The Experts By Experience Podcast

Celebrating Pride Month is a reminder of the ongoing struggle for LGBTQI rights worldwide. It is a time to honour the resilience and achievements of the LGBTQI+ community while acknowledging the challenges they continue to face, particularly in conservative countries like Pakistan. These countries' laws criminalise same-sex relationships, and societal norms steeped in conservative values further marginalise communities. Despite these adversities, local activists bravely continue to advocate for their rights, seeking to create safe spaces and promote awareness. In the UK, LGBTQ asylum seekers face a different set of challenges. Many flee their home countries to escape persecution, only to encounter scepticism and hostility in the asylum process. The Home Office often demands detailed and sometimes invasive proof of their sexual orientation or gender identity, making an already traumatic experience even more difficult. Amidst these struggles, a sense of hope persists. LGBTQI+ communities and allies worldwide continue to fight back against discrimination and oppression. Their unwavering courage and solidarity remind us that every step forward, no matter how small, contributes to a more inclusive and accepting world. Numerous organisations, such as Rainbow Migration, campaign and work tirelessly to support these asylum seekers, providing legal assistance, emotional support, and advocacy for fair treatment. In this episode, Azadeh Hosseini hosts Prof. Richard C. M. Mole, the Professor of Political Sociology and Director of the UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies, Hiba Noor, an EbE, an LGBTQI+ activist and a transgender woman, Jason Thomas-Fournillier, an EbE, a columnist and an LGBTQI+ activist with Carla Manso, the Communication Manager at Rainbow Migration. Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn.⁠⁠

Aamna Mohdin, a celebrated journalist and author, serves as the Guardian’s Community Affairs Correspondent, where she delves into issues of race and inequality. In this episode, the host, Azadeh Hosseini, talks with Aamna about her compelling new book, Scattered: The Making and Unmaking of a Refugee. In 2015, Aamna travelled to Calais to report from the heart of the refugee crisis. Upon returning to London, a casual conversation with her parents reminded her that Aamna had once been a refugee. Scattered is a breathtaking and genuine narrative of displacement and its profound costs and far-reaching consequences. With Aamna’s unique perspective, this powerful story transforms into an epic tale of resilience and hope. Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn.⁠⁠

Refugees and people seeking asylum regularly face multiple layered barriers while settling in the U.K., often preventing them from flourishing in their potential and fully regaining their confidence in our society. The barriers manifest themselves on personal, social, cultural, financial and political levels. We often hear about asylum seekers and refugees 'unwillingness' to integrate and contribute to society but less about the barriers they face from the moment they arrive in the U.K., which renders the integration relatively complex. These barriers are the product of racism embedded within the U.K. immigration system that demonises migrants, particularly vulnerable people, seeking safety in this country. People are banned from seeking employment and have limited access to essential services because of their immigration status and, on top of all, harmful and toxic rhetoric politicians, media and policymakers perpetuate. In this episode, the panellists delve into Removing Barriers to Power and dismantle existing barriers' main roots. Azadeh Hosseini hosts this episode with the Refugee Action CEO, Tim Naor Hilton, alongside Mo Omar, the Refugee Action Head of EbE and Partnership, Mery, an EbE and a member of the Pathway to Work program and Halyma Begum, Global Diversity, Inclusion, Belonging, Equity and Culture Membership Manager at DIAL Global and one of the Refugee Action's trustees. Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn.⁠⁠

2023 is almost over as the second season of the Experts by Experience Podcast season. The past year was challenging for our sector, and the next year won't be easier. Regardless, our crowd is resilient and defiant and won't stop until justice prevails. For the Christmas Special episode, we invited some of our wonderful supporters to join the panel and, share their Christmas traditions and experiences with our audience, and talk about their work and relationship with Refugee Action. Azadeh Hosseini hosts this episode with guests Louisa Jones, one of our supporters who's supporting us through the Home Made project alongside Dr Charlotte Wilson and Sairah Rehman from the Co-Op Foundation, and Sam Harris and David Boyd from Legal firm Clifford Chance. The Christmas music used in this episode is: We Wish You a Merry Christmas by Twin Musicom is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Artist: http://www.twinmusicom.org/ Noel by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Artist: http://audionautix.com/ Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠, ⁠TikTok⁠, ⁠Instagram⁠, ⁠Facebook⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn.⁠

