Asylum Speakers Podcast with Jaz O'Hara: Stories of Migration and Displacement

The final part of the story!!! Welcome back to the Asylum Speakers Podcast! I can’t believe it’s been so long since the last episode, and so much has happened since then… and that’s what this episode is here to fill you in on today!!! If you haven’t yet listened to the last episode that we put out, (about my foster brother Mez trying everything to get his younger biological brother Josi safely to the UK), I would highly recommend you go back and listen to that episode, because it sets the context for today’s episode. To give you a brief overview…Mez left his country of Eritrea as an unaccompanied child, fleeing compulsory military service, nearly 10 years ago, crossing the Sahara, the Mediterranean sea and hiding underneath the Eurotunnel train to make it to the safety of the UK, where he became my foster brother. (He shares that whole journey in Season One of this podcast if you want to go back and listen). A few years after Mez left, his younger brother Josi also fled Eritrea for the same reasons. He too crossed the Sahara, after which he got stuck in Libya, where he tried several times to cross the mediterranean sea unsuccessfully. Here, he had a very difficult time, facing modern day slavery, forced imprisonment and many other life-threatening risks. During this time, Mez was doing everything he could to bring Josi to us and our family in the UK, safely and legally. It was a long and painful process that at times seemed impossible. In today’s episode, you will be hearing the climax of this journey, the most incredible reunion of Mez and his brother Josi, and what life has been like since they found their way back to each other after ten years aart and many, many challenges. You'll hear from Mez, my mum, Mez and Josi's immigration lawyer and most importantly... Josi himself! Let us know what you think of this episode by sending us a message on Instagram To support the show and help us to keep bringing you these stories: https://www.patreon.com/asylumspeakers Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is an episode and a story that I’ve been wanting to share for nearly two years... and I am so happy to finally be able to do so! This episode is about my Eritrean foster brother Mez and his younger brother Josi. A few years after Mez left Eritrea to avoid compulsory military service, so too did his little brother Josi. Josi is two years younger than Mez and they grew up doing everything together. They wore the same clothes, liked all the same things and Mez described him as being his little shadow. So despite Mez’s warnings of how dangerous it was, it’s no wonder that when he also became of age to be called up to the military, Josi chose to follow in his older brothers footsteps and flee the dictatorship in which he lived, in the hope of joining his older brother here in the UK. Unfortunately, since Mez made the 9-month journey, things have only got harder, and Josi has spent the last four years on this journey. Most of that time he has been trapped in Libya, trying to cross the Mediterranean sea to make it to the safety of Europe. He has attempted the sea crossing four times, been captured by the Libyan coastguard four times, thrown into Libyan smuggler prison and suffered the unimaginable horrors that come with that. Beatings, torture, modern day slavery, starvation and more. This is the story of how Mez has spent the last few years doing everything he possibly can to get his brother to safety. It's a very personal episode and I hope you enjoy it. Part two coming soon! -- To support the show: https://www.patreon.com/theworldwidetribe This episode is brought to you by Skin + Me - a personalized skincare solution that has not only transformed my skin, but also my packing experience wherever I’m going. Use the code ASYLUMSPEAKERS for an over 85% discount on your first month. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In today’s episode I speak to the wonderful Imad Al Arnab of Imad’s Syrian Kitchen. Imad has such an amazing story. He was a successful restaurateur in his home city of Damascus, Syria where he owned multiple restaurants, several juice bars and coffee shops. After they were all bombed and it became apparent he had to leave, he made the dangerous journey to the UK, where at first he worked in a car wash and as a car salesman. It didn’t take long for him to go on to open his very successful restaurant in Central London - Imad’s Syrian Kitchen.. He’s now written a recipe book also called Imad’s Syrian Kitchen - a love letter from Damascus to London, and is in the process of opening an even bigger restaurant still in Kingly Court off Carnaby Street. In the run up to interviewing Imad I read loads of articles about his story. In some he spoke about the 65 days he spent living in Calais, holding on to the underside of lorries trying to get to the UK. But most importantly I remember him talking about how cooking was always a part of his journey. How a British Pakistani volunteer had given him a small stove and gas canisters so he could cook for himself and 14 friends. How he didn’t want to carry a knife and appear dangerous so he broke the vegetables up with his hands, and how a local Calais resident had been annoyed with them fishing close by, until one day Imad offered him some of the dish he had made with the fish, and from then on, he allowed Imad and his friends to charge their phones at his house. Imad is so instantly warm and likeable. We recorded this episode in the restaurant after having lunch there together. I didn’t order, but before I knew it the table was covered in colourful, beautiful dishes. I remembered some of Imad’s words from another article saying “In Syria we don’t ask ‘what do you want to eat? We just serve lots of food and you can eat whatever you like, whenever you like. It’s like family.” I LOVED Imad’s positive outlook and came away from the conversation totally topped up and inspired… I’m so sure you will too… -- To support the show: https://www.patreon.com/theworldwidetribe This episode is brought to you by Skin + Me - a personalized skincare solution that has not only transformed my skin, but also my packing experience wherever I’m going. Use the code ASYLUMSPEAKERS for an over 85% discount on your first month. