Internment Cover Image

Internment

by Samira Ahmed

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Student Question

How does the administration at Mobius attempt to recreate "normal" life, and how do the internees respond?

Expert Answers

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When the relocated Muslim families arrive in the Mobius prison camp, they are assigned to housing in specific sectors rather than choosing where they want to live. The administration aims to convince people that they are living in communities that resemble those in the world beyond the fences. For example, they call the trailers in which people live the Mercury Homes. The camp rulers’ rhetoric is undermined by the strict security measures, including an electrified fence and drone surveillance. The administrators replicate what they see as the social barriers that had divided people in their home communities, with each district of the prison camp strictly segregated by ethnicity and national origin. For Layla and many other internees, however, that system does not reflect the social organization they had known. Layla’s personality, which is curious and sociable, helps her first to adjust and then to challenge this new status quo. By seeking out and conversing with other teenagers, she learns about the ethno-national divides. These casual acquaintances quickly cement into friendships and alliances, as the young people try to resist the authoritarian control and to get word out to the country at large about the injustices that are being perpetrated against them.

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