Meet the Sudanese refugee artist painting the migrant crisis.
Yasir*, a victim of the ongoing conflict in the South Kordofan region of Sudan, has been living in the Calais ‘Jungle’ for five months. He lives in a makeshift shelter with six other people, who share everything from food and water to clothes. One of thousands of refugees and migrants living in squalid conditions in one of Europe’s largest shanty towns, Yasir finds it difficult to express himself using words – so he communicates through art.
“When you can’t tell your problems to a person, you can tell them to paper,” he says. Although Yasir cannot normally afford to buy paper, he has always found other ways to make art – either by painting tents and pieces of wood, or by working with rubbish he has salvaged. Amid the ramshackle of muddy homes, makeshift shops, cafes and schools stands a colourful tent, hand-painted by Yasir. It is adorned with a Sudanese and a French flag.