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In today’s episode we’re exploring what it’s like to be displaced and part of the LGBTQ+ community. This episode is dedicated to everyone who sits at this intersection, and faces not only the challenges of being an asylum seeker or a refugee, but also the discrimination that comes with their sexuality or gender identity. We will hear from three people. A new friend of mine Hiba - the first openly trans filmmaker in Pakistan and is now living in London and seeking asylum in the UK. My other two guests today I’ll be keeping anonymous. One of them, we’ll call him A - runs a shelter for LGBTQ+ refugees from all over the world in Istanbul where he lives as a refugee himself from Iraq. My final guest M, you might remember from a previous episode recorded at his home in Beirut. He’s Syrian and lives as a refugee in Lebanon with his boyfriend, where he told me the painful but powerful story about what happened to them. These are three very important voices, and ones we all need to listen to. To support the show: https://www.patreon.com/theworldwidetribe This episode is brought to you by Skin + Me - a personalized skincare solution that has not only transformed my skin, but also my packing experience wherever I’m going. Use the code ASYLUMSPEAKERS for an over 85% discount on your first month. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we hear the incredible story of Ayman Alhussein. Ayman is an actor, cinematographer and co-writer of amazing new short film, Matar, directed by Hassan Akkad, starring Ahmed Malek and available to watch online, for free on Waterbear. The film Matar tells the story of an undocumented delivery driver in London and highlights the challenges of navigating hostile environment Britain and its broken asylum system. This podcast episode brings you the incredible real life story behind the film. Ayman’s story. To support the show: https://www.patreon.com/theworldwidetribe Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week’s guest is one of my favourite storytellers ever. Filmmaker Nadir Nahdi speaks so beautifully about his upbringing spanning many cultures, the ways that food has woven those pieces together and why the stories he tells and the films he makes are so disruptively important in our society today. I was introduced to Nadir’s work through his most recent youtube series Bad Pakistani about his journey through Pakistan to explore and understand his Pakistani heritage. I loved it. His work spans themes of culture, travel, heritage, belonging, food and more - all my favourite topics. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did… To support the show: https://www.patreon.com/theworldwidetribe This episode is brought to you by Skin + Me - a personalized skincare solution that has not only transformed my skin, but also my packing experience wherever I’m going. Use the code ASYLUMSPEAKERS for an over 85% discount on your first month. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to the FINAL episode of The Journey! Today’s episode is designed to speak to that rhetoric that refugees or asylum seekers might be a burden... that they take from us, economically, culturally, or whatever that fear might be. I’m honoured to be able to share multiple examples of how much we have to gain from welcoming refugees and asylum seekers with open arms. This episode came to be because along this journey we met many people working in grassroots refugee response, who have lived experience of migration themselves. By this I mean, refugees, people who have been displaced themselves, going on to support others in their same situation. So this episode is about those inspirational people turning their struggle into something incredible, going full circle and using their knowledge, expertise and depth of understanding through personal experience, to give back to their community. This episode is in honour of them. We first hear from Nour and James, founders of The Great Oven. They build giant community ovens and donate them to those in need. Next we hear from my lovely friend Danika who works unaccompanied minors in Paris. Her approach to humanitarian work has always inspired me. Finally, we finish with some inportant words from Mustafa of Velos Youth. To find out more about the organisations featured in this episode: https://www.greatoven.org/ https://velosyouth.org/ To support this podcast: https://patreon.com/theworldwidetribe To buy our merch: https://theworldwidetribeshop.com/ – Many of the people we spoke to along this journey are being supported by projects funded by Comic Relief. Thanks to donations from the UK public, Comic Relief's Across Borders programme has invested over £7 million in organisations supporting refugees and people seeking asylum along these routes. Find out more about Comic Relief’s work and how to support it at comicrelief.