Asylum Speakers Podcast with Jaz O'Hara: Stories of Migration and Displacement

In the third episode of FATMATA, everything changes. As Fatmata and Abu leave Greece in search of safety, they begin the journey north through the Balkans. But as they cross into North Macedonia, they find themselves caught in an ambush by border police that will change their lives forever. Through the testimony of Abu and those closest to him, we piece together the events of that night and the da...

In the second episode of FATMATA, we travel to Greece, where Fatmata and Abu first arrive in Europe. Through conversations with the volunteers who came to know them during their time there, we begin to understand life inside Greek refugee camps, the friendships they formed, and the moments of joy they found during these ten months of waiting. But after several rejections of their asylum claims, it...

In the first episode of FATMATA, we travel to Freetown, Sierra Leone, to meet the couple at the heart of this story. Through conversations with her husband, Abu Bakar, her sisters, her mother, and those who knew her best, we begin to get to know the remarkable Fatmata Kamara - or Fatima, as she was known to her family and friends. Fatmata left a lasting impression on everyone she met, so what led...

On 19 April 2023, a young woman was shot and killed by a policeman at the border between Greece and North Macedonia. Her name was Fatmata Kamara, known to her friends and family as Fatima. She was 23 years old. She died that night in the arms of her husband, Abu Bakar. Her death barely made the news. Her story raises many important questions… Who was Fatmata, and what really happened that night? W...

The final part of the story!!! Welcome back to the Asylum Speakers Podcast! I can’t believe it’s been so long since the last episode, and so much has happened since then… and that’s what this episode is here to fill you in on today!!! If you haven’t yet listened to the last episode that we put out, (about my foster brother Mez trying everything to get his younger biological brother Josi safely to...

This is an episode and a story that I’ve been wanting to share for nearly two years... and I am so happy to finally be able to do so! This episode is about my Eritrean foster brother Mez and his younger brother Josi. A few years after Mez left Eritrea to avoid compulsory military service, so too did his little brother Josi. Josi is two years younger than Mez and they grew up doing everything toget...

In today’s episode I speak to the wonderful Imad Al Arnab of Imad’s Syrian Kitchen. Imad has such an amazing story. He was a successful restaurateur in his home city of Damascus, Syria where he owned multiple restaurants, several juice bars and coffee shops. After they were all bombed and it became apparent he had to leave, he made the dangerous journey to the UK, where at first he worked in a car...

In this episode we hear the incredible story of Ayman Alhussein. Ayman is an actor, cinematographer and co-writer of amazing new short film, Matar , directed by Hassan Akkad, starring Ahmed Malek and available to watch online, for free on Waterbear . The film Matar tells the story of an undocumented delivery driver in London and highlights the challenges of navigating hostile environment Britain a...

This week’s guest is one of my favourite storytellers ever. Filmmaker Nadir Nahdi speaks so beautifully about his upbringing spanning many cultures, the ways that food has woven those pieces together and why the stories he tells and the films he makes are so disruptively important in our society today.  I was introduced to Nadir’s work through his most recent youtube series Bad Pakistani abou...

Welcome to the FINAL episode of The Journey! Today’s episode is designed to speak to that rhetoric that refugees or asylum seekers might be a burden... that they take from us, economically, culturally, or whatever that fear might be. I’m honoured to be able to share multiple examples of how much we have to gain from welcoming refugees and asylum seekers with open arms.  This episode came to b...

Welcome back to Episode FIVE of The Journey - a 6-part podcast series following migration routes from Africa, The Middle East and Ukraine, to northern Europe. Today’s episode is about what life looks like for people once they make it to their final destination. What is life like in their host country? What’s new and difficult? What does integration look like or even mean? What can we, as listeners...

In his memoir about leaving Syria to life in the UK, my friend Hassan (also a previous podcast guest), shared the terrifying experience he had when attempting to reach Greece by boat. His rubber dinghy was approached by three masked men on a bigger boat, who stole their petrol tank and violently pushed them away from the shore.  What Hassan experienced was a pushback. What are pushbacks you m...

