acanaan-25253 Review of Salam Neighbor

Salam Neighbor (2015)

Not a ~terrible~ introduction to the Syrian refugee crisis

[6/10 · 20 April 2018]

"Salam Neighbor" is a failed attempt to show what it's like to live in a refugee camp in Syria. Zach Ingrasci and Chris Temple, with the permission and support of the UN, stay in the Za'atari refugee camp in Jordan, 7 miles from the Syrian border in order to inform the public about what living in a refugee camp is like. However, these men were not only uninformed on the crisis, only providing a few news snippets in the beginning to show there was a crisis but were also unaware of cultural norms and by coming from America and being backed by the UN, could never understand or accurately represent what living in a camp was like due to their own privilege. Yes, they stayed in a tent in the camp, but we never saw them actually suffer like many of those in the camp did. We never saw them waiting in line for food (except for once), they were not suffering from trauma or PTSD, and lastly and most importantly, they knew when they would get to leave and go home. One of the systematic issues that refugees face is that their displacement is treated as a temporary issue, but really is a permanent problem. Zach and Chris do cite the statistic that refugees spend an average of 17 years in a camp, but they did not accurately portray this issue in the documentary. If they had really wanted to portray what a camp was like, it would've been more useful to dedicate more of the film time to interviewing other refugees and getting their stories or spending more time with the refugees that they connected with. I will say, as much as this was not an accurate representation of camp life, it shows that Syrians as well as other people from the Middle East are not actually like how they are portrayed in the news. The documentary at the end focuses on providing dignity to refugees, allowing refugees to enter countries like to US and support countries that take in an influx of refugees, and trying to create a more permanent solution. While the documentary is not real to life for refugees, it appeals to the UN, donors, wealthy nations, and the public who are also not well-informed on the issues related to refugees but have the financial and/or political means to improve the situation for refugees. It is not a perfect narrative, but at its peak may be able to influence people to donate money and resources for the refugees, which frankly is better than nothing.