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back to Episode FIVE of The Journey - a 6-part podcast series following migration routes from Africa, The Middle East and Ukraine, to northern Europe. Today’s episode is about what life looks like for people once they make it to their final destination. What is life like in their host country? What’s new and difficult? What does integration look like or even mean? What can we, as listeners do to help with this process? We begin this episode in Athens where we hear from the wonderful Murtaza from Afghanistan. We also hear from Anneke - founder of UK-bassed befriending service Host Nation, and two people who have benefitted from her service - Henry and Afeworki. We finish with some final words from Susie in Cairo and Dalal in Lebanon talking about life in your new country. To find out more about the organisations featured in this episode: https://www.hostnation.org.uk/ https://velosyouth.org/ To support this podcast: https://patreon.com/theworldwidetribe To buy our merch: https://theworldwidetribeshop.com/ – Many of the people we spoke to along this journey are being supported by projects funded by Comic Relief. Thanks to donations from the UK public, Comic Relief's Across Borders programme has invested over £7 million in organisations supporting refugees and people seeking asylum along these routes. Find out more about Comic Relief’s work and how to support it at comicrelief.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In his memoir about leaving Syria to life in the UK, my friend Hassan (also a previous podcast guest), shared the terrifying experience he had when attempting to reach Greece by boat. His rubber dinghy was approached by three masked men on a bigger boat, who stole their petrol tank and violently pushed them away from the shore. What Hassan experienced was a pushback. What are pushbacks you might ask, well…in short, a pushback is when refugees and migrants are forced back over a border, generally immediately after they have crossed it. It is not just illegal to send someone back without consideration or assessment of their individual circumstances, but the violence with which these pushbacks are often carried out is costing lives. Welcome back to Episode FOUR of The Journey - a 6-part podcast series following migration routes from Africa, The Middle East and Ukraine, to northern Europe. So far this season we’ve explored the reasons why people are leaving their countries, we’ve taken a look at what life looks like in the first countries they arrive to and we’ve delved into the risks they face along their journey’s. Today’s episode is a very important one. Before we went on this trip we had a rough idea of what the themes of these episodes might be…. But this one was unexpected. Pretty much every person we spoke to, and definitely in every country along the way we heard stories about pushbacks. In this episode we hear from academics, aid workers and also the testimony of someone who has actually lived the experience of being pushed back. This is a shocking topic and episode, but one I truly believe we all need to know about, as the first step to stopping these pushbacks from happening at our borders. To support this podcast: https://patreon.com/theworldwidetribe To buy our merch: https://theworldwidetribeshop.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to Episode THREE of The Journey - a 6-part podcast series following migration routes from Africa, The Middle East and Ukraine, to northern Europe. So far this season we’ve explored the reasons why people are leaving their countries, and taken a look at what life looks like in the first countries they arrive to. As a result of how difficult things can be in that first country, we also know that many people are forced to continue their journey until they find a country where they can live in safety… But what do these journey’s look like? How do people cross borders, often without passports, visas or documentation? Do they use smugglers? Whats it like crossing the desert or the mountains or the sea? We might have seen the newspaper articles about how dangerous these journey’s can be, but let’s hear it directly from the people with lived experience… In this episode we hear from a young Afghan friend of mine, Shikhali, about how he crossed land and sea to make it to safety in France. We also hear some familiar voices such as Anne O'Rorke in Turkey, and Susie and Rashid in Egypt. To find out more about the organisations featured in this episode: https://tiafi.org/ https://www.syrianeyes.org/ https://stars-egypt.org/ To support this podcast: https://patreon.com/theworldwidetribe To buy our merch: https://theworldwidetribeshop.com/ – Many of the people we spoke to along this journey are being supported by projects funded by Comic Relief. Thanks to donations from the UK public, Comic Relief's Across Borders programme has invested over £7 million in organisations supporting refugees and people seeking asylum along these routes. Find out more about Comic Relief’s work and how to support it at comicrelief.