Why should you become a foster carer? Elaine and Clare talk about their experiences of fostering UASC and the supported lodging scheme. There are many rewards to fostering, and the city urgently needs new homes for children and young people.



Find out more from the Brighton and Hove council website >>



View upcoming events for people interested in fostering >>

Albania is the subject of a moral panic over crime and trafficking. But what is really happening in the country and what does it mean for the people affected?



In this programme we investigate the relationship of Albanian ethnicity and history to modern issues of immigration, asylum, human trafficking, gangs and the struggle for identity.



Featuring Stephanie Schwander-Sievers, Professor of Applied Anthropology at Bournemouth University, author of a number of works on Albania.



https://staffprofiles.bournemouth.ac.uk/display/sssievers

Patrick interviews Qahraman, an veterinarian from Kurdistan (Iraq), about his experiences of going through the asylum system. Qahraman was housed in Derby, Manchester and finally in Brighton where he started to attend Refugee Radio. Qahraman talk about some of the funny stories that happened to him as a vet and shares some of the painful experiences he has suffered in his long quest for safety.

We talk to Phil Minns from Best Foot Music about the upcoming Razom event with the Ukrainian community and we hear new music from Bashir Al Gamar and a Ukrainian/Syrian fusion from local refugee musicians. We also have Ukrainian hurdy gurdy from Iryna Muha and Kurdish folk from Mohammed Syfkhan.

We talk to Jordan about his experience of fleeing persecution in the DRC and claiming asylum in Eastbourne, Sussex.

Basma Kamel is an activist against FGM and child marriage. She is a refugee from Egypt currently living and studying in the UK. In this interview she talks about her experience as a survivor of FGM and about what we can all do to help stop this harmful practice.



The World Health Organisation states that more than 200 million girls and women have undergone female genital mutilation (FGM) in 30 countries. FGM is mostly carried out on young girls between infancy and 15. It is a non-medical operation with no health benefits. It is a violation of the human rights of girls and women, and 3 million girls are estimated to be at risk of FGM right now.



Basma is involved with a number of projects including Forward UK, African Union, End FGM European Network and more. Please listen to the interview and check out these links to find out more.

Bekkie is a rapper and fashion blogger from Albania. In this programme, we listen to Incongruent Hiphoppa, Bekkie’s latest album, and talk about everything from the transformation of spiritual identity to growing up LGBTQ+ in Albania with only KRS-One and Tupac to guide you.



With thanks to Refugee Radio’s intrepid volunteer, Henry Tydeman.



Listen to Bekkie on Spotify >>



Follow Bekkie on Instagram>>









https://open.spotify.com/embed/artist/3ogKSVjV3vJXFx3GaHK4Pj?utm_source=generator

Kolbassia Haoussou MBE is the co-founder of Survivors Speak OUT, an anti-torture network of refugees at Freedom From Torture. He has been appointed Survivor Champion for the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office initiative Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict  He has addressed the UN General Assembly in New York and the United Nationals Committed Against Torture and now he has given an in-depth interview with Refugee Radio about his life and work.

Steve and Julie G visited the Hummingbird Young Leaders project in Brighton to meet the young refugees who are going to be the future leaders of tomorrow. They told us all about the things they love (and hate!) most, as well as sharing some of their favourite songs.



We would like to say a massive thank you to Bex and Phati for helping us make this programme, and to all of the Young Leaders- Doong, Anita, Ahmed, Roka and Leah.

Dina and Vlada talk about their lives in Ukraine, the impact of the Russian invasion and finding sanctuary in Brighton, UK.



We have wonderful music from Dina’s brilliant new EP, “Songs for Ukraine” which is available now to help raise money for humanitarian aid in Ukraine. With special guest, Phil Minns of Best Foot Music who recorded the EP, live in the studio to tell us more.



https://bestfootmusic.bandcamp.com/album/songs-for-ukraine

“When Ahmad’s life comes under threat by the Taliban in Afghanistan, he leaves his family behind for survival, without saying good bye, and ends up in Europe’s worst Refugee Detention Camp, Moria.” So begins Ahmad’s odyssey, a journey through the international refugee crisis that he chose to record, using his skills as a film-maker and his personal struggle as the focus of a new documentary, Citizen of Moria.



Moria is a refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos. Originally intended for 3,000 people, it soon found itself home to more than 20,000. Moria is a stark symbol of Europe’s failure to respond to the scale of the crisis and of the humanitarian consequences of war in an overpopulated world.



In this interview, we talk to Ahmad about life in the camp and the making of the film, and we talk to the director Jawad Mir, who co-produced the film with Ahmad. Please visit the film’s official website to find out more and for news of upcoming screenings: https://citizenofmoriafilm.com/

Nanaha lives in a refugee camp for Saharawis in the Algerian desert. She works as a teacher for the Sandblast charity. In this programme Nanaha talks about her life and the experiences of her mother and grandmother when they were driven out of their home and forced into a life of exile for more than forty years. We also talk to Danielle, the director of Sandblast about their work in the camp and how people can get involved.



Find out more about Nanaha’s story >>



Find out more about the history of the Saharawi struggle >>



Find out more about the work of the Sandblast charity >>

Osba left his home in Ethiopia aged 15 after he was persecuted as a member of the Oromo ethnic group. He crossed the desert to Libya in search of a safe place to settle, but found himself in more danger than ever. His journey took him across the Mediterranean and through Europe where he slept rough in Paris with other asylum seekers. In this interview he tells us about his journey and about the people who helped him to find a new home.

Alvina Chibhamu was badly failed by maternity services and by the Home Office when she found herself having to claim asylum while pregnant.



