Refugee Radio

We talk to the young people at the Hummingbird project about their lives in Brighton and share their takes on everything from the weather to Trump, and from social media to mental health. Thanks to everyone involved in making this programme- Taiwo, Duad, Mo, Yohannes, Alaa, Micky, Bex, Elaine and all the gang at Hummingbird.

Julio is a Rasta from Mauritius, a small island nation east of Madagascar. He was a talented young footballer, but he suffered discrimination and was targeted by police violence due to his ethnicity and religion. The descendants of slavery from Africa do not have equal rights or opportunities in Mauritius. People who have been classified as part of the “ General Population ” are outside of the mai...

Kirabo Robert fled the civil war in Sudan when he was just five years old. He lost his whole family in the refugee camps of Uganda, but he never gave up. Now he is fighting for survival with a dream for a better future for his own children. If they can build a small home on a piece of land, then they can get an education in safety and dignity. Help us break the cycle of poverty and displacement. G...

Usman Khalid is a social entrepreneur and refugee. He founded HAVEN Coffee in 2019 as a coffee brand with a social mission. In this interview he tells us all about the story behind the project and the flagship café in London. We also have news of Usman’s forthcoming Laff-ucino comedy fundraiser with Shappi Khorsandi, coming up in Refugee Week 2025 on 19th June at the Big Penny Social! Tickets are...

Why should you become a foster carer? Elaine and Clare talk about their experiences of fostering UASC and the supported lodging scheme. There are many rewards to fostering, and the city urgently needs new homes for children and young people. Find out more from the Brighton and Hove council website >> View upcoming events for people interested in fostering >>

Albania is the subject of a moral panic over crime and trafficking. But what is really happening in the country and what does it mean for the people affected? In this programme we investigate the relationship of Albanian ethnicity and history to modern issues of immigration, asylum, human trafficking, gangs and the struggle for identity. Featuring Stephanie Schwander-Sievers , Professor of Applied...

Patrick interviews Qahraman, an veterinarian from Kurdistan (Iraq), about his experiences of going through the asylum system. Qahraman was housed in Derby, Manchester and finally in Brighton where he started to attend Refugee Radio. Qahraman talk about some of the funny stories that happened to him as a vet and shares some of the painful experiences he has suffered in his long quest for safety.

We talk to Phil Minns from Best Foot Music about the upcoming Razom event with the Ukrainian community and we hear new music from Bashir Al Gamar and a Ukrainian/Syrian fusion from local refugee musicians. We also have Ukrainian hurdy gurdy from Iryna Muha and Kurdish folk from Mohammed Syfkhan.

We talk to Jordan about his experience of fleeing persecution in the DRC and claiming asylum in Eastbourne, Sussex.

Basma Kamel is an activist against FGM and child marriage. She is a refugee from Egypt currently living and studying in the UK. In this interview she talks about her experience as a survivor of FGM and about what we can all do to help stop this harmful practice. The World Health Organisation states that more than 200 million girls and women have undergone female genital mutilation (FGM) in 30 coun...

Bekkie is a rapper and fashion blogger from Albania. In this programme, we listen to Incongruent Hiphoppa, Bekkie’s latest album, and talk about everything from the transformation of spiritual identity to growing up LGBTQ+ in Albania with only KRS-One and Tupac to guide you. With thanks to Refugee Radio’s intrepid volunteer, Henry Tydeman. Listen to Bekkie on Spotify >> Follow Bekkie on Instagram>...

Kolbassia Haoussou MBE is the co-founder of Survivors Speak OUT , an anti-torture network of refugees at Freedom From Torture . He has been appointed Survivor Champion for the  UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office  initiative  Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict   He has addressed the  UN General Assembly in New York  and the  United Nationals Committed Against Torture and now he has given an in-...

Steve and Julie G visited the Hummingbird Young Leaders project in Brighton to meet the young refugees who are going to be the future leaders of tomorrow. They told us all about the things they love (and hate!) most, as well as sharing some of their favourite songs. We would like to say a massive thank you to Bex and Phati for helping us make this programme, and to all of the Young Leaders- Doong,...