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back to Episode TWO of The Journey - a 6-part podcast series following migration routes from Africa, The Middle East and Ukraine, to northern Europe. People often ask me ‘Why don’t refugees stay in the first safe country they land in? It’s a comment I see a lot on social media and one I feel there is a lot of judgment and misinformation around. This episode is designed to answer exactly that. I’d like everyone who genuinely wonders about this question, to be able to listen to this and fully understand why a person’s journey can go on to span many countries. We’ll be hearing from six incredible women... both refugees and people working in the humanitarian space in countries like Turkey and Lebanon, that border Syria and other conflict zones…. Our first stop in Turkey, the country which hosts the most refugees in the world. Here we visit Anne O'Rorke, an retired entrepreneur who left her home in Ireland to set up a community centre for Syrians in Turkey called Tiafi. Next up we head to Beirut where we hear from Dalal, who works for UNHCR, and my lovely friend Dara from Syrian eyes. The final stop is Egypt where you will hear from another four incredible women from Eritrea, South Sudan, Egypt and America about what life looks like for refugees here. It's a big and important episode. Remember to let me know your thoughts! To find out more about the organisations featured in this episode: https://tiafi.org/ https://www.syrianeyes.org/ https://stars-egypt.org/ To support this podcast: https://patreon.com/theworldwidetribe To buy our merch: https://theworldwidetribeshop.com/ – Many of the people we spoke to along this journey are being supported by projects funded by Comic Relief. Thanks to donations from the UK public, Comic Relief's Across Borders programme has invested over £7 million in organisations supporting refugees and people seeking asylum along these routes. Find out more about Comic Relief’s work and how to support it at comicrelief.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I’m so happy to be bringing you episode 1 of The Journey - a 6-part podcast series following migration routes from Africa, The Middle East and Ukraine, to northern Europe. In this episode we’re starting from the beginning and exploring why people first embark on their journey. Why do people leave their countries and everything they ever knew behind? What are the push factors? We’ll be hearing from people from all over the world about the circumstances that forced them to first become a refugee. Our journey begins in North Africa, in Cairo, the capital city of Egypt, where we spent a week meeting many young people who have fled countries all over Africa, such as Eritrea, South Sudan, Nigeria, Sudan and Somalia and more, and are now living in Egypt. You will hear from Ahmad from Nigeria, Albino from South Sudan and Radhid from Somalia. We then head to Lebanon and hear from ‘M’ who shares a different reason for leaving his country - his sexuality. Next we head to Greece to hear from Mustafa, who runs Velos Youth - a wonderful organisation supporting young asylum seekers in Athens. Finally we hear a short poem from a young Syrian named Mohamed in Istanbul, Turkey. To find out more about the organisations featured in this episode: https://stars-egypt.org/ https://velosyouth.org/ To buy our merch: https://theworldwidetribeshop.com/ To support this podcast: https://patreon.com/theworldwidetribe – Many of the people we spoke to along this journey are being supported by projects funded by Comic Relief. Thanks to donations from the UK public, Comic Relief's Across Borders programme has invested over £7millon in organisations supporting refugees and people seeking asylum along these routes. Find out more about Comic Relief’s work and how to support it at comicrelief.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine on the 24th February, I think it’s safe to say we’ve all been thinking about the Ukrainian people. This week I’ve been in neighboring Poland, (which, at the time of recording this is now estimated to be home to 4 million Ukrainian refugees). I’ve been honoured to speak to some incredible people both leaving Ukraine and volunteers and NGO’s on the ground supporting those leaving Ukraine. In this episode you will hear from Iryna - who fled Ukraine after finding out she was on the Russian kill list, Cat and James, both volunteers from California, and Elmi Abdi, a Somali refugee in Poland, supporting non-Ukrainian’s leaving Ukraine. To directly support Elmi Abdi’s incredible work: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/nonukrainiansinukraine To check out Love Welcomes, our wonderful sponsor: https://www.lovewelcomes.org/ (remember to use the discount code WWT at check out for 10% off) To buy our merch: https://theworldwidetribeshop.com/ To support this podcast: https://www.patreon.com/theworldwidetribe Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Period Poverty. You might no know what this term means yet, but this episode will tell you everything you need to know. In it we hear from six incredible women from five organisations working to tackle period poverty from the ground up. If you would like to find out more about their wonderful work, check them out here: Ella Lambert - founder of The Pachamamma Project Melissa Robel - founder of Pads 4 Refugees Dara Foi'Elle - Syrian Eyes Team Dalal - The Free Shop Lebanon Meelie Pemberton - founder of Wing Woman Lebanon Abir - employee of Wing Woman Lebanon To support our podcast: https://www.patreon.com/theworldwidetribe To check out our amazing sponsor Love Welcomes: https://www.lovewelcomes.org/ To buy some merch: https://theworldwidetribeshop.