Don Brown does not showcase individual stories but faceless stories with no names. There are no central characters or protagonists, just people fleeing homes in search of jobs, food  and normal lives. The only name the author mentions is Bushra- a young mother with her two lil ones. Bushra was recorded as the millionth refugee by the UN—a statistic that underscores the sheer scale of human displacement.

Stories how they were forced to leave their homes, flee violence and bombs dropping from the air. Stories of how they fled across borders and deserts to reach Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and Iraq with the hope of reaching West Europe.

Many reached Turkey and boarded dinghies to cross the Aegean to reach Greece. The same Aegean where the Athenian fleet defeated the fleet of the Xerxes II. Many perished in the waters, boats sank, women and children drowned. Loved ones were lost to the waves and the war.

To reach Germany or Sweden where they have a bit of hope that they may be accepted and eventually granted asylum, a home to live and warm bed to sleep in, they have to cross the sea and then across land. The route to West Europe is dangerous and wrecking. The border crossings and check-posts break hearts and bodies. They walk and walk and walk. Sometimes a thousand miles. If luck is on their side, they get to travel in the luggage compartment of buses and trains.

From Don Brown I learned that statistics and numbers can be cold and cruel. Nearly a third of all people in Lebanon are Syrian refugees. It’s the same size as the entire population of Mexico climbing over the Trump Wall into the USA.

Out of the 4 million Syrian refugees 95% of these refugees live in  containers and thatched tents or rooms across Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq.

Over 5.5 million refugees exited Syria reducing their population down to 17 million. 5.5 million is the size of Denmark.

By the end of 2014 an estimated 8800 children were killed in Syria during this exodus. There was little aid from Muslim tyrant leaders.

Something to note is  that the USA had taken part in the relocation of over 318,000 Vietnamese and 120,000 Cubans to America.  Guilt?

A 2016 agreement between the EU and Turkey tightened illegal border crossings and any refugee caught crossing by boat from Turkey to Greece would be promptly shipped back. This agreement resulted in over 44,000 refugees getting stranded in Greece.

By 2016 Russia had started bombing Assad’s opposition and most of Aleppo was decimated.

Beyond the numbers and uncomfortably numb narration the graphic novel touches upon individual lives and families, some separated by borders desperately trying to come together.

It made me think, these are ordinary folks, regular people, like you and me. People we see everyday, spend time together with. And then they are forced to leave their homes, their jobs and their communities razed. Homes like ours, filled with love and laughter and refrigerators with food. Baths with clean running water. Soap and clothes. Food made in their kitchen. They never had to beg. They do not know how to beg. And one day the bombing starts, the killing continues unheeded. To escape certain death they flee their homes. To escape this violence they cross the desert and sea. Bodies crammed in small dinghy boats and hot suffocating containers by racketeers to make money out of death. To flee is the only choice they have. And that’s how they became The Unwanted.