BBC’s Syrian Journey: Choose your own escape route is an online interactive experience, which aims to put an individual in the shoes of a Syrian migrant fleeing their war-torn, unsafe home country. In 2015, Reporter Mamdouh Akbiek and researcher Eloise Dicker commenced an Arabic digital project, using the stories they gained from their investigation to produce the components of this feature. Thus, all of the scenarios, and outcomes seen here are based on real-life experiences of Syrian refugees or migrants. The language can be changed from English to Arabic, Russian and Farsi.

The interactive news piece begins by allowing an individual to select their gender or “character”, and the journey begins. A scenario is provided, giving background about geography and risk, and the individual is then asked to select between two paths that a migrant would have to decide between. He/she must choose which route to take with consideration of various trade-offs; often sacrificing safety due to expense, or prioritizing oneself over their family. ‘Successful’ escape occurs when all seven scenarios continue on and the character makes it to the shores of Europe. However, managing to escape does not entail a happy ending. When the character does makes it to land they are described as “exhausted, hungry and crammed in at the bottom of the boat” without their family, who are reported missing.

Akbiek and Dicker likely produced this news-based feature for the general public. Its objective is seemingly simple: awareness. They present the piece by stating, “If you were fleeing Syria for Europe, what choices would you make for you and your family? Take our journey to understand the real dilemmas the refugees face.” It serves to display the uncertainty, danger and tragedy that these Syrian migrants face when evacuating their home nations. Likewise, it expands one’s perspective of the crisis; truly eliciting to the idea that our perception of a migrant/refugee struggle is much narrower than it should be. Following the interactive portion of the webpage is a tab entitled “Get involved”. It encourages sharing of the feature, watching video clips of actual Syrian refugee and migrant stories and involvement through social media: recommending the use of hashtags “#whatwouldyoutake” and “#Syrianjourney”.

To my astonishment, popular response to this feature ranges from absolute praise to bitter reproach. While some news sources like The Guardian applauded both its interactive storytelling component and its actual exploration, other tabloid news sites like The Daily Mail and The Sun ridiculed it for converting human suffering into a child’s computer game.

This perspective, nonetheless, fails to acknowledge the representation of the crisis through an easily accessible, individual experience which indicates the precise devastation of the risk, chance and hardship involved in these refugee/migrant lives.

I first came across Choose your own escape route this past summer. A friend of mine who founded the Reclaim Childhood organization on campus, which works to empower primarily Syrian and Jordanian women and girl refugees through sport, sent me the link. If my friend had not had such an interest in refugee and migrant experiences, I am not sure if I ever would have found the webpage myself. While the news-feature serves to educate the general public, I only heard of it this past year, despite its publication over two years ago. Even still, the way the piece attempts to promote awareness is praiseworthy. Instead of publishing an article about the devastating paths taken by Syrian migrants, the researchers made the knowledge accessible via visual experience. The depictions of these escape routes are detailed, and the language is both explanatory and comprehensible. Henceforth, I am of the opinion that it is appropriate for almost any age group, but is especially valuable to young adults and adolescents. Media is a primary form of communication within these groups, and thus, the dispersal of this webpage to many people is of great ease. The link can be shared instantly via text, Facebook, Twitter, etc. providing access to learn within seconds. The objective of the researchers to promote awareness is difficult to analyze. Clicking on the hashtags suggested by the authors two years after publication only shows six to seven tweets each within the past year. Without access to tweet archives it is hard to assess the popularity of the hashtags, but I can imagine that around publication in April of 2015, they were used with frequency and the article likely received many shares. Moreover, I have found that while an article might be ignored by a friend I have shared with, a two-minute game-like scenario is unlikely to be overlooked to the same degree. Even still, it could be improved with slightly more concise wording, as I found myself at times skimming through the storyline. Overall, I found the interactive-media piece extremely compelling, but I worry that some do not make the true association between what is portrayed on the screen and what occurs in real life. It is easy to overlook the reality of chance and jeopardy of one wrong decision when you are sitting behind a computer screen acting through an online character. I do not necessarily agree with critics that it reduces the Syrian migration crisis to a child’s game, but I do believe the individuals participating in the experience must hold themselves accountable; ensuring that they are both attentive and absorbing of the physical realism that forms the basis of every presented situation and consequence.

References

Stuart, Keith. “Syrian Journey: Why the BBC Is Right to Make a Game about the Refugee Crisis.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media Limited, 6 Apr. 2015, www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/apr/06/syrian-journey-bbc-game-refugee-crisis.

Gillman, Ollie. “BBC Bosses Blasted for Making Syrian Journey Computer Game about Refugees Fleeing the War-Torn Country Read More: Http://Www.dailymail.co.uk/News/Article-3027174/BBC-Bosses-Blasted-Making-Computer-Game-Called-Syria-Journey-Refugees-Fleeing-War-Torn-Country.html#ixzz4xbrItEf7 Follow Us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook.” Daily Mail, Associated Newspapers Ltd, 6 Apr. 2015, www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3027174/BBC-bosses-blasted-making-computer-game-called-Syria-Journey-refugees-fleeing-war-torn-country.html.

Sales, Dan, and Will Payne. “Fury at Sick BBC Flee Syria Refugee Game.” The Sun, News Group Newspapers Limited, 5 Apr. 2015, www.thesun.co.uk/archives/news/34017/fury-at-sick-bbc-flee-syria-refugee-game/.

Akbiek, Mamdouh, and Eloise Dicker . “Syrian Journey: Choose Your Own Escape Route.” BBC, BBC, 1 Apr. 2015, www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-32057601.