Articles

Meet Elham Fardad, the campaigner unlocking young migrants’ potential

THURSDAY 4 NOVEMBER, 2021 Elham Fardad thought she had “done alright”, as she puts it. Originally from Iran, she had lived in the UK since she was 13 years old, and had now worked successfully as a Finance Director in large companies for 23 years. Things hadn’t always been easy, and in her first few years in the country, she had faced her own challenges: she had to learn a new language, had changed three state schools in three years, and her family had broken up. At 18, she was…

THURSDAY 4 NOVEMBER, 2021 Elham Fardad thought she had “done alright”, as she puts it. Originally from Iran, she had lived in the UK since she was 13 years old,…

‘Here, you can play for everyone in the world’

THURSDAY 21 OCTOBER, 2021 Syrian musician Basel Saleh speaks to Migrant Voice about his career so far, and and his plans to make us all fall in love with the oud - one of the world’s oldest instruments. Destruction forced Basel Saleh to Britain, death brought him into contact with musicians at a London street party, and determination is enabling him to carve out a musical career in a new country. The destruction was in Syria, the death was that of British MP Jo Cox, and the determination is evident…

THURSDAY 21 OCTOBER, 2021 Syrian musician Basel Saleh speaks to Migrant Voice about his career so far, and and his plans to make us all fall in love with the…

Florin’s story: “I am proud to run a successful immigrant-led business”

MONDAY 18 OCTOBER, 2021 My name is Florin Mandache, I was born in Iasi, Romania, and have lived in Scotland since 2000. Since my student days, I have loved to travel and, in the summer of 2000, was working in Malaga, Spain unlocking mobile phones. While living there, I would go to a local nightclub with my flatmates. One night I met Carolyn, who would later become my wife. The two of us just clicked, and decided that when Carolyn went back Scotland that we should try to continue the…

MONDAY 18 OCTOBER, 2021 My name is Florin Mandache, I was born in Iasi, Romania, and have lived in Scotland since 2000. Since my student days, I have loved to…

How thinking out of the box raised migrant voices in the People’s History Museum

A five-woman “community programme team” has shown how a museum can highlight migration by thinking out of the box – literally. “Wars, Trade, Empire and Slavery” got a brief mention in a small box in a permanent exhibit, a large mind map on the wall of the People’s History Museum in Manchester about how British people won the right to vote. There was no explanation and no link to other exhibits. The programme community team – Jo Yee Cheung, Monika Titãne, Agnes Fough, Muliana Adjamian, Einas Khaleel, who have lived in eight…

A five-woman “community programme team” has shown how a museum can highlight migration by thinking out of the box – literally. “Wars, Trade, Empire and Slavery” got a brief mention…

The Afghan refugee situation has exposed what’s wrong with the proposed Nationality and Borders Bill

WEDNESDAY 29 SEPTEMBER, 2021 Escaping for your life is never going to be a neat, orderly affair, where you can carry all your evidence with you or travel via conventional routes. This has been starkly illustrated by events in Afghanistan over the last month. Even UK passport holders are stuck in Afghanistan. Yet, the Nationality and Borders Bill would make journeying to the UK without permission a criminal offence. Compared to the 2.2 million Afghan refugees in Iran and Pakistan alone, the UK government has said it will only accept 20,000…

WEDNESDAY 29 SEPTEMBER, 2021 Escaping for your life is never going to be a neat, orderly affair, where you can carry all your evidence with you or travel via conventional…

I'm A Migrant: Dipesh Pandya on being an activist through art

One of Dipesh Pandya’s earliest memories is also his first experience as a migrant: at three years old, while migrating from his native Tanzania to England, he and his grandmother were held by immigration control authorities in Heathrow. Speaking on Zoom from his home in Margate, southeast England, he describes how they “had to go through a process of proving” that they were allowed to be there. Dipesh is an artist and activist whose work focuses on race and migration – a venture he was inspired to pursue as a…

One of Dipesh Pandya’s earliest memories is also his first experience as a migrant: at three years old, while migrating from his native Tanzania to England, he and his grandmother…

Immigrants and the NHS: hidden hands, hidden history

MONDAY 19 JULY, 2021 In the latest of our occasional commentaries on the coverage of migration in the media, Daniel Nelson looks at BBC One's new programme Our NHS: A Hidden History. The NHS is a system that needs migrants but didn’t always want them. That is one of historian and commentator David Olusoga’s opening shots in his BBC One programme, Our NHS: A Hidden History. “From the very start,” he says, “the NHS was only able to deliver on its promises by drawing into its ranks nurses, doctors, auxiliaries…

