Nèdeem Elmahjoub's blog

“In the beginning, everyone we met was really helpful – and then the reality set in. I am grateful to them for saving our lives, but in this bargain, I’ve lost my dignity, my home and I’m very depressed,” says Rias. Reflecting on the racism they’ve faced in their first year in Europe

Unwelcome to the ‘civilised’ nation state! “ When we moved into our room on Fitzjohn’s Avenue four years later, it was with the promise that we were finally safe. It had been a devastating journey and here we were in London about to begin a new life. But our expectations of London were impossible. We imagined a life that was easier – that somehow as soon as we arrived here we would put all that had happened behind us and move on – that the uncertainty we felt would evaporate as soon as we landed. So much depended on this fantasy. To survive the journey, we needed stories of hope. For us, that story was safety in London, but the reality was very different. To survive, we needed not only to speak a different language, but to learn new gestures, new stories and, most important, understand the currency that gave you access to society. In a country where your social capital is bound up in class and race, learning the social codes could determine the trajectory of your life.” What it’s reall...

Photographs showing border agents on horseback stopping Haitian migrants from entering an encampment on the banks of the Rio Grande in Texas, in September, sparked an investigation in the US. The images of the horseback charge on mostly black migrants was condemned by lawmakers and sparked comparisons to America's slavery era. Hundreds of Afghans cram on board a US military cargo plane as they flee Kabul following the takeover of the country by the Taliban in August. US defence analysis website Defense One reported that a US official had said the crew had decided it was better to take off, than force people off the plane. Source: the BBC

“Language is politics and politics is power. This is why the misuse of language is particularly disturbing, especially when the innocent and vulnerable pay the price.“ Europe’s self-serving politics on refugees

When one interpreter asked me a few days ago, ‘Why is my five-year-old worth less than a dog?’ I didn’t have an answer.” I have a business idea for Farthing even Alan Sugar, the greatest Brit to ever live, would never think of it: put the dogs on ebay. As of Johnson and Patel, it is sheer hypocrisy. They have been pursuing a hostile environment policy towards refugees, restricting their entry, confining them in detention centres, etc. and now they want to show the world that they care. Britain values dogs more than Aghan people