Opinions

Migrant Voice Blogs

17/03/2017

A migrant’s experience - Living with crisis

What do you do when you lose all you worked hard to accomplish? Was it because you gambled it away, or abused some substance which led you to having a mental breakdown, preceding your job loss? And now, no income, you can’t afford to pay your rent or mortgage. Nope.…

16/11/2016

Outside of the Jungle - my diary from Calais

In the weeks preceding its destruction, the settlement known as The Jungle of Calais remained home to over 10,000 refugees, many of them children. In the wake of the Jungle’s demise, refugees’ search for home grows even more critical. I visited Calais October 16-22, 2016 - the week before demolition of…

17/10/2016

Political leaders have resorted to populist attitudes instead of tackling Brexit challenges

For a long-term migrant in the UK from Slovakia, it is worrying how dangerous a discourse the UK has engaged in since the EU vote. We are currently witnessing post-referendum Britain showing little ability to cope with the circumstances and gradually resorting to blaming migrant communities for the political and…

19/08/2016

How UK Politicians Laid the Groundwork for Brexit's Hate Crime Surge

Since the Brexit referendum, the UK has witnessed an explosion in racism and hate crimes. In the second half of June, when the vote took place, some 3,219 hate crimes and incidents were reported to the British police forces. This represented a 37 percent increase compared to the same…

11/07/2016

Brexit: Rise in hate crimes reported after vote

Tales of smashed car windows, children told to go home, a surge in citizenship inquiries, a mosque which cancelled Eid prayers for hundreds out of fear, and a patient in a doctor’s surgery telling her Asian GP to leave the country. Some may be classified as hate incidents rather than…

11/07/2016

A reminder of the fragility of our security and our interconnected well-being

Last week I had the privilege of attending the world premiere of Silence, the sequel to Carmen Funebre, a street theatre production that explored the impact of war on civilians by the Polish company Teatr Biuro Podróży. The performance featured fire, puppets, strobe lights, stilts, bikes, music and more to…

06/07/2016

Eritrean Youth on Fire – the June 23, 2016 historic demonstration in Geneva

The time was around noon on the 23 June 2016. Some of us from UK were on our way to the park near the city centre of Geneva where the march to the office of the UNHCR was due to begin. On the way I met Aida Kidane from Sweden…

24/06/2016

The Vote to leave the EU made me feel unwelcome

I woke up on the morning of the 24th of June 2016 feeling distraught. Knowing that the British public voted to leave the EU made me feel unwelcome in this country, because immigration figured so prominently in the victorious out campaign. Being of both German and Mozambican heritage I have…

16/05/2016

Because I am a Parent - my experiences in Lesvos

Kim wrote about her experiences in Lesvos in December 2015: On the 21st January 2013 my life changed forever, it was the day I found out I was going to be a parent. It was the day my life changed beyond recognition, because from that day onward I saw the…

12/05/2016

EU leaders - your citizens are mobilizing to help refugees while you sit idly by

We first met the Samir family (name changed) at the gates of the Nea Kavala refugee camp, which is run by the Greek military and situated in a field about 20 minutes from the Macedonian border…which remains closed to refugees. We were on our way in and they were very…