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Refugee Radio

Stephen Silverwood

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supporting refugees, asylum seekers and vulnerable migrants

Refugee Radio

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Jordan: No one wakes up thinking- “Today I want to become a refugee”

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 […]

Bekkie: “Nothing else can stop you”

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 […]

Kolbassia: “Loud and fearless”

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 […]

Young Leaders: “Our voice matters”

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 […]

Songs for Ukraine: Dina and Vlada

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 […]

Ahmad: Citizen of Moria

“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 […]

Nanaha: “they run from death to nowhere”

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 […]

Obsa: My journey from Ethiopia

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 […]

Alvina: “Homeless, pregnant and alone.”

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 […]

Shahireh: “Travelling with the clouds”

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 […]

TERN: Refugee Enterprise

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,” […]

Mohamad Hafez: “A safe haven for the soul”

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 […]

Marwa: “the battle for home”

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 […]

Nasrin: One Woman’s Struggle in Iran

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 […]

Banyamulenge: The Slow Genocide

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 […]

Fuad and Sam: Nam Yang Martial Arts

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 […]

Senait: “How to be a refugee”

Senait Mesfin Piccigallo talks to Refugee Radio about her new book “You’re in America – Now What?” a guide for refugees and migrants to successfully settle into their new lives in their new homes. We discuss the 7 key Skillsets to Integrate with Ease and Joy, as outlined in the book, and talk about Senait’s own […]

Abdelrahman: “You forgetting everything outside and everyone outside forgetting you”

Abdelrahman was arrested at the age of 17, just a curious young bystander in Egypt’s revolutionary chaos. He thought the police would soon realise their mistake and let him go. But they never let him go for, no for more than six years of his young life and his family’s tireless campaigning. In this interview, […]

Jubilee: Library of Sanctuary

Celebrating Library Week in Brighton with a selection of live courtesy of Best Foot Music. Featuring Bashir Al Gamar from Sudan and Kourosh & Reza with some Iranian folk songs. Bashir is raising funds for a well in his home village near the wartorn region of Darfur. Please support his campaign by purchasing his music: […]

Herbert: “The rude boy with nothing”

Herbert is a Kenyan journalist and human rights defender who was forced to flee his home after exposing police violence in his country. In this show he tells us about his life and work and we discuss the situation in Kenya today. Refugee Radio would like to acknowledge the help of Prisoners of Conscience, a charity […]

Hyab: “The neighbour who calls me a neighbour”

Hyab is a researcher at the Institute of Technology and is an expert in human trafficking. He was forced to flee his home in Eritrea because of persecution by the government who have been held responsible for extrajudicial executions, a lack of elections and the use of indefinite military service. In this interview, Hyab talks […]

Hamed: “The Boy with Two Hearts”

Hamed Amiri talks about his book, out now from Icon Books, a love-letter to the NHS and a personal account of his family’s flight from Afghanistan. When the Taliban gave an order for the execution of Hamed Amiri’s mother, the family knew they had to escape, starting what would be a long and dangerous journey, […]

Amir: “We want to live”

Political resistance and personal trauma; dehumanisation and the notion of “home”; we talk to Amir Darwish, a British-Syrian poet of Kurdish origin, about the life of a writer in exile. Featuring music from Kalochori, a refugee camp in Greece, by Amar, Rody and Ronav Zeno. This interview was recorded on the event of the publication […]

Shirin: “The silence of the night”

The poet, Shirin Razavian, talks about her life and work on the launch of a new book celebrating 20 years of Exiled Writers Ink. “Resistance- Voices of Exiled Writers” is available now from Palewell Press. Shirin Razavian: British poet born in Tehran, has been writing poetry since the age of 9. She studied Persian literature […]

Paul: “My heart is back home”

Paul talks about the recent political violence back home in Uganda and the election struggle of reggae singer Bobi Wine.

Mansour: “The Echo of Love”

Steve talks to the Kurdish musician Mansour Izadpanah about his life and work. Featuring a world exclusive premier of his new song, composed in exile and in lockdown with musicians across the world: Zayalay Awin, or “Love Echo.” In this programme you will also hear Mansour’s composition, Kobani, saluting the young fighters who resisted a […]

Rahima: “Save my people, stop China’s Uyghur genocide”

Musician and activist, Rahima Mahmut, talks to Refugee Radio about her life in exile and about the persecution of the Uyghur Muslim minority in China’s Xinjiang region. Xinjiang is west of the Great Wall, and was not historically part of China. The residents refer to it as East Turkestan. These days it has become a […]

Farah: “All together like a family”

Farah is one of the nicest people you will ever meet. She is a member of the Bahá’i Faith from Iran and has lived in the UK for a long time. I have interviewed her about her life a few times in the past and she always has a new story to tell me. In […]

Refugee Week 2020

A preview of the forthcoming Refugee Week online concert with Best Foot Music, featuring interviews and live performances from Sudanese poet Bashir Al Gamar and Jamal and Alaa from Syria. Please support the fundraiser >>

Kumar: “I have no need to hide and no need to be scared”

Kumar talks about the horrific persecution he faced as a gay man growing up in India and his desperate search for somewhere that would accept him. “The main thing in England is that homosexuality is legal. I can freely live openly with my sexuality. I have no need to hide and no need to be […]

International Rescue: David Miliband

Steve and Ayah talk to David Miliband about the International Rescue Committee and their work with refugees around the world.

Refugee Radio Orchestra: The Sexy Wine EP

A selection of tunes from our house band, the Refugee Radio Orchestra, recorded in 2010. Hope you enjoy this fusion of refugee culture!

Kate: the human rights lawyer

An in-depth interview with Kate Jessop, senior immigration lawyer from Brighton Housing Trust, recorded as part of the Castaway Heritage project by Ayah and Steve. “I’ve been practising here since 2001, but I’ve actually been working in asylum and immigration law since the last century, since 1987, so for a long time. And there have […]

Peter: supporting the mental health of refugee children

Peter from Zimbabwe talks about his work supporting unaccompanied asylum-seeking children with mental health needs. We discuss how they struggle with social isolation and adapting to a new life in Brighton without their families around to help them.

Paul: “Never Give Up”

“It was a nightmare, wasn’t good at all. According to the Home Office, they can come and take you away but you can’t say no. They can take you anywhere they want to, because the moment you say no, they can put you in detention. So they can take you were they want to. So […]

Luqman: fighting for life

Luqman Onikosi was born in a tiny village near the lakes and forests along the river Niger. I first met him when he was a student at the University of Sussex, about ten years ago. At that time he was the president of the All-Africa Student Union and was organising a big fundraising concert, something […]

Esraa: “I still drink my tea in the Syrian style”

Ayah interviews Esraa, a young woman from Syria who came to live in Hastings with her family as part of the resettlement scheme. We find out about the shock of relocation and the challenge of adapting to cultural differences.

Mrs Husni: refugee interpeter

“I arrived into this country over twenty years ago and I’m currently working as an interpreter. I started interpreting on a voluntary basis in hospitals and then I thought I liked it, and then I thought I would like to have this as a career. It’s quite flexible as I can manage it with a […]

Mohammed: Crossing the Med on a jet ski

“I am from Algeria. I am thirty-eight years old and I live twenty years in Europe, most of that time in UK. I left Algeria since 2000. I was eighteen. “I followed the Home Office instructions for four years. I went to London Bridge to sign for years but I didn’t have any decision on […]

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