Welcome to Episode THREE of The Journey - a 6-part podcast series following migration routes from Africa, The Middle East and Ukraine, to northern Europe. So far this season we’ve explored the reasons why people are leaving their countries, and taken a look at what life looks like in the first countries they arrive to. As a result of how difficult things can be in that first country, we also know...

Welcome back to Episode TWO of The Journey - a 6-part podcast series following migration routes from Africa, The Middle East and Ukraine, to northern Europe. People often ask me ‘Why don’t refugees stay in the first safe country they land in? It’s a comment I see a lot on social media and one I feel there is a lot of judgment and misinformation around. This episode is designed to answer exact...

I’m so happy to be bringing you episode 1 of The Journey - a 6-part podcast series following migration routes from Africa, The Middle East and Ukraine, to northern Europe. In this episode we’re starting from the beginning and exploring why people first embark on their journey.  Why do people leave their countries and everything they ever knew behind?  What are the push factors?  We’...

Since Russia invaded Ukraine on the 24th February, I think it’s safe to say we’ve all been thinking about the Ukrainian people. This week I’ve been in neighboring Poland, (which, at the time of recording this is now estimated to be home to 4 million Ukrainian refugees). I’ve been honoured to speak to some incredible people both leaving Ukraine and volunteers and NGO’s on the ground supporting thos...

Period Poverty. You might no know what this term means yet, but this episode will tell you everything you need to know. In it we hear from six incredible women from five organisations working to tackle period poverty from the ground up. If you would like to find out more about their wonderful work, check them out here: Ella Lambert - founder of The Pachamamma Project Melissa Robel - founder of Pad...

This International Women's Day, It's only right that I bring you the story of one of the most incredible women that I know... Khalida Popal. Khalida grew up playing football with her brothers in Afghanistan, and even though she faced serious discrimination from her community as a result, she went on to form the Afghan women’s football league with her friends. Despite death threats at the hands of...

Today’s podcast episode is about a country very close to my heart - Sudan. Like most people in the UK, I grew up without any knowledge of what was happening in Sudan. In my history lessons at school I learnt about the Holocaust and the ethnic cleansing that happened during the second world war, but I learnt nothing about the current genocide in Sudan that continues to this day.  It wasn’t unt...

I’m so excited to introduce you to our guest for this episode... Syrian filmmaker, activist and most recently, author, Hassan Akkad! Hassan is the very first person I ever heard speak about their experience leaving Syria first hand, and it’s safe to say that it had a huge impact on me. Not only has Hassan shared his incredible story through talks and at events, he actually first became known for f...

This is an extra special bonus episode in which I ask some of my amazing previous podcast guests - 'What does Freedom mean to you?' As we come to the end of Season 5, it felt good to touch base with a few old friends of the show, as well as to explore a theme I have been discussing with the team at Amnesty UK - human rights. We all know we have rights, no matter where we come from, but not everyon...

I’ve got a bit of a different episode from normal in store for you today as I’m going to take you with me on a really fun experience I had recently.... a Lebanese cookery class. Let me explain... My guest this week is Ahmad Sinnu. We met through one of my all time favourite organisations Migrateful. Migrateful run cookery classes led by refugees, asylum seekers and migrants who are otherwise strug...

For anyone who doesn’t remember the incredible story of the Stansted 15 - they are a group of human rights activists who organised a non-violent action to stop a deportation flight leaving from Stansted on the night of the 28 March 2017. The plane they stopped from leaving the UK was chartered by the UK Home Office to deport 60 people to Ghana , Nigeria and Sierra Leone . Amongst these people were...

This episode of The Worldwide Tribe podcast is dedicated to the people of Afghanistan. It was recorded in response to the devastating events we have seen unfold there over the last few weeks as the Taliban has taken over the country.  My guest this week is Rustam Wahab - a 19 year old British Afghan who has single-handedly become the go to source on Instagram, for up to date information on the sit...

A very special episode for you today! I’ve been trying to get my dad on the podcast for ages, and finally, here he is!  Having heard my mum’s perspective of fostering, lots of you have been interested to hear from my dad, for his take on parenting so many kids from all these different countries. My dad has always been a little more private when it comes to sharing his story or being on Instag...