It Can Be Done is a new podcast series from the Migrants’ Law Project on refugee rights.
The first series tells the story of young refugees stuck in camps in northern France and how lawyers worked to open safe and legal routes to reunite them with their families in the UK. Over several episodes, we’ll delve into how the legal strategy developed, we’ll meet the people involved, we’ll learn about the collaborations with charities, doctors and volunteers on the ground, we’ll discuss the law, and we’ll look at the legacy of the work.
Episode one opens in 2015. We meet Kotaiba, a 15-year-old Syrian refugee who finds himself in Calais looking for a safe way to reach his brother and sister in the UK. Meanwhile, across the channel, two English lawyers Sonal Ghelani and Charlotte Kilroy watch in horror as Europe’s refugee crisis unfolds, asylum seekers and migrants living in makeshift camps with no sanitation or decent shelter, violence at borders, families drowning at sea.
What, if anything, is to be done? And could there potentially be a legal solution?
Listen on SoundCloud.
Interviews, story development and production: Rebecca Omonira-Oyekanmi
Production and editing: Simone Lai
Additional production support and story development: Nija Dalal-Small
Interpretation: Tarik Arif
We would like to thank all of the refugees, lawyers, doctors, charities and activists who shared their time in developing and creating this podcast.
It Can Be Done was created and developed by the Migrants’ Law Project, a legal and public legal education project, hosted by Islington Law Centre. Commissioning and development support for series one come from Shine A Light and Lacuna Magazine.
Images provided by Juliet Kilpin, director of Peaceful Borders.
Theme music from the Stone Flowers album, Ngunda, provided with permission from Music Action International. Stone Flowers are a refugee torture survivor collective from around the world who meet regularly to write, share and perform songs to raise awareness about human rights abuses and to connect audiences in a positive and uplifting way. The programme is delivered with Music Action International who create life-changing music with people affected by war, torture and persecution.
Thanks to Lara Whyte and Connor Johnston for production advice and support.
