Run, Can't Stay

Seven stories about students of an ordinary Russian school — immigrants from Yemen, Afghanistan, South Sudan, the CAR, Palestine, Syria, and the DRC — are based on real events and tell about the difficulties that refugee children and their families have to overcome. The language barrier and cultural differences, lack of legal status and support from the state, poverty, social isolation, and bullying are just some of the problems faced by forced migrants.

The graphic stories, compiled by writer Alexey Oleinikov and created by students of the Higher School of Economics, are supplemented with global statistics and brief information about the countries of origin and the reasons for forced migration. The book also contains a reminder on how to help those in similar situations.

The book is published in collaboration with the UN Refugee Agency with the support of the Garage Museum of Contemporary Art.