In this programme, Alvina speaks about her experiences and we hear from Yusuf Ciftci about a new Doctors of the World report highlighting the scandal of failures in maternity care for asylum seekers.



Alvina Chibhamu is a human rights activist and podcaster from Zimbabwe. She is the Executive Secretary of the UK Chapter of Restoration of Human Rights Zimbabwe and is a board member of the Scottish Refugee Council. Alvina also volunteers as a doula with Amma Birth Companions.



Yusuf Ciftci is the Policy and Advocacy Manager – Participation Lead for Doctors of the World UK, part of the Médecins du Monde network. He is a refugee and is the founder of Experts by Experience Employment Initiative which helps organisations who want to employ refugees.



This podcast was recorded by Christianne Silverwood in 2022.




Download the full report here: “They don’t count us as anything” by Doctors of the World>>

Shahireh Sharif is an Iranian writer and photographer. She recently performed her solo work, “I am an Orange Dot,” about a refugee in an orange life vest floating in the ocean, for Refugee Week 2022. Some of her fiction in English and Farsi is available via her website, Jar of Words. In this interview about her life and work we are joined by our dear friend, Farah Mohebati.









In this programme, Farah also discusses Táhirih (طاهره, “The Pure One”), who was an Iranian poet living in the 19th Century.

Yusuf and Mjed are two refugee entrepreneurs who are kickstarting their exciting new social enterprises. In this programme we find out all about their plans and discover the capabilities and untapped potential of refugees in the UK.



“We think this message is crucial, to turn mainstream audiences away from victimising refugees and towards the truth,” says Fred Kastner of TERN, “that refugees can very much create the best solutions for refugees and asylum seekers (and other communities), if they get fair representation and access to resources”



Ideas into Action is a programme that supports people from a refugee background who live in the UK to develop their own social enterprises and non-profits. It provides specialist support including workshops, professional coaching, business, marketing and fundraising information and skills training, as well as public-facing events. It is being delivered by TERN and Result CIC in a new partnership with Social Enterprise UK.



Find out more>> Linktree









“Experts by Experience”, by Yusuf Citfci. Support the Crowdfunder: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/refugee-employment and connect with Yusuf on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yusuf-ciftci/









Introducing ‘WeReBuild’, social enterprise helping refugee trades people, by Mjed. Support the Crowdfunder: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/wererbuild and connect with Mjed on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mjed-kouri-263510195/

Syrian-born architect and artist, Mohamad Hafez, takes us on a walk through the stree-tscenes of his miniature dioramas that transport the eye back to an imagined Damascus, before and after the Syrian war. We explore the visual conversation with homesickness and exile in a discussion of his work.



Mohamad Hafez’s new exhibition, “Journeys from an Absent Present to a Lost Past”, is on show now at the Fabrica gallery as part of the Brighton arts festival (Wednesday-Sunday 12-6pm every day until 29th May 2022).



You can find more images of the work and previous exhibitions at the official website for Mohamad Hafez.

Marwa Al-Sabouni is an architect and writer from Homs, Syria. In this interview she talks about the problems in Syria before the war and the challenge of rebuilding.



Building for Hope and The Battle for Home, by Marwa Al-Sabouni, are available now from Thames and Hudson.



This interview was recorded by Anna and Steve (with support from Rami) for Refugee Radio as official media partners of Brighton Festival 2022. Marwa is appearing in conversation on the 14th May. Find out more >>

Part Two of the interview:







Nasrin Parvaz is a women’s and civil rights activist from Iran. She published her book “One Woman’s Struggle in Iran” with Victorina Press in 2018 about her experience of being arrested, tortured and sentenced to death for her activism. Her first novel, the Secret Letters from X to A, is out now.



You can find out more at Nasrin Parvaz’s official website.



This interview was recorded by Alex Evangelou as part of our new oral history project funded by the Heritage Lottery.

This programme is dedicated to the memory of Angelina, the beloved sister of our friend, Alex Ntung. Angelina was murdered by the DRC army in 2021, a victim of the genocide against the Banyamulenge.



The Banyamulenge villages are burnt, the people are massacred and the survivors are driven into refugee camps which are then subject to attack, all under the nose of the UN. Why is this happening and what can be done to prevent their extermination?



Featuring:



* Adele Kibasumba, the president of the Mahoro Peace Association;* Amber Maze, the co founder of the Crane Center for Mass Atrocity Prevention;* Dr Gregory Stanton, former Research Professor in Genocide Studies and Prevention at the George Mason University and the founder of Genocide Watch;* Thomas Shacklock, the Deputy Manager of Genocide Watch



Please note that this programme contains information about events that are inherently disturbing. While we have taken care to be as accurate as possible, some details of the lynching of Major Kaminzobe are still under investigation.



Photo (c) Amjambo Africa.




Mahoro Peace Association (MPA) is a community organisation which promotes development of its members living in the US and supports peacebuilding, victims of armed conflits and displaced people in Eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.





Genocide Watch exists to predict, prevent, stop, and punish genocide and other forms of mass murder. Their purpose is to build an international movement to prevent and stop genocide. Genocide Watch is the coordinating organization of The Alliance Against Genocide (AAG), an international coalition of organizations. The AAG aims to educate the general public and policymakers about the causes, processes, and warning signs of genocide; to create the institutions and political will to prevent and stop genocide; and to bring perpetrators of genocide to justice.





The Crane Center for Mass Atrocity Prevention seeks to foster sustainable peace and prevent mass violence around the world through practical research, educator empowerment, and civic literacy.