'Documenting the Undocumented: Creatively coping with COVID-19 in The Hague'
During this COVID-19 pandemic, the Documenting the Undocumented project aims to engage with direct experiences of migrants, the difficulties they face and solutions they have found, individually and together with others.
Their experiences can highlight the critical roles played by undocumented workers for all residents in The Hague, and make their struggles more visible: this project provides a window into their everyday lives, from their own perspectives.
Since August, the researchers have been co-working on this project with 7 undocumented migrants to share their lockdown experiences. They have used many different creative outputs such as images, videos, poems, artwork and diary entries to share what their experiences have entailed.
Documenting the micro-impacts of COVID-19 on undocumented people
In collaboration with The Open University UK, the aim of the project is to contribute to a wider goal of documenting the micro-impacts of COVID-19 on undocumented people. The experiences playing out in The Hague is an important part of a wider picture, such as experiences from the UK, Greece, Malaysia and elsewhere.
Outputs
- 'Filipino migrant and community solidarity', blog post by Paul-François Tremlett (Open University UK) and Helen Hintjens in Covid-19 Chronicles from the Margins
- 'Rise in attacks on LGBT+ refugees as Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya is threatened with closure', blog post by Helen Hintjens and John S. in Covid-19 Chronicles from the Margins
- 'The battle for equality for BAME workers: Lions led by donkeys', blog post by Helen Hintjens in Covid-19 Chronicles from the MarginsÂ
- 'The world as global Palestine', blog post by Helen Hintjens in Covid-19 Chronicles from the MarginsÂ
- Why do so many undocumented people in the Netherlands fail to exercise their right to medically necessary healthcare? Policy brief
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Digital exhibition
- 'Unlocked Archives', an archival developed in community with refugees, asylum seekers, migrants or stateless people to chronicle their unique responses to the Covid-19 pandemicÂ
Researchers
Helen Hintjens, Ahmed Pouri, Rachel Kurian, Marie Gillespie