Can a film make a difference?
I would argue that the films that are made reflect the focus and spirit of the time in which they are made. There seems to be an uncomfortable parallel between what is news and what becomes entertainment. Consider that so many recent films interrogate the complex horrors of war, even as war plays out on so many of fronts. Consider that so many migrants become the ghastly statistics reported on the news. Somehow, we hope that deft filmmakers...
Labour-related experiences of migrants and refugees in South Africa
Migration continues to be one of the persistent issues globally with large numbers of people migrating everyday for various reasons. Of the drivers of migration, the need for better economic opportunities remains one of the major drives. Even if a person is pushed to migrate because of other factors such as war, to ensure sustainability and integration one needs to have a livelihood strategy mostly through employment or business. However, the rights of migrant workers continue to...
“The nexus of human trafficking, asylum seekers and refugees"
“Refugees at Risk: UNDOC uncovers human trafficking at camp in Malawi.” – UNDOC, May 2022. “IOM warns of increased risk of trafficking in persons for people fleeing Ukraine.” – IOM, March 2022. “Girls sold into forced labour. Largest group of trafficking victims identified by IOM in Bangladesh refugee camps” – IOM, October 2018. Human trafficking, or trafficking in persons refers to “recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring, or...
“Still Fit for Purpose” – The 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees.
Sudan, Niger, DRC, Ukraine/Russia, Israel/Palestine, the list is endless. The world is witnessing unprecedented levels of international and non-international armed conflicts across the globe; resulting in ongoing internal displacement of populations and mobility across borders as people search for refuge and protection no longer guaranteed in their homelands. + Now more than ever, individual citizens and activists must stand up for rights of asylum seekers and refugees; people who are being forced to leave their...
Paddling aganist the wind: Climate refugees
When Robin Wall Kimmerer spoke recently at the New York Times Events about Paddling against the Wind, she was speaking of climate refugees: she was speaking of snapping turtles laying their leathery eggs on a volleyball court because the familiar nesting grounds had been flooded. When snapping turtles seem to speak of perilous changes in the world that threaten their life cycle, it is awesome, poetic – even cute, to take notice. We stop, we listen to...
What it means to be a refugee? (Narrative from the media)
When I clicked the mouse on Berti and Borgman’s TED-Ed Talk What it means to be a refugee, I did not expect the electrifying play of shadows and smudges of charcoal figures in a jagged march across the beach on my screen. I heard haunting music, I saw hunched shoulders of people and vultures, I saw journeys presented as a maze which collapsed on people walking, and I saw drawings of people being...