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This International Women's Day, It's only right that I bring you the story of one of the most incredible women that I know... Khalida Popal. Khalida grew up playing football with her brothers in Afghanistan, and even though she faced serious discrimination from her community as a result, she went on to form the Afghan women’s football league with her friends. Despite death threats at the hands of extremist and anti-women's-rights groups, she went on to be the first woman on the board of the Afghan football federation, the first female employee of the federation, and the captain of the Women’s National Team after being the driving force behind it’s growth. But as Khalida’s profile grew, so too did the threat to her safety, and Khalida was forced to leave Afghanistan and begin her journey as a refugee. After living in various refugee camps she has been granted asylum in Denmark, but has never lost ties with her homeland. Last year, when the Taliban seized power of Afghanistan, Khalida worked tirelessly to campaign for the safe evacuation of the Afghan women’s football teams, who had become targets to the Taliban (who do not allow women to participate in or even attend sporting events). Khalida rallied the international community and was eventually successful in safely evacuating over 300 people - the players and their familes, to both Australia and the UK. Khalida continues to advocate for the rights of women and girls through her organisation Girl Power, which uses sport as a tool to empower, connect and unify women and girls from all cultures and social backgrounds. This episode is brought to you by Love Welcomes: https://www.lovewelcomes.org/ To support this podcast: https://www.patreon.com/theworldwidetribe Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today’s podcast episode is about a country very close to my heart - Sudan. Like most people in the UK, I grew up without any knowledge of what was happening in Sudan. In my history lessons at school I learnt about the Holocaust and the ethnic cleansing that happened during the second world war, but I learnt nothing about the current genocide in Sudan that continues to this day. It wasn’t until I went to uni and I somehow blagged my way onto a scholarship programme to study Mandarin in Beijing, (a story for another time), but I was sharing a room with a now good friend of mine Anna, who was studying the genocide in Darfur (a region in Sudan) for her degree. She was my first introduction to the situation there. She gave me the context, she told me stories about what she was reading, and I remember lying in bed one night in our room in Beijing, watching a film together called ‘Attack on Darfur’ - a hollywoodised, but pretty accurate depiction of what is happening there. That film still haunts me honestly. This is a warning for anyone who watches it - it was the most heartbreaking film I’ve ever seen, but it served a very important purpose for me. Fast forward about 5 years or so and I found myself in the Calais Jungle refugee camp for the first time, chatting to a guy there who told me he was from Darfur. As he talked about how his village had been burnt to the ground and he showed me the scars on his legs from where bullets had hit him, I thought back to that film and those conversations with Anna, and I was grateful that I knew even just a little bit about what he was telling me. I realised though that I still had a lot to learn. Since then, I’ve met many wonderful Sudanese people along my journey. I’m happy to call some of them my best friends, you guys might remember my conversation with Awad in Episode 2, and I also have a Sudanese foster brother. This episode comes after many conversations with them about the best way to encourage understanding and awareness for the people of Sudan. It aims to be a comprehensive introduction into the history, but through personal stories that make this information accessible to everyone. In it we hear from three wonderful women sharing their knowledge and stories about Sudan. First, Sonja and Maddy, from an amazing organisation called Waging Peace who support the Sudanese community in the UK, then Marwa, who shares her personal experience of living in and leaving Sudan. Her testimony is an honour to be able to include and share with you. To learn more about Waging Peace: https://wagingpeace.info/ To check out the products made by our lovely sponsor: https://www.lovewelcomes.org/ (use the code WWT for 10% off at checkout) To support Asylum Speakers by buying a t-shirt or a hoodie: https://theworldwidetribeshop.com/ To support Asylum Speakers by donating: https://www.patreon.com/theworldwidetribe To get in touch: https://www.instagram.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I’m so excited to introduce you to our guest for this episode... Syrian filmmaker, activist and most recently, author, Hassan Akkad! Hassan is the very first person I ever heard speak about their experience leaving Syria first hand, and it’s safe to say that it had a huge impact on me. Not only has Hassan shared his incredible story through talks and at events, he actually first became known for filming his journey from Syria to the UK - and his iconic footage was shown on the BBC documentary, Exodus back in 2016 for which he won a BAFTA. Since then, Hassan’s passion and dedication to telling his and other important stories has taken him all over the world, including to his local hospital where he worked as a cleaner during the pandemic. In September last year, Hassan published his incredible memoir, Hope not Fear. I read it in a couple of days and even though I thought I knew his story, it absolutely blew me away. In today’s episode we talk about his journey, his book, how candid he was in it, who he didn’t want to read it and why, and at the end he tells the story of the beautiful reunion he recently had with his family after