MONDAY 19 JULY, 2021 In the latest of our occasional commentaries on the coverage of migration in the media, Daniel Nelson looks at BBC One's new programme Our NHS: A…

Bashir’s Story: ‘I am a Brummie but I am treated differently’

TUESDAY 13 JULY, 2021 At age just 14, Bashir Ahmadzai fled for his life to the UK from Khost, eastern Afghanistan, escaping violence and Taliban recruitment. Now, at 27 years old, his claim for asylum has been rejected by the Home Office, and he is being told to return to Afghanistan. Upon arrival, Bashir was placed into the foster care system under a local authority. As a young man, he was placed into a foster family, where he received care and was able to pursue his education. Completing his diploma…

TUESDAY 13 JULY, 2021 At age just 14, Bashir Ahmadzai fled for his life to the UK from Khost, eastern Afghanistan, escaping violence and Taliban recruitment. Now, at 27 years…

'We so-called "foreigners" are framed as either victims or villains'

THURSDAY 1 JULY, 2021 Christine Bacon is so weary of lazy media treatment of immigrants as victims or villains that she is taking action. She has started a podcast series, I am an Immigrant, which aims to help shift the public conversation on immigration. For Christine, the personal is the political. Since arriving in the UK from Australia in 2004, she says, immigration has constantly been in the news, yet she feels the media has never reflected her own experience of immigration - or the lives of millions of fellow immigrants.…

THURSDAY 1 JULY, 2021 Christine Bacon is so weary of lazy media treatment of immigrants as victims or villains that she is taking action. She has started a podcast series, I…

Welcome centres not detention centres

Migrant Voice volunteer Helen Davey explores the carceral architecture behind the UK immigration system's way of housing and detaining migrants - and why detention centres shouldn't exist. The UK’s system of housing and detaining migrants is rooted in hostile architecture and poor design. This includes inadequate accommodation and the deliberate placing of vulnerable people in buildings on the peripheries of cities and towns, isolated from society. Ultimately, architecture and the placement of architecture is a fundamental issue when it comes to the UK’s immigration policies. All this is underpinned by…

Migrant Voice volunteer Helen Davey explores the carceral architecture behind the UK immigration system's way of housing and detaining migrants - and why detention centres shouldn't exist. The UK’s system…

Articles

Articles

Meet Elham Fardad, the campaigner unlocking young migrants’ potential

THURSDAY 4 NOVEMBER, 2021 Elham Fardad thought she had “done alright”, as she puts it. Originally from Iran, she had lived in the UK since she was 13 years old,…

‘Here, you can play for everyone in the world’

THURSDAY 21 OCTOBER, 2021 Syrian musician Basel Saleh speaks to Migrant Voice about his career so far, and and his plans to make us all fall in love with the…

Florin’s story: “I am proud to run a successful immigrant-led business”

MONDAY 18 OCTOBER, 2021 My name is Florin Mandache, I was born in Iasi, Romania, and have lived in Scotland since 2000. Since my student days, I have loved to…

How thinking out of the box raised migrant voices in the People’s History Museum

A five-woman “community programme team” has shown how a museum can highlight migration by thinking out of the box – literally. “Wars, Trade, Empire and Slavery” got a brief mention…

The Afghan refugee situation has exposed what’s wrong with the proposed Nationality and Borders Bill

WEDNESDAY 29 SEPTEMBER, 2021 Escaping for your life is never going to be a neat, orderly affair, where you can carry all your evidence with you or travel via conventional…

I'm A Migrant: Dipesh Pandya on being an activist through art

One of Dipesh Pandya’s earliest memories is also his first experience as a migrant: at three years old, while migrating from his native Tanzania to England, he and his grandmother…

Immigrants and the NHS: hidden hands, hidden history

MONDAY 19 JULY, 2021 In the latest of our occasional commentaries on the coverage of migration in the media, Daniel Nelson looks at BBC One's new programme Our NHS: A…

Bashir’s Story: ‘I am a Brummie but I am treated differently’

TUESDAY 13 JULY, 2021 At age just 14, Bashir Ahmadzai fled for his life to the UK from Khost, eastern Afghanistan, escaping violence and Taliban recruitment. Now, at 27 years…

'We so-called "foreigners" are framed as either victims or villains'

THURSDAY 1 JULY, 2021 Christine Bacon is so weary of lazy media treatment of immigrants as victims or villains that she is taking action. She has started a podcast series, I…

Welcome centres not detention centres

Migrant Voice volunteer Helen Davey explores the carceral architecture behind the UK immigration system's way of housing and detaining migrants - and why detention centres shouldn't exist. The UK’s system…

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