Fleeing the violence, then and now

(Image credit: (REUTERS))

last updated 8 January 2015

The millions of Kurds who live in the more volatile regions of the Middle East are not new to conflict. In 1991, Kurdish refugees fled Saddam Hussein's "Arabising" operations in northern Iraq. Today, a new generation of Kurds is struggling to stay ahead of Islamic State militants fighting to control parts of Syria and Iraq.

While the two exoduses are separated by more than three decades, the images from then and now are uncannily similar. The people's faces are stretched with worry; their backs are bent with what little remains of their homes. Whether in stark black and white or bracing color, the photographs below capture a sobering look at the chronic instability of their lives.

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Lauren Hansen produces The Weekâ€™s podcasts and videos and edits the photo blog, Captured. She also manages the production of the magazine's iPad app. A graduate of Kenyon College and Northwestern University, she previously worked at the BBC and Frontline. She knows a thing or two about pretty pictures and cute puppies, both of which she tweets about @mylaurenhansen.