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WATCH: Refugees and Europeans unite in powerful video

Can new arrivals and Europeans be brought closer together just by looking into each other's eyes?
A still from the video shows two people, one a refugee and one not, staring into each other's eyes (Credit: Amnesty)

Amnesty International has launched a project aimed at breaking down barriers between newly-arrived refugees and Europeans with a new video inspired by psychology. The video, which has been viewed hundreds of thousands of times since it was uploaded last week, uses psychology professor Arthur Aron’s theory that people can be brought closer together by staring into each other’s eyes for four minutes.

“It takes a heart of stone to watch this video without shedding a tear. Today, when the world appears rife with division and conflict, it is always worthwhile to look at everything from another person’s perspective. Too often, what gets lost in the numbers and headlines is the suffering of actual people who, like us, have families, friends, their own stories, dreams and goals. What if we stopped for just a moment and looked at who they really are?” said Draginja Nadażdin, director of Amnesty International Poland.

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