Survivors of Genocide

The ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya minority in Myanmar has been on-going and intensifying since 2016. In October United Nations investigators unequivocally termed this genocide. We wish our project, Survivors of Genocide, was slowing down and diminishing in scope. Alas, it is not. We are now adding the genocide of the Rohingya minority in Myanmar and the Yazidi minority in Syria and Iraq to our project.

In December we filmed the story of Imran, a Rohingya man who managed to escape Myanmar and is now safely living in the United States after a harrowing, years long journey. His story is the first of a bigger commitment to document not one but two genocides taking place right now in real time. In the coming weeks we will film several Yazidi women who escaped torture and sex slavery at the hands of ISIS in Iraq and Syria.

As if these stories were not bad enough we were horrified to learn of Facebook's involvement in furthering the Rohingya genocide. Facebook posts by Myanmar military personnel turned the social network into a(n unwitting) tool for ethnic cleansing according to former military officials, researchers and civilian officials in the country. Since learning of this 3 Generations has shut down our Facebook and Instagram accounts. We are not comfortable using the same networks that bad actors use to foment genocide in our efforts to end crimes against humanity.

More than ever we will rely on trusted platforms like Global Giving to inform our past and future supporters of our activities. Our focus on fighting genocide is not just undiminished,it is gathering strength and purpose. We do this work, telling and sharing the stories of survivors of genocide, as a way to honor the victims and to raise awareness to effect change. We do this for people like Irman, whose photograph we are honored to share today. Watch for his story on our website in the coming weeks.