many years of not being together. You can find Hassan's book here This episode is sponsored by the incredible Love Welcomes (Remember to use the code WWT at checkout for 10% off.) To support this show and keep us sharing these stories, you can donate here: https://www.patreon.com/theworldwidetribe Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is an extra special bonus episode in which I ask some of my amazing previous podcast guests - 'What does Freedom mean to you?' As we come to the end of Season 5, it felt good to touch base with a few old friends of the show, as well as to explore a theme I have been discussing with the team at Amnesty UK - human rights. We all know we have rights, no matter where we come from, but not everyone (including myself) is super clear on what their human rights actually are. @AmnestyUK have come up with a campaign called #KnowYourFreedoms, to help raise awareness about the four essential freedoms that belong to all of us. As part of this campaign I have put together a very special bonus episode of the podcast to explore the concept of freedom and what it actually means. The freedom to be whoever you were born to be is a fundamental human right <3 #CreativeCommission #FreedomToImagine To support this podcast: https://www.patreon.com/theworldwidetribe Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I’ve got a bit of a different episode from normal in store for you today as I’m going to take you with me on a really fun experience I had recently.... a Lebanese cookery class. Let me explain... My guest this week is Ahmad Sinnu. We met through one of my all time favourite organisations Migrateful. Migrateful run cookery classes led by refugees, asylum seekers and migrants who are otherwise struggling to integrate or access employment. These cookery classes are absolutely amazing. They not only provide the teachers with ideal conditions for learning English and building confidence, but also promoting connection and cultural exchange with their new community - and as a participant, you learn something new and you get to eat it which is a win-win for me. I’ve been to a couple of these classes in person now, and also done one online, and they’re awesome. Anything that revolves around food makes me happy and these classes bring together everything I love - cooking, eating and meeting new and interesting people from all over the world. So a couple of weeks ago i went to Ahmad’s Lebanese cooking class to learn how to make vegan moussaka and tabbouleh. Ahmad is an asylum seeker. He left Lebanon 6 years ago after being shot on two separate occasions, leaving him in a wheelchair. He worked for the Lebanese red cross and learnt to cook when his parents passed away when he was young. So the first part of this episode is the cookery itself, and the second half if a beautiful conversation I had with Ahmad the following day. I hope you enjoy it! To find out more or book your own cookery class: https://www.migrateful.org/ To support this podcast: https://www.patreon.com/theworldwidetribe Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For anyone who doesn’t remember the incredible story of the Stansted 15 - they are a group of human rights activists who organised a non-violent action to stop a deportation flight leaving from Stansted on the night of the 28 March 2017. The plane they stopped from leaving the UK was chartered by the UK Home Office to deport 60 people to Ghana, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. Amongst these people were several victims of human trafficking. Most deportations in the UK take place on normal scheduled flights with other passengers not being deported, but up to 2,000 people a year are deported on these secretive mass deportation flights, specifically chartered by the Home Office. They take place at night, and the passengers are often shackled in chains and waist restraint belts or leg restraints. This is what the Stansted 15 wanted to expose. Their aim was to stop these charter flights from happening altogether. What actually happened after that day, was the group were arrested, and instead of being charged with aggravated trespassing, the usual charge for a non-violent action like this at an airport, they were charged with terrorism charges carrying a maximum sentence of life in prison. Almost two years after the action they endured a 10-week-trial and were initially found guilty, but this conviction was eventually overturned in January of this year and their names were cleared. Very importantly, as a result of their action, 11 of those 60 people due to be deported that night, now legally live in the UK. To me, thats a huge success. I closely followed this story as it was unfolding and have always wanted to talk to a member of this group. I’ve just always thought it was an absolutely incredible thing to do. So I reached out to a few of them for this episode and got the general sense that this whole process had taken a huge emotional toll on them all, and they were busy trying to rebuild a sense of normality. But one member of the group, Mel, was happy to meet me and invited me to her house. I was immediately totally enamoured by her as soon we met and we spent the afternoon together chatting, she made us sandwiches and we went for a walk in the forest. Mel has a real sense of calm and a sweetness and strength about her that hopefully comes through in this conversation. This story is so inspiring to me and I hope you enjoy it . Support the show (https://www.justgiving.com/prism-worldwidetribe) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.