Hakim is the fictitious name of a Syrian refugee who fled the
country. His story is narrated by Fabien Toulmé, a French graphic artist with a
cause. In his prologue, underneath the drawing of a plane flying above clouds: “Curiously,
the urge to write about the migrants who are crossing the Mediterranean came
upon me because of a disaster that had nothing to do with this problem…” (p. 2)
The plane was the Germanwings Flight 9525 that left Barcelona but never reached
Düsseldorf. Toulmé contrasts this terrifying tragedy with the recurrent tragedies
of boats sinking while trying to reach Europe. Why do the deaths of tens of
thousands of refugees who try to make it across the Mediterranean (when not a very
high fence in Melilla) hardly ever make it to frontpage news? Why are we never
told who these persons were or what dreams they had?
Toulmé suggests it is an issue of empathy: we are able to picture ourselves as passengers on a doomed plane, of course. But never would we imagine ourselves as the precarious overload on a leaky boat escaping war or famine or political repression or all three of the above.
The story has been divided into three volumes. The first one
introduces us to a young Hakim growing up in a country that has been ruled by one
family dynasty, the Assads. He comes from a family of gardeners who have successfully
run a plant nursery near Damascus for decades. When the trouble starts, Hakim
tries to avoid it as much as possible. But one day, at a military checkpoint, soldiers
find a mask in the boot and immediately suspect him of being linked to terrorists.
In a peaceful country you are able to work and smell the roses...until a genocidal dictator decides otherwise. |
He is arrested and tortured. His freedom is attained only because
someone in his family circle agrees to pay a hefty amount for his release. The
family nursery gets confiscated by the army; so when his brother disappears, Hakim
makes up his mind to leave Syria and look for work in Lebanon. He is not alone,
of course. Jobs are hard to find in Beirut, so he goes to Amman in Jordan. The
same situation confronts him there: badly paid jobs, discrimination,
precariousness, the risk of being under surveillance from Assad’s agents…
"Their questions got crazier and crazier..." As if answering any of them would be of any use! |
Eventually he arrives in Antalya, southern Turkey. Hakim meets Abderrahim, a wealthier Syrian who has also fled the country. He and his family help him to get jobs and make some headway. So much so that he marries Abderrahim’s daughter Najmeh. Volume 1 ends with their move to Istanbul.
Their wedding reception takes place in a small pizza parlour in Antalya. Unforgettable! |
The message about the horrors, the repression and the corruption of the Assad regime comes through loud and clear. The fact that the character is a humble nursery gardener makes it even easier for the reader to make a connection. But he is just one of the hundreds of thousands whose stories deserve to be widely divulged.
Hakim’s Odyssey is composed in very simple artwork, yet it works really well in terms of backing the narrative with few colours and details. Toulmé acknowledges he had to use the services of an interpreter to interview Hakim. He is completely aware that his story is doubly mediated. This is a great story told through very simple yet powerful images.
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