<p>In this bonus episode, Kaweh Beheshtizadeh speaks to Jenifer Elmslie about his journey from asylum seeker to refugee lawyer. Kaweh sought asylum from Iran after participating in pro-Kurdish activism in the country, a group which is heavily persecuted and discriminated against. After a short stay in Turkey under the protection of UNHCR, Kaweh entered the UK in 2004 and gained asylum status after one year. His experience motivated him to study for the bar at University and he now represents the cases of other asylum seekers. He discusses how the UK government’s hostile environment policy has affected the asylum cases of those who he represents today.</p>

S2, E1 Relief Chief: Insight on the refugee system from the top of the UN

To help celebrate and bring awareness to Refugee Week UK 2022, we are pleased to introduce Season 2 of ‘Refugee Realities’, a podcast series created by students on the Forced Displacement and Refugees course in the Department of International Development. In the lead up to UK Refugee Week we’ll be releasing student-recorded podcasts each day. Like the course, the topics covered are eclectic. We range from a birds-eye perspective on the challenges facing refugee governance, covering the growing threat of climate-change to the reflections of the former head of the UN’s relief agency. The voices and experiences of refugees themselves are also of crucial importance. We speak to asylum seekers navigating life in the UK, Lebanon, and Poland. Along the way we also get a sense of some of the initiatives out there that are working to assist forcibly displaced people, whether by refugees in neighboring countries, local organizations right here in London, or international NGOs that are always looking for volunteers.  

 

For a complete listing of Refugee Week events or to get involved, check out the Refugee Week website at https://refugeeweek.org.uk/ and follow Refugee Week on Instagram @refugeeweekuk and on Twitter and Facebook @RefugeeWeek. In the meantime, stay tuned for the podcasts.