The puppet can be thought of as a being closer to a world full of magic and fantasy than any other entity could possibly be. With the aid of a puppeteer’s deft hands, the puppet has the ability to instantaneously transform from a lifeless monster with haunting eyes and unsightly teeth to a beautiful character distinguished by a vibrant persona. The most remarkable aspect of the puppet, however, is its ability to transcend the childish performances it plays, into a world full of the complex subjects that we as a society often turn away from. The puppet can therefore be metaphorically seen as a reflection of humankind, oftentimes depicting how ugly our world can truly be.

This description of the puppet is the epitome of Little Amal, the nearly twelve-foot tall Syrian refugee puppet who has traveled over 9,000 kilometers across the world. Her gift for metamorphosis and her ability to bring life to the unliving are the fundamental aspects that define her beauty – despite her initial strangeness – and give reasoning to the fascination that she has drawn to herself. What touched me the most after hearing her story, however, is her successful accomplishment of the core of her responsibility in each of the countries that she travels to: fostering awareness of the frequently forgotten refugees in our world. In other words, she has newly shaped our society’s view on the horrific challenges that refugees face, from hearing the desperate screams of beloved family members, feeling the tremors of bombs landing nearby, and seeing the destruction of the only home they have ever known. As her name suggests in Arabic, Little Amal has truly brought hope to the world by assuring that the situations of refugees – ordinary and vulnerable individuals forced to endure the significant consequences that war has had on their lives – have the potential to change.

However, despite this inspiring facade that the puppet has the ability to demonstrate, there is a more sinister undercurrent that defines its dualism: the strings that tether its every movement to the hands of the puppeteer. The puppet, therefore, lacks free will and is subjected to the puppeteer's decisions on both what is to be conveyed to the audience, as well as what is to be left hidden. 

Little Amal similarly falls into this description of the puppet’s dual nature: despite her hopeful outward appearance, what we as a society fail to recognize are the strings that govern every aspect of her behavior, from her beatific smile to her ardent hand gestures. These strings transcend Little Amal and are reflective of the various governments’ sentiments regarding the refugee crisis, which they choose to hide from the public. Despite the thousands of refugees that many nations proudly profess to accept, they keep the reasons hidden as to why they deny entry for just as many of them: the economic burden they place on the country, the hazard they pose to its health and safety, and the social functioning threat they create. In other words, while the governments of various nations appear to give the impression that they are incredible benefactors who alleviate the struggles that refugees face all around the world, they may in reality only be acting for their own best interests by maintaining this veneer that they have created for themselves, further reinforced by the media.

Knowing this, how can the situation of refugees be changed? In the words of Akshay Vasu, “Either you are a puppet or a puppeteer. There is no in between.” However, in my eyes, there is an in-between: we are. We, as this in-between, have the potential to become a genuine vehicle of voice, as we are not constrained to the strings of the puppeteer. By doing so, we would have the potential to not only demystify the purported threats that refugees bring into the country, but also eliminate the threats altogether in order to create an open space for refugees to reside in. In other words, we, as the in-between, are the people that refugees such as Little Amal are relying on, and it is therefore our responsibility to recognize the strings that major powers aim to hide, and ultimately, shed light on them for the rest of the world to see.