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The poetry thief

Mohamad Reza, a young writer from Iran, has brought his talents to the West Midlands, where he was inadvertently inspired to write by his older sister. Mohamad who came to the UK with his family has been writing since an early age and not all of his writing was his own. As a child growing up in Iran Mohamad saw his sister writing poetry and was so impressed he stole and copied it, showing off to friends about his work, until one day his sister found out and confronted…

Mohamad Reza, a young writer from Iran, has brought his talents to the West Midlands, where he was inadvertently inspired to write by his older sister. Mohamad who came…

‘You have no grounds to stay’

Most claims and counter-claims about migration are based on contentious statistics and superficial generalisations. Migration, however, is about individuals and on a personal level, politics look very different. Take the case of Irene Clennell. She has been informed that she has no grounds to stay in the UK. But her husband, John, is British, she is mother to two adult sons born in the UK and her only grandchild lives in the UK. Clennell met her husband in London in the late ‘80s. When pregnant with her first child she…

Most claims and counter-claims about migration are based on contentious statistics and superficial generalisations. Migration, however, is about individuals and on a personal level, politics look very different. Take the…

Glasgow Syrian Refugees on life in Scotland

At a discussion organised jointly by Migrant Voice and Maryhill Integration Network on 31 March 2016, a number of Syrians discussed their experiences of arriving and living in Scotland. The individuals who have lived in the UK for various periods ranging from four months to three years, included professionals such as a solicitor, a recently graduated doctor, a carpenter, a nurse, and a man who had been a political prisoner for 15 years since he was a student. Two children aged 9 and 12 joined their parents and also took…

At a discussion organised jointly by Migrant Voice and Maryhill Integration Network on 31 March 2016, a number of Syrians discussed their experiences of arriving and living in Scotland. The…

Mi-hub - Home of migrant entrepreneurs welcomes its first residents

Mi-Hub is an exciting, philanthropic initiative devised by Rafael dos Santos. The novel business hub is committed to aiding migrant entrepreneurs navigate London’s tricky business landscape. Dos Santos believes that many migrants in the UK have skills that are underutilised. Inspired by the desire to help migrants overcome “a lack of knowledge, skills and funding”, Dos Santos believes it’s about “more than just wealth creation. When [migrants'] wealth starts to grow, they pay more taxes and create more jobs. The key thing is that they give back.” Mi-Hub can host up to 150 entrepreneurs,…

Mi-Hub is an exciting, philanthropic initiative devised by Rafael dos Santos. The novel business hub is committed to aiding migrant entrepreneurs navigate London’s tricky business landscape. Dos Santos believes that many…

Hudderfield’s Succesful Refugees

To celebrate Refugee Week, The Examiner has published the stories of 8 refugees that overcame the obstacles and defied the odds and weaved themselves into the “rich cultural fabric” of Huddersfield. Khalil and Rojin Khalaf, a Kurdish couple from Syria, opened Middle Eastern Med One on Westgate in December 2014. Razan Alsous, from Syria, founded the award winning Yorkshire Dama Cheese after arriving in 2012. She runs a deli and tours food markets and fairs. Sleman Shwaish, a Kurdish translator from Syria is a refugee co-ordinator at the British Red…

To celebrate Refugee Week, The Examiner has published the stories of 8 refugees that overcame the obstacles and defied the odds and weaved themselves into the “rich cultural fabric” of…

Anthropologist on the move

For Dr. Natalia Paszkiewicz, London – where she initially came to do fieldwork for her Polish Masters in Anthropology in 2003 - represents freedom and liberation: “If London was a separate country, that would be where my loyalty would lie. “I fell in love with London the first time I saw it,” she says. But moving here from Poland, which she sees as a more religious and conservative country, wasn’t always easy. The first few years in London were as difficult as for anyone who moves away, she recalls. At one point…

For Dr. Natalia Paszkiewicz, London – where she initially came to do fieldwork for her Polish Masters in Anthropology in 2003 - represents freedom and liberation: “If London was a separate…

providing inspirational models for change

When I visited London this year I found organisations doing extraordinary work with female migrants, working with the individual on issues as varied as detention and honour killings. I set out to learn from their work because I am setting up a group for migrant women in an area of the USA, where there are thousands of migrants – but no group specifically focusing on the needs of women. From the Irish and German immigrants, whose progeny today comprise around a quarter of the total population, to the present-day Latin…

When I visited London this year I found organisations doing extraordinary work with female migrants, working with the individual on issues as varied as detention and honour killings. I set…

Celebrating life as an international student

Ninety-nine days ago, we were 35 students from the University of Connecticut in the US on a coach from Heathrow anxiously looking out the window just trying to get a glimpse of the city we’d be living in for the next three months. Fast forward to present day, those same 35 students are now experienced world travellers and global citizens. With our semester in London coming to a close, we decided to ask our peers what they thought about the experiences they had while studying abroad for a few months.…

Ninety-nine days ago, we were 35 students from the University of Connecticut in the US on a coach from Heathrow anxiously looking out the window just trying to get a…

a place people can call home

When people hear you’re headed for London, they will warn you about two things; bland food and freezing weather. With these disclaimers set forth, they will then go on to gush about the greatness of the rest of the city, sometimes even dubbing it “the best in the world”. But the factor no one mentioned- and what I have come to appreciate most about living here- is the diversity this city thrives on. In a typical day, I get up and head to my favorite coffee shop to get some…

When people hear you’re headed for London, they will warn you about two things; bland food and freezing weather. With these disclaimers set forth, they will then go on to…

Thoughts on being an immigrant in the UK

I. No event has had a bigger impact in my life than leaving my country early into the 2000s. Leaving would configure everything that happened afterwards, from careers to relationships, my everyday moods, my whole life, everything. When you leave – in the knowledge that you are not leaving for a holiday – something changes in you. The possibility of not returning many times becomes a stubborn resistance to a possible return. This happened to me at least. When I left, Argentina was deeply immersed in an economic crisis; many of…

I. No event has had a bigger impact in my life than leaving my country early into the 2000s. Leaving would configure everything that happened afterwards, from careers to relationships, my…