Project overview

More than 5 million people have been forced to leave their homes, possessions, families and education since the Syrian civil war broke out in March 2010.

The scale of the crisis is hard for most of us to fathom, and the experiences of refugees can often feel too remote for most of us to understand.

Searching For Syria is a new way for people to learn about the refugee crisis by exploring five of the most common search queries that people around the world are asking. 

Google teamed up with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to draw connections between the questions that people are asking and UNHCR’s detailed data sets.

We worked with Google Brand Studio to craft the story that emerged, helping with the messaging and narrative flow of an interactive experience that includes Google Maps, satellite imagery, search trends, video, photospheres and interviews from journalists on the ground, speaking with refugees.

So the stories could reach more people, we also helped create GIFs and other assets highlighting some of the most surprising stats and insights.