Dina and Vlada talk about their lives in Ukraine, the impact of the Russian invasion and finding sanctuary in Brighton, UK. We have wonderful music from Dina’s brilliant new EP, “Songs for Ukraine” which is available now to help raise money for humanitarian aid in Ukraine. With special guest, Phil Minns of Best Foot Music who recorded the EP, live in the studio to tell us more. https://bestfootmus...

“When Ahmad’s life comes under threat by the Taliban in Afghanistan, he leaves his family behind for survival, without saying good bye, and ends up in Europe’s worst Refugee Detention Camp, Moria.” So begins Ahmad’s odyssey, a journey through the international refugee crisis that he chose to record, using his skills as a film-maker and his personal struggle as the focus of a new documentary, Citiz...

Nanaha lives in a refugee camp for Saharawis in the Algerian desert. She works as a teacher for the Sandblast charity. In this programme Nanaha talks about her life and the experiences of her mother and grandmother when they were driven out of their home and forced into a life of exile for more than forty years. We also talk to Danielle, the director of Sandblast about their work in the camp and h...

Osba left his home in Ethiopia aged 15 after he was persecuted as a member of the Oromo ethnic group. He crossed the desert to Libya in search of a safe place to settle, but found himself in more danger than ever. His journey took him across the Mediterranean and through Europe where he slept rough in Paris with other asylum seekers. In this interview he tells us about his journey and about the pe...

Alvina Chibhamu was badly failed by maternity services and by the Home Office when she found herself having to claim asylum while pregnant. In this programme, Alvina speaks about her experiences and we hear from Yusuf Ciftci about a new Doctors of the World report highlighting the scandal of failures in maternity care for asylum seekers. Alvina Chibhamu is a human rights activist and podcaster fro...

Shahireh Sharif is an Iranian writer and photographer. She recently performed her solo work, “I am an Orange Dot,” about a refugee in an orange life vest floating in the ocean, for Refugee Week 2022. Some of her fiction in English and Farsi is available via her website, Jar of Words . In this interview about her life and work we are joined by our dear friend, Farah Mohebati. In this programme, Far...

Yusuf and Mjed are two refugee entrepreneurs who are kickstarting their exciting new social enterprises. In this programme we find out all about their plans and discover the capabilities and untapped potential of refugees in the UK. “We think this message is crucial, to turn mainstream audiences away from victimising refugees and towards the truth,” says Fred Kastner of TERN , “that refugees can v...

Syrian-born architect and artist, Mohamad Hafez, takes us on a walk through the stree-tscenes of his miniature dioramas that transport the eye back to an imagined Damascus, before and after the Syrian war. We explore the visual conversation with homesickness and exile in a discussion of his work. Mohamad Hafez’s new exhibition, “ Journeys from an Absent Present to a Lost Past” , is on show now at...

Marwa Al-Sabouni is an architect and writer from Homs, Syria. In this interview she talks about the problems in Syria before the war and the challenge of rebuilding. Building for Hope and The Battle for Home , by Marwa Al-Sabouni, are available now from Thames and Hudson. This interview was recorded by Anna and Steve (with support from Rami) for Refugee Radio as official media partners of Brighton...

Part Two of the interview: Nasrin Parvaz is a women’s and civil rights activist from Iran. She published her book “One Woman’s Struggle in Iran” with Victorina Press in 2018 about her experience of being arrested, tortured and sentenced to death for her activism. Her first novel, the Secret Letters from X to A , is out now. You can find out more at Nasrin Parvaz’s official website . This interview...

This programme is dedicated to the memory of Angelina, the beloved sister of our friend, Alex Ntung. Angelina was murdered by the DRC army in 2021, a victim of the genocide against the Banyamulenge. The Banyamulenge villages are burnt, the people are massacred and the survivors are driven into refugee camps which are then subject to attack, all under the nose of the UN. Why is this happening and w...

Fuad is a refugee from Palestine who found family and friendship at Nam Yang Martial Arts Club in Brighton. In this programme we talk to Fuad about his experiences and we speak to Sam Byford-Winter, the manager and senior instructor at Nam Yang. Find out what’s so special about their club and why they have just been awarded the first ever Martial Arts Club of Sanctuary for their work with refugees...