Amnesty International faced a backlash over its magazine cover that was intended to draw attention to the ongoing refugee crisis in the Middle East. But the Glamoria's cover was seen as offensive and disrespectful.
A half-naked model wearing a life jacket and lying on a bed full of life jackets was featured on the magazine cover in a bid to draw attention to the humanitarian crisis faced by refugees from the Middle East while seeking to flee to Europe.
It was published by the Dutch arm of Amnesty International on their “Glamoria” magazine cover. The magazine that has its name in reference to the Moria refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos.
However, Amnesty’s failed attempt has provoked anger and condemnation among their readers who consider the cover as “sexualising” one of the worst humanitarian crisis that hit the Middle East in recent years.
In response Amnesty took their magazine cover down and released an official apology. The organization cleared their aim behind the “glossy” cover is to draw contrast between the luxurious lifestyle being featured in magazines and what is actually happening in reality.
Despite their apology, social media users widely condemned Amnesty for such an inappropriate contrast that undermine the real suffering being faced by the refugees.
As part of the wide condemnation Amnesty faced, former refugees had their take on it as well.
One refugee who arrived to Greece last year wearing a similar life jacket to the one on the cover also commented. He narrated his story in which he with his wife suffered all the hardships of the trip to stay alive until reaching land.
The refugees plight in the Mediterranean has been one of the worst humanitarian crisis in the last years. As of September 2018, reports confirmed that more than 1600 people died in this year alone while trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe to flee the wars in their countries.