We are back after almost two months of summer break. In the UK, 105,522 people are living in what is called ‘asylum accommodation’. Of these, 56,029 are in what’s referred to as dispersal accommodation, and 49,493 are in temporary or ‘contingency’ accommodation in hotels. The legislation governs this are sections 98, 95, and 4 of the 1999 Immigration Act, which states that people who claim asylum in the UK should be provided with accommodation to prevent them from becoming homeless. Instead of providing housing through local authorities or housing associations, the Home Office has outsourced accommodation provision to private providers who operate on a profit-based model. Since 2019, three companies have held these contracts – Mears, Serco and Clearsprings Ready Homes. Although they carry out immigration functions and have statutory responsibilities, private providers aim to generate profit. The largest of these providers is Serco, a company specialising in prisons and detention, operating six adult prisons in the UK. Tara Povey hosts this episode with panellists ⁠Dr Jonathan Darling⁠ , Elika Ansari, Raman and Daisy (not her real name), and they dismantle the UK dispersal policy and share their insights and personal experiences of dispersal accommodation. Books mentioned in this episode are: 1- Systems of Suffering: Dispersal and the Denial of Asylum by Dr Jonathan Darling 2- The Five Stages of Moria: The Worst Refugee Camp on Earth by Elika Ansari Azadeh Hosseini, the Communication and engagement officer at Refugee Action, produced and edited this episode. If you like to take action, fight the hostile environment and support asylum seekers, please visit ⁠⁠Refugee Action.⁠⁠ Follow us on ⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and ⁠⁠LinkedIn.

The Experts by Experience podcast celebrates National Poetry Day with the theme of Refuge in collaboration with Forward Arts Foundation. Forward Arts Foundation is responsible for National Poetry Day, an annual mass celebration of poetry encouraging all to enjoy, discover and share poetry. As the art form’s most visible moment, it showcases how poetry adds value to society. Poems penetrate our souls and touch the deepest parts of our hearts the way perhaps thousands of articles or news pieces cannot do so. Poets can communicate emotions directly to many and are an excellent tool for people with lived experiences in the asylum system to express their pains, trauma, and frustration. Nicola Davies, an author and poet alongside Jason Thomas-Fournillier , an EbE, an LGBTQ+ campaigner and an active member of RAS voice with Sarah Croft, the Head of Drama at Litchfield Cathedral school, explores the admirable utility of a poem that lends itself to expressing such diverse emotions. Books mentioned in this podcast are: Choose Love⁠ by Nicola Davies (Author), Petr Horáček (Illustrator) The Song That Sings Us by Nicola Davies (Author) The Day War Came by Nicola Davies (Author), Rebecca Cobb (Illustrator) Azadeh Hosseini, the Communication and engagement officer at Refugee Action, produced and edited this episode. If you like to take action, fight the hostile environment and support asylum seekers, please visit ⁠⁠Refugee Action.⁠⁠ Follow us on ⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and ⁠⁠LinkedIn.

People usually receive nationality automatically at birth, either through their parents or the country they are born in. Unfortunately, not everyone can enjoy the right to acquire a nationality: discrimination against particular ethnic or religious groups or gender, transfers of territory between existing States or the emergence of new States render statelessness. According to UNHCR, "the international legal definition of a stateless person is a person who is not considered a national by any State under the operation of its law. In simple terms, this means that a stateless person does not have a nationality of any country. Some people are born stateless, but others become stateless." The European Network of Statelessness hosts this episode, and the panellists Zoe Gardner, Ahmad Jaber, and Sirazul Islam joined in person, and Zully joined the panel live from a cafe in Istanbul. The panel delves into statelessness and shares their experience as a stateless person and the U.K. asylum system. Azadeh Hosseini, the Communication & Engagement officer at Refugee Action, produced and edited this episode. If you like to take action, fight the hostile environment and support asylum seekers, please visit ⁠⁠Refugee Action.⁠⁠ Follow us on ⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and ⁠⁠LinkedIn.

