lens culture
Hotel Refugee
Aram Karim

Hotel Refugee

The Grand Baghdad hotel, in downtown Sulaymaniyah, is far from the splendor that its name bears. Its corridors and rooms are now the shelter of Iraqi and Yazidis families that were fortunate enough to escape ISIS, but still struggle in their everyday life as refugees in the city. Those who are able to work are now cigarette-sellers, shoe-shiners and street vendors that crowd the streets and alleys around the bazaar, the elder ones left waiting in the small hotel rooms that now became their home. Aram Karim tells the story of the refugees that live at the Grand Baghdad and Babosi Hotel, offering an intimate glimpse inside these people daily life and struggles. This story is part of Metrography's collective project "A Map of Displacement", which aims to dive into the lives of displaced Iraqis.

Photos
17
Status
Public
Created
May 04, 2015
Updated
Feb 09, 2022
Categories
Contemporary Issues Documentary
Tags
#Hotel #Refugee #Idp #Iraq #Kurdistan #Daesh #Isis #Displacement #Poverty #Sulaymaniyah #Yazidi

Photos (17)

Cover
17/12/14 -- Sulaimaniyah, Iraq -- Daham Faiaq 12, yo. refugee from Kobane, Syrian Kurdistan. He lives in Babusi Hotel with his family. Daham and his father work on the streets as shoeshiners.
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22/12/14 -- Sulaimaniyah, Iraq -- A view of As Haba Spi and Kawa Street, downtown Sulaimaniyah.
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08/02/15 -- Sulaimaniyah, Iraq -- Khaled, 16, from Shingal, lives at the Baghdad Hotel with his brother Utto who is 32. Together they sell cigarettes to pay the rent.
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17/12/14 -- Sulaimaniyah, Iraq -- Daham Faiaq 12, yo. refugee from Kobane, Syrian Kurdistan. He lives in Babusi Hotel with his family. Daham and his father work on the streets as shoeshiners. Daham has to go to work after lunch.
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17/12/14 -- Sulaimaniyah, Iraq -- Daham Faiaq 12, yo. refugee from Kobane, Syrian Kurdistan. He lives in Babusi Hotel with his family. Daham and his father work on the streets as shoeshiners. Daham has to go to work after lunch.
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07/02/15 -- Sulaimaniyah, Iraq -- The room of Utto and Khaled, from Shingal. They live together here, and work in the streets selling cigarettes.
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17/12/14 -- Sulaimaniyah, Iraq -- Daham Faiaq 12, yo. refugee from Kobane, Syrian Kurdistan. He lives in Babusi Hotel with his family. Daham and his father work on the streets as shoeshiners.
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i21/12/14 -- Sulaimaniyah, Iraq -- Daham shines the shoes of a passer by for a 2000 IQD (1,7 USD). Daham Faiaq 12, yo. refugee from Kobane, Syrian Kurdistan.He lives in Babusi Hotel with his family. Daham and his father work on the streets as shoeshiners.
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07/02/15 -- Sulaimaniyah, Iraq -- Key at the Babusi Hotel.
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22/01/15 -- Sulaimaniyah, Iraq -- A young displaced girl cleans the toilet at Babusi Hotel, As Haba Spi, downtown Sulaimaniyah.
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08/02/15 -- Sulaimaniyah, Iraq -- The cigarettes that Atto, 19, from Shingal, sells on the streets of Sulaimaniyah to pay his rent at the Baghdad Hotel.
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08/02/15 -- Sulaimaniyah, Iraq -- Abu Qasim, a 90 y.o. a Yazidi man from Shingal.
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20/12/14 -- Sulaimaniyah, Iraq -- A family of displaced Iraqis from Salahadin at Babusi Hotel.
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26/12/14 -- Sulaimaniyah, Iraq -- Muaiad 10, yo. A Syarian refugee from Kubane. He broke his leg, and after having it fixed in a cast, the family run out of money to go to the hospital and further treat it.
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A drawing of Anas, picturing unknown fighters shooting at people in the mountains. It was impossible to understand whether this scene was experienced by the child or whether he has seen in on TV.
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08/02/15 -- Sulaimaniyah, Iraq -- Utto 32, from Shingal, in his room at the Baghdad Hotel. His family is in Duhok. He is working in Sulaimaniyah to support his family. His mother is very sick, but he cannot afford to go see her, as he hardly can stop working on the streets where he sells cigarettes with his younger brother Khaled.
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20/12/14 -- Sulaimaniyah, Iraq -- Daham Faiaq 12, yo. refugee from Kobane, Syrian Kurdistan. He lives in Babusi Hotel with his family. Daham and his father work on the streets as shoeshiners.
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