20
Jan
Book Reviews: ‘Manus Days’ by Michael Coates & ‘No Friend but the Mountains’ by Behrouz Boochani
Manus Days – the Untold Story of Manus Island, Michael Coates, Connor Court Publishing, 2018. No Friend but the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison, Behrouz Boochani, (translated by Omid Tofighian), Pan Macmillan Australia, 2018. Michael Coates is a former soldier turned security guard at the MRPC (Manus Regional Processing Centre) in the period 2014-17, and... Read More
5
Jan
Book Review: ‘The Human Tide’ – Paul Morland
The Human Tide: How Population Shaped the Modern World, Paul Morland, John Murray (Publishers), London, 2019 Everybody has an opinion on the whys and wherefores of global demography – the trends and mathematics of fertility, mortality and mobility. That’s why the late Hans Rosling did us a great favour with his stunning and accessible videos... Read More
17
Dec
Book Review: ‘Rescue: Refugees and the Political Crisis of our Time’ – David Miliband
Rescue: Refugees and the Political Crisis of Our Time, David Miliband, TED Books, Simon & Schuster, 2017 After being UK Foreign Secretary from 2007 – 2010, David Miliband became head of the IRC (International Rescue Committee) in 2013. This short and engaging book is the companion to his 2017 TED talk. We learn of his... Read More
10
Dec
Not just employment: It’s time for refugees in Malaysia to own bank accounts too
At the time of writing, it is less than a week until Malaysia decides if refugees will be granted the right to work in the country. Should Malaysia finally agree to allow them to work here legally, the government also needs to ensure that refugees have access to other rights, services, and benefits that are... Read More
5
Dec
Book Review: ‘Refugee Rights and Policy Wrongs: a frank, up-to-date guide by experts’ – Jane McAdam and Fiona Chong
“Refugee Rights and Policy Wrongs: a Frank, Up-to-date Guide by Experts”, Jane McAdam and Fiona Chong, UNSW Press, 2019, 277 pages This book by legal academics from the Kaldor Centre at the University of New South Wales is a lay person’s introduction to the requirements of international refugee law. It also makes the comparison with... Read More
27
Nov
Exploring the Subjectivity of Rohingya Refugee Adolescent Girls in a Space of Healing and Uncertainty: What Feminist Stand Point Theory Can Offer
I am writing as a feminist academic and citizen of Bangladesh who is witnessing the plight of displaced Rohingya trying to find a place of respite and safety, the struggle of a host country to accommodate the largest refugee influx in its history and the hard work of national and international NGOS for the refugee... Read More
16
Nov
How Faith can help Refugee and Migrant Women to Heal from Sexual and Gender-based Violence
Forced migration experience is often a traumatic and unpredictable experience. Migrants fleeing their countries of origin rarely expect to encounter the worst hazards, like kidnapping, human trafficking and confinement. In Medenine and Zarzis in southern Tunisia, 15 refugee and migrant women from ten Sub-Saharan countries told me their often harrowing stories. At times, listening to... Read More
5
Nov
The (Real) Truth about Asylum: a UK Perspective
There are many myths surrounding the asylum process, and the people who go through it. One of the first, and often most troubling, is that asylum-seekers who are have entered a country looking for safety – like the UK– are somehow automatically classed as ‘illegal’ as a result. British news reports describe such “illegals” hiding... Read More
18
Oct
SGBV Across Migrant and Refugee Journeys: Early Lessons Learnt from Tunisia
This post originally appeared on the Age of Superdiversity blog hosted by the University of Birmingham and Institute for Research into Superdiversity. It has been slightly modified for publication on Refugee Research Online. My research explores the influence of religion on migrant and refugee women who experienced Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) during their journeys.... Read More
2
Oct
Contempt, Criminalisation, and No Compassion: The UK’s Asylum System
The right to asylum is one of the oldest legal rights in the world and has been recognised by societies as divergent as Ancient Greece to Medieval England. The modern day version of the right to asylum stems from the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 and states that ‘Everyone has the... Read More