Identifying as LGBTQ+ is criminalised in over 70 countries. In some countries, just being yourself is punishable by death. People are subjected to violence and discrimination for simply being who they are from their own communities, families or government, leaving them at risk of abuse and discrimination. They seek safety in the UK, believing that here they’ll live freely, be safe and protected. But unfortunately, for many LGBTQ+ asylum seekers, the UK is not the end of the hardship. This episode is hosted by Jason Thomas-Fournillier and Hein Aung Htet, with panellists Jessica and Reina.  The panel share their experience being in the UK asylum system as LGBTQ+. Jason is the founder and senior administrator of the Spectrum Rainbow Community social support group. His main work is social inclusiveness with the Doncaster community for their members. Hein is Refugee Action's Digital Communications Coordinator. Jessica and Reina are both members of the Spectrum Rainbow Community in Doncaster and In Time to be Out. Produced and edited by Azadeh Hosseini, the Communication & Engagement officer at Refugee Action If you like to take action, fight the hostile environment and support asylum seekers, please visit ⁠⁠Refugee Action.⁠⁠ Follow us on ⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and ⁠⁠LinkedIn.

Deporting people seeking asylum to Rwanda is a punishment for asking for help. It doesn’t prevent refugees from arriving in the UK; only safe routes will end dangerous journeys across the Channel. This cruel policy is just part of the broader set of Anti-Refugee Laws, which were passed in 2022. This episode is hosted by Azadeh Hosseini with panellists Dr Grace Crowley, Sima (not her real name) and Omid. Dr Crowley, a psychiatrist and member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists working group on forced migration, discusses the detrimental impacts of the policy on people’s mental health alongside Sima, one of the Refugee Action’s volunteers in North West and Omid, a volunteer at the City of Sanctuary Sheffield sharing their experience of the policy’s effects on the community. Produced and edited by Azadeh Hosseini, the Communication & Engagement officer at Refugee Action If you like to take action and fight the hostile environment, please visit ⁠⁠Refugee Action.⁠⁠ Follow us on ⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and ⁠⁠LinkedIn.

Thousands of people seeking asylum in the UK are stranded in contingency hotels with the lowest living standards; lack of proper hygiene; unedible meals which cause countless physical issues; prison-like conditions; lack of adequate safeguarding and with only £8 a week. This episode is hosted by Azadeh Hosseini with panellists Tara Povey, Ejiro and Nihyan Khan. In this episode, Tara Povey, the Policy and Research manager at Refugee Action, discusses the recent findings in the latest report by Refugee Action about asylum hotel conditions. Alongside Ejiro and Niyhan Khan who share their first-hand experiences of living in contingency hotels. A massive thanks to NCVO for providing us with a free podcast pod. Produced and edited by Azadeh Hosseini, the Communication & Engagement officer at Refugee Action If you like to take action and fight the hostile environment, please visit: ⁠Refugee Action⁠ Follow us on: ⁠Twitter⁠ ⁠LinkedIn

We are approaching the end of 2022, and what a year! Invasion of Ukraine and one of the biggest refugee crises after WWII; the government's endless cruelty against refugees and people seeking safety has promoted racism, division and hate in our society; the rise of living costs. But also, this is the year the Experts by Experience podcast was born. In the past eight months, we have tried to create a safe space for people with first-hand experience to share their stories and opinions and directly converse with the public. We are concluding this year with a Christmas special episode that members of the EbE network and Refugee Action staff share their traditions and holiday rituals.  This is an opportunity to learn about different traditions during the festive season and have an open conversation about other cultures. What connects us is our humanity regardless of race, faith, gender or background. We all have a story, and sharing that in a safe environment helps us better understand each other and become united. We must remember that Christmas is not the same for everyone, especially those away from their family and loved ones. Thank you to Ana Asatiani, the EbE coordinator at Refugee Action, for sharing the choir piece C by Francis Poulenc, sung by her daughter, Nathalia, at Manchester Cathedral on 10 December. We wish you a happy and peaceful holiday season and a happy new year. For more information about our work, please visit: Refugee Action Follow us on Twitter @RefugeeAction and LinkedIn Refugee Action 

