May 2, 2022

What we can learn from treating Ukrainian refugees differently

Most of us have been watching the images of Ukrainian refugees fleeing their country, crossing borders to find a new home in Western Europe. I have been asking refugees from other countries to share their views and advice about what’s happening. Here’s my latest conversation with Anila Noor, a refugee and founder of New Women Connectors (NWC), a Netherlands-based organisation that advocates systemic change in migration policies and helps connect refugee and migrant women in Europe and beyond (disclaimer: I am a board member). Anila is no stranger to this blog, as you can read here. Once again, her views give us pause.
January 10, 2022

Refugiados para refugiados: entrevista con Eliasib Amet Herrera de Colombia

El mes pasado, ACNUR, la agencia de refugiados de las Naciones Unidas, organizó una conferencia mundial para discutir el progreso del Pacto Mundial sobre los Refugiados, un acuerdo de 2018 alcanzado por los gobiernos, la sociedad civil, el sector privado y muchos otros actores para mejorar el apoyo internacional a los más de 26 millones de refugiados diseminados por todo el mundo. Como he hecho en otras ocasiones similares, decidí acercarme a un refugiado y escuchar sus opiniones sobre la conferencia. Tuve la suerte de reunirme con Amet Elisiab Herrera, una refugiada colombiana que se ha reasentado en México. Lo conocí justo cuando estaba a punto de conocer a sus abuelos de nuevo en Colombia por primera vez en veinte años. Un momento muy emotivo para Amet y toda su familia.
August 7, 2020

Local organisations and international cooperation: the case of Uganda’s Global Refugee Initiatives

My last (pre-COVID) intern has been a Ugandan woman, Mary Akugizibwe. Not only did she bring with her solid international experience, including with the Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and the United Nations; she also contributed unique views on humanitarian aid and development as the founder of a local Ugandan organisation, Global Refugee Initiatives. It has been an honour working with Mary. Here are some of her reflections on local and international cooperation.
June 19, 2020
Reshad

Refugees for refugees in the age of Covid-19: interview with Reshad Jalali from Afghanistan

20 June is World Refugee Day. This year, humanitarian and refugee agencies will mark it very differently due to the coronavirus pandemic, but for millions of refugees and other forcibly displaced people, little will change. For many of them, putting food on the table remains a bigger challenge than avoiding getting infected. I talk about these competing priorities and possible solutions with Reshad Jalali, Policy Officer at the Brussels-based European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE).
November 26, 2019

It’s time to talk about climate migrants

This year marks the first review of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) or Global Goals, the seventeen objectives universally agreed to advance human progress by 2030. I discuss this progress, particularly in the fight against climate change, with Maria Theresa (Tetet) Nera Lauron. Tetet is an Advisor at the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation office in Manila, Philippines. Prior to this role, she closely followed the climate change negotiations leading to the landmark Paris Agreement in 2015. 
July 17, 2019

Migration and development: views from Morocco

The recent influx of refugees and migrants to Europe has brought to light the complexity of migration and how it is often linked to the development of the countries these people are escaping from. I discuss these issues with a former colleague of mine, Anas El Hasnaoui, who represents the Arab NGO Network for Development. Anas talks about the linkages between migration and development, particularly in his region, North Africa.
June 17, 2019

Refugees for refugees: Interview with Shaza Nabeel Al-Rihawi

For my second interview with refugees advocating on behalf of other refugees I have reached out to Shaza Nabeel Al-Rihawi, a Syrian woman who now lives in Germany, where she works for the research institute LifBi. Shaza is also a member of the European Migrant Advisory Board and the co-founder of the Network for Refugee Voices. As World Refugee Day fast approaches, Shaza recalls the many challenges she has had to face to reunite with her family, rebuild her life from scratch and strive to improve refugees’ participation in the decisions that directly affect them.
May 27, 2019

Refugees for refugees: Interview with Anila Noor

With this post I have decided to focus almost exclusively on interviewing Southern policy-makers, practitioners and citizens, at least for the next few months. There really isn’t any need to filter what they think of humanitarian aid, development or climate change. The people I meet through my work often only need to have their voices amplified – and that’s what this blog is all about. In the lead up to World Refugee Day on 20 June, it seems fitting to inaugurate a series of interviews I like to call “Refugees for Refugees”.
March 30, 2016

Through migrant eyes

Ever since I started working in development I have been struck by how little we talk about its linkages with migration. Most NGOs specialise in either/or. Very few of them have the courage or the capacity to address migration and development together despite the fact that these issues are often two sides of the same coin. If anything, the growing influx of migrants and refugees into Europe has forced us to start making that link in earnest. Never before have so many people been forced to flee their homes, nearly sixty million worldwide – the equivalent size of Italy’s population.
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