Resilience in a Greek refugee camp: the ‘boy of steel’

We meet the photographer who captured a young Kurdish-Syrian superhero at a refugee camp in Greece

Mussa, a Kurdish-Syrian boy, had been living for months in an unofficial camp at the Greek port of Piraeus when he met photographer Nessim Stevenson.

Strong, stubborn and cunning, the five-year-old spent his days teasing volunteers and sneaking into a storage warehouse in search of juice and croissants. A few days before he was photographed, he had led a group of friends out of the makeshift camp for a trip to the beach, only returning under the cover of dark.

Stevenson said: “His expression here represents the pride and resilience of his people despite the desperate living conditions in the camp and the uncertain future they face.”

Mussa, a Kurdish-Syrian boy in Piraeus

Photography: Nessim Stevenson

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