Video

This is a silent film montage of what refugees bring with them when they embark on perilous journeys in search of safety. The film depicts a sinking boat, which is frequently associated with flight for many people forced to flee from the East and Horn of Africa.

Director – Petros Mebrahtu

Producer – Abel habtu and Sandra Gysi

Metamorphosis highlights the experiences and vulnerabilities that women and girls who are forced to flee undergo. The film focuses on the experience of an Eritrean female refugee forced to cut her hair to pass off as a man so that she is not physically and sexually abused by smuggler/trafficker. This is a refugee led female production and is a true story. The film was produced as part of the UNHCR, The UN Refugee Agency’s - Telling the Real Story campaign’s visual storytelling workshop in which refugees in Khartoum Sudan were trained in film making.

Director - Henok Tesfu

Producer Abekl Habtu and Ahmed Abdel Mohsen

Many refugees and asylum seekers on the move along the Central Mediterranea route leave behind or get separated from their families at different stages of their journey. While the family reunification process should in theory benefit any eligible family member, refugees worldwide, particularly children, often face significant difficulties and barriers in accessing family reunification. These include understanding the complex application process, obtaining requested documentation, accessing the relevant Embassy, affording the related costs (DNA tests, travel expenses, etc.), obtaining exit visas, or other obstacles. In order to foster an understanding of refugees’ rights and their eligibility to family reunification, in addition to the support and assistance UNHCR and partners provide, UNHCR Office of the Special Envoy produced this short animation video targeting refugee and asylum-seeking children and youth, as well as vulnerable adults and families

Many refugees and asylum seekers on the move along the Central Mediterranea route leave behind or get separated from their families at different stages of their journey. While the family reunification process should in theory benefit any eligible family member, refugees worldwide, particularly children, often face significant difficulties and barriers in accessing family reunification. These include understanding the complex application process, obtaining requested documentation, accessing the relevant Embassy, affording the related costs (DNA tests, travel expenses, etc.), obtaining exit visas, or other obstacles. In order to foster an understanding of refugees’ rights and their eligibility to family reunification, in addition to the support and assistance UNHCR and partners provide, UNHCR Office of the Special Envoy produced this short animation video targeting refugee and asylum-seeking children and youth, as well as vulnerable adults and families.

Many refugees and asylum seekers on the move along the Central Mediterranea route leave behind or get separated from their families at different stages of their journey. While the family reunification process should in theory benefit any eligible family member, refugees worldwide, particularly children, often face significant difficulties and barriers in accessing family reunification. These include understanding the complex application process, obtaining requested documentation, accessing the relevant Embassy, affording the related costs (DNA tests, travel expenses, etc.), obtaining exit visas, or other obstacles. In order to foster an understanding of refugees’ rights and their eligibility to family reunification, in addition to the support and assistance UNHCR and partners provide, UNHCR Office of the Special Envoy produced this short animation video targeting refugee and asylum-seeking children and youth, as well as vulnerable adults and families.

Many refugees and asylum seekers on the move along the Central Mediterranea route leave behind or get separated from their families at different stages of their journey. While the family reunification process should in theory benefit any eligible family member, refugees worldwide, particularly children, often face significant difficulties and barriers in accessing family reunification. These include understanding the complex application process, obtaining requested documentation, accessing the relevant Embassy, affording the related costs (DNA tests, travel expenses, etc.), obtaining exit visas, or other obstacles. In order to foster an understanding of refugees’ rights and their eligibility to family reunification, in addition to the support and assistance UNHCR and partners provide, UNHCR Office of the Special Envoy produced this short animation video targeting refugee and asylum-seeking children and youth, as well as vulnerable adults and families.

Many refugees and asylum seekers on the move along the Central Mediterranea route leave behind or get separated from their families at different stages of their journey. While the family reunification process should in theory benefit any eligible family member, refugees worldwide, particularly children, often face significant difficulties and barriers in accessing family reunification. These include understanding the complex application process, obtaining requested documentation, accessing the relevant Embassy, affording the related costs (DNA tests, travel expenses, etc.), obtaining exit visas, or other obstacles. In order to foster an understanding of refugees’ rights and their eligibility to family reunification, in addition to the support and assistance UNHCR and partners provide, UNHCR Office of the Special Envoy produced this short animation video targeting refugee and asylum-seeking children and youth, as well as vulnerable adults and families.

Many refugees and asylum seekers on the move along the Central Mediterranea route leave behind or get separated from their families at different stages of their journey. While the family reunification process should in theory benefit any eligible family member, refugees worldwide, particularly children, often face significant difficulties and barriers in accessing family reunification. These include understanding the complex application process, obtaining requested documentation, accessing the relevant Embassy, affording the related costs (DNA tests, travel expenses, etc.), obtaining exit visas, or other obstacles. In order to foster an understanding of refugees’ rights and their eligibility to family reunification, in addition to the support and assistance UNHCR and partners provide, UNHCR Office of the Special Envoy produced this short animation video targeting refugee and asylum-seeking children and youth, as well as vulnerable adults and families.

Many refugees and asylum seekers on the move along the Central Mediterranea route leave behind or get separated from their families at different stages of their journey. While the family reunification process should in theory benefit any eligible family member, refugees worldwide, particularly children, often face significant difficulties and barriers in accessing family reunification. These include understanding the complex application process, obtaining requested documentation, accessing the relevant Embassy, affording the related costs (DNA tests, travel expenses, etc.), obtaining exit visas, or other obstacles. In order to foster an understanding of refugees’ rights and their eligibility to family reunification, in addition to the support and assistance UNHCR and partners provide, UNHCR Office of the Special Envoy produced this short animation video targeting refugee and asylum-seeking children and youth, as well as vulnerable adults and families.

Many refugees and asylum seekers on the move along the Central Mediterranea route leave behind or get separated from their families at different stages of their journey. While the family reunification process should in theory benefit any eligible family member, refugees worldwide, particularly children, often face significant difficulties and barriers in accessing family reunification. These include understanding the complex application process, obtaining requested documentation, accessing the relevant Embassy, affording the related costs (DNA tests, travel expenses, etc.), obtaining exit visas, or other obstacles. In order to foster an understanding of refugees’ rights and their eligibility to family reunification, in addition to the support and assistance UNHCR and partners provide, UNHCR Office of the Special Envoy produced this short animation video targeting refugee and asylum-seeking children and youth, as well as vulnerable adults and families.

For seven years, Eritrean refugee Tesfalem felt his life was on hold. He had fled his home country, where open-ended military service and forced government service constrains the lives of young people, and found safety in neighbouring Ethiopia, but as a refugee Tesfalem’s options were limited.

“It can feel like you’re losing time,” says Yohannes, recalling how he watched as other Eritrean refugees left Ethiopia for Europe, using the perilous overland smuggling route across the desert and the sea. Some made it, others died or were detained on the way, but Yohannes stayed. He studied hard at university but still felt as if he was going nowhere, that he was stuck in limbo.