“Immigration” has long been a hot button topic in Britain but it now looks increasingly likely to determine the next election. Where political debate and media coverage too often simplify the refugee experience, could fiction offer greater depth? Rebecca Omonira-Oyekanmi considers the current rhetoric and examines three migration literature novels that engage deeply with the notion of borders.
Refugees from Iran, Afghanistan, Syria, Eritrea, Somalia and Ukraine have successfully integrated into local communities across the length and breadth of Scotland. ‘New Scots’, a two-year project by photographer Angie Catlin and the Scottish Refugee Council, shares their stories. At a time of increasingly toxic debate over asylum seekers and refugees in the UK, the project shows the positive contribution refugees bring to their new communities.
When Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) was introduced in 2005 by a “tough on crime” Labour government, it was expected the indeterminate sentence would be rarely handed out. But when the highly criticised scheme was abolished in 2012, 6,000 people were still serving their sentence – and 900 remain imprisoned today. IPP’s indefinite sentences have taken a devastating toll on the health of prisoners, including Taylor Atkinson, who was originally sentenced to less than four years, but ended his life after being held for more than 13.
When Israeli bombardment and repeated displacements turn normal life upside down, how do autistic and non-verbal children in Palestine cope? In Gaza, one older sister shares the experiences of her autistic teenage brother as the family faces first confinement and then upheaval, eventually turning to social media to raise vital funds.
Academia and the legal profession are steeped in hierarchy, so law students are no strangers to power dynamics. But lawyer Christine Olando argues that the hierarchies faced by law students in Kenya are uniquely complex. Across the country, she interviews law students to understand how power dynamics in higher education are affecting those on the bottom rungs.
In India, marital rape is a crime that the law refuses to acknowledge. Hearing the voices of victim/survivors across class, caste and geography, this story traces the British colonial roots of the legal system that fails to criminalise rape within marriage, leaving lasting damage and stripping thousands of women of justice. Ten o’clock on an autumn night, tepid, clammy. My… Read more »
Tackling politics, feminism, the climate and police brutality, our staff pick features critically-acclaimed and award-winning human rights films and series from around the world. From an underdog taking on the UK’s banking system, to a refugee horror film and a unique take on the American civil rights movement, these shows offer a way to engage with issues that often go unreported.
The Venezuelan displacement crisis is the largest in Latin America’s modern history. Driven by economic collapse, political repression and a breakdown of services, about eight million people – one quarter of Venezuela’s population – are now displaced globally. Here, Shandra Back captures the stories of four remarkable women from one family, each branching off from their family tree across distances previously unimaginable.
Many people dream of a human rights career, helping others and creating change, but how do you take the first steps? We asked human rights lawyers, humanitarians and journalists to tell us about essential qualifications and experience, and offer valuable advice to students just starting out.
