BEHIND THE LENS: Migration, and a world on the move

One photo shows a man lying on the beach of a Spanish enclave in northern Africa after swimming there from Morocco

YE 2021 Migration (Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

DATE: January-August 2021

PLACE: Roma Texas; Mission, Texas; Northern Africa; Italy; Van Turkey

PHOTOGRAPHERS: Dario Lopez-Mills; Julio Cortez; Javier Fergo; Joan Mateu Emrah Gurel

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Their faces are like our faces -- hesitant, sad, expectant, wary, curious, hopeful. They are the human beings among us who are trying to get — desperate to get — somewhere else. Somewhere safer, more prosperous, more for them.

Look at the man lying on the beach of Ceuta, a Spanish enclave in northern Africa, after swimming there from Morocco. His face, at a distance, is exhausted.

Look at the group of migrants arriving at the coast of Italy after being rescued in the Mediterranean. Their eyes are filled with tentative hope and a question: What might be next for me? Look at the group of migrants pinned by a flashlight at night after being apprehended by Turkish security forces. They are less hopeful, but their question is the same: What's next?

Or take a glimpse from above at the long dirt road along the Rio Grande in Mission, Texas where migrants walk after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.

They seek what so many of us are seeking: safety. Comfort. Security. Home.

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QUOTED

Dario Lopez-Mills, Associated Press photographer:

“After years of covering stories on migration and human trafficking along the Mexico-U.S. border, I keep thinking that any of us could potentially become migrants, refugees or asylum seekers because of natural disasters, climate change, civil war or so many other reasons.”

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For a full overview of the events that shaped 2021, “A Year That Changed Us: 12 Months in 150 Photos,” a collection of AP photos and journalists’ recollections, is available now: https://www.ap.org/books/a-year-that-changed-us