Visual Representations of Refugees in German Media 2010 - 2020

Taking a deeper look at a different side of the lives of refugees, the article "Die völlig verrückte Asyl-Lotterie" (The completely crazy asylum lottery) tells the stories of two Aghani men who were deported from Germany. The article's subheading explains each of the men's lives in Germany: "One was about to be married, the other was in prison" and explains how these two stories demonstrate the chaos that is the German deportation policy. The caption of the article's accompanying photo reads "Deported Sayed in Kabul." 

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In the article, Sayed is profiled as an upstanding immigrant who was planning to marry a German-Afghan woman until he was suddenly deported one morning. Since his return to his home country, he has been living in a grungy hotel outside the capital Kabul, where he is photographed here. Other photographs in the series also show him in his room at the hotel, which consists of a small mattress on the floor of the room and a small TV, and at an outdoor market.

 

Contrastingly, the other main subject of the article, Mohammad Sarvari, also an Afghan with a history of German migration had a criminal background including sexual assault, theft, and fraud, and was imprisoned at the time of his deportation. He is also photographed in the series shown at his temporary housing with a family friend. 

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The stark contrast demonstrated by these two individual cases of deportation bolster the journalist's argument for the "crazy asylum lottery." She further supports her claim through statistics that due to difficulties proving political persecution, only 0.1 to 0.2 percent of Afghan refugees are recognized as entitled to asylum. However, it is also noted, "as many as 49% receive other types of protection, for example as refugees or because they come from provinces dominated by extremists."

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The final image in the photo series is not that of a refugee, but rather a portrait of the photographer who captured these images, and the caption describes her education in photography and her work in Muslim countries including the Islamic Republic of Iran, Palestine, and Afghanistan for the past year. 

 

By showcasing these personal narratives and the photographer's carefully curated series of images from "the unknown home," Der Spiegel is able to break a larger issue down into a digestible and relatable story, perhaps allowing some readers and viewers to gain a better understanding of what deportation truly does to a person.

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