Giant refugee puppet ‘Amal’ reaches Paris en route to UK

“Little Amal”, the 3.5-metre-tall puppet depicting the journey of a Syrian refugee, arrived in the French capital on Wednesday. She met on Friday with children at Place du Trocadero near the Eiffel tower, Anadolu Agency reported.

Her stop in Paris is part of “The Walk”, an 8,000-kilometre journey across Europe hoping to raise awareness about the plight of millions of young Syrian refugees making the long journey from Syria to the UK.

Amal’s journey started on 27 July in Gaziantep, southeast Turkey, and will culminate in the northern English city of Manchester in early November, following stops in Greece, Italy, France, Switzerland, Germany and Belgium.The puppet’s name, Amal, means “hope” in Arabic.The project is led by the Good Chance Theatre, a UK-based theatre and arts company, and is supported by Turkey’s Association for Solidarity with Asylum Seekers and Migrants and the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts.

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