An art installation promoting the positive impact migrants and refugees have had is being exhibited at Birmingham Library.

Supported by Birmingham City Council the exhibition is on display until 30 September.

Humanitarian artist Salma Zulfiqar created the installation ‘Building Peace Though the Oceans’ and says the objective is to promote integration of migrants in communities, prevent hate crimes and prevent.

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Salma has witnessed the impact migration is having in different continents around the world though her humanitarian work with the United Nations and is using her artwork to highlight the importance of migrants in our communities.

Salma said, ‘I come from a migrant family and I know the hardships faced by migrants here in the UK and abroad’.

"'Migrants and refugees face huge challenges in moving from one country to the next.

"Their hunger for survival makes them strive and that’s why they make important contributions in our societies.

‘'For example, I’ve met Somalis who've lost their loved ones while crossing shark infested waters and migrants who've endured horrendous journeys in freezing conditions to cross borders. But once they arrive, they work hard and strive to succeed no matter what."

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Jess Phillips MP said, “I think the issue around the integration of migrants, which Salma is highlighting in her project, is important and very powerful.

"I hope it opens some people’s eyes about how tough it is moving from a completely different country, and that we all need to come together as a community and realise at the end of the day, as my late friend Jo [Cox] would say, that we have more in common than that which divides us.”

The artwork which contains six canvasses representing Asia, Africa, Middle East, North America and Latin America show the financial contribution migrants have made and was created and exhibited as part of the International SEAS conference at The Ionion Arts and Cultural Centre, Kefalonia in Greece.

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Salma has travelled to many countries including Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen, Syria, Kenya, Chad, Cameroon, Egypt and Bangladesh to cover under reported humanitarian issues for the United Nations, which has greatly influenced her work as an artist.