Sea Prayer

UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador, Khaled Hosseini, wrote Sea Prayer in memory of 3-year-old Syrian refugee Alan Kurdi whose lifeless body was washed up on a beach in Turkey in 2015. It is a tribute to Alan and the thousands of others who have lost their lives making similarly desperate journeys.

Sea Prayer is a short work of fiction with illustrations by Dan Williams. Proceeds from Sea Prayer will go to The Khaled Hosseini Foundation and UNHCR to help fund life-saving support and build better futures for refugees around the world.

In June 2018 Khaled Hosseini travelled to Lebanon and Italy (Sicily) with UNHCR to gather content (photos, films, writing) to support the coordinated launch of Sea Prayer and UNHCR’s Desperate Journeys report (foreword by Khaled Hosseini).

Photos of Khaled meeting refugees in:

• [Lebanon], [Italy] 
• To order images please register for an account on Refugees Media. Instructions for ordering images are available here: [link]. 

B-roll package of Khaled’s visit to Lebanon and Italy:

• Available here: [link]
• To order the b-roll package please register for an account on Refugees Media. Instructions for ordering assets are available here: [link]

Khaled Hosseini - Sea Prayer/Desperate Journeys film for previewing:

• Available here (approx 23 min duration): [link]
• Please contact UNHCR for a download link

Sea Prayer illustrations and social media materials:

• Available here with usage guidelines and credit information: [link]

• Khaled Hosseini's UNHCR web page [English]

UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Khaled Hosseini wrote the foreword to UNHCR’s Desperate Journeys report (released on 3 September 2018).  The report provides an overview of the changing patterns of movement to and through Europe, the challenges refugees face in accessing safe territory and fair asylum procedures, and the risks they face along the routes, as well as developments in expanding access to safe and legal pathways so that refugees – including children – are not left with any other choice but to undertake such high risk, dangerous journeys.

Press release:

• Available here: [English] [French] [Arabic]

Desperate Journeys report:

• Available here: [link] 

Khaled Hosseini related-interview (or other related Sea Prayer requests) should be directed to:

• Coco Campbell ([email protected]; +44 7715 420076)
• Sarah Epstein ([email protected]; +44 7572 601088) 

General interview requests related to Desperate Journeys should be directed to:

• Charlie Yaxley ([email protected]), Natalia Prokopchuk ([email protected]) and Scott Craig ([email protected])