 Football brings people together and unites them. Indeed football is a universal language: it is widely spoken and has more followers than any religion. The Element of unpredictability makes football fascinating. Despite all controversies around World Cup 22, the world has come together and celebrated a month of excitement.  This episode is hosted by Mohamed Omar with panellists  Colin Parker, Rahwa and Darlington Okpebholo Ray. They share their passion for football, football and mental health and  Football Freedom Project as a great example of a football community social development programme with and for refugees and people seeking asylum. A massive thanks to Dr Ben Plimpton and Mental Health Foundation for providing us with a podcast room.  Produced and edited by Azadeh Hosseini, the Communication & Engagement officer at Refugee Action For more information about our work, please visit: Refugee Action Follow us on: Twitter LinkedIn

Black History Month is celebrated in October in the UK. It provides an opportunity to reflect on British history, from the pain of slavery, colonisation and ongoing racism to the celebration of resilience, diversity and achievements of black people’s hope and aspirations.  It is vital to share and appreciate one's identity in order to stop one-sided or even false narratives by others. This month is the time to reaffirm the black community's contribution to our society and lives.  The EBE Network Podcast is delighted to dedicate this episode to Black History Month. We are grateful to our amazing panellists for sharing their perspectives on what Black History Month means to them. This episode is hosted by Jason Thomas-Fournillier with panelists Catherine Lebadou, Mercy Okpebholo Ray and Darlington Okpebholo Ray. Produced and edited by Azadeh Hosseini, the Communication & Engagement officer at Refugee Action For more information about our work, please visit: Refugee Action Follow us on: Twitter LinkedIn

Black History Month is celebrated in October in the UK. It provides an opportunity to reflect on British history, from the pain of slavery, colonisation and ongoing racism to the celebration of resilience, diversity and achievements of black people’s hope and aspirations.  It is vital to share and appreciate one's identity in order to stop one-sided or even false narratives by others. This month is the time to reaffirm the black community's contribution to our society and lives.  The EBE Network Podcast is delighted to dedicate this episode to Black History Month. We are grateful to our amazing panellists for sharing their perspectives on what Black History Month means to them. This episode is hosted by Jason Thomas-Fournillier with panelists Catherine Lebadou, Mercy Okpebholo Ray and Darlington Okpebholo Ray. Produced and edited by Azadeh Hosseini, the Communication & Engagement officer at Refugee Action For more information about our work, please visit: Refugee Action Follow us on: Twitter LinkedIn

People seeking asylum in the UK can only apply for the right to work after waiting for a decision on their asylum claim for over a year. Even then, the few people granted such permission can rarely work in practice because their employment is restricted to the narrow list of highly skilled professions included on the Government’s Shortage Occupation List. People are essentially banned from working whilst they wait months, often years, for a decision on their asylum claim, negatively impacting their mental and physical wellbeing.  People who have risked everything to find safety should have the best chance to contribute to our society and integrate into their new communities. Lifting the ban on permission to work for people seeking asylum in the UK allows them to live in dignity and to provide for themselves and their families. Instead, they live on just £5.66 per day, struggling to support themselves and their families while their talents are wasted and their integration is set back. Our panellists address the issue, sharing their experiences and proposing recommendations. This episode is hosted by Jason Thomas-Fournillier with panelists Catherine Lebadou and Maria Stephens, the Advocacy Manager at Refugee Action.  Produced and edited by Azadeh Hosseini, the Communication & Engagement officer at Refugee Action For more information about our work, please visit: Refugee Action Follow us on: Twitter LinkedIn

Although there is no legal restriction on asylum seekers or refugees accessing education in the UK, refugees and people seeking asylum are experiencing shot doors when it comes to education due to a lack of adequate policy in place and confusion over their entitlements. Education is vital to gain confidence, securing employment, and integrating into society.  In this episode, the EbEs share their experience with barriers they faced accessing education.  This episode is hosted by Ana Asatiani, EBE Coordinator at Refugee Action; Bsmah Helmy and her son Ali; Elbagir Abubakar, EbE Assistant at Refugee Action and his daughter, Islam Abubakar; and Viktar Danilchyk Produced and edited by Azadeh Hosseini, the Communication & Engagement officer at Refugee Action For more information about our work, please visit: Refugee Action Follow us on: Twitter LinkedIn

15 August 2021 is one of the darkest days in the history of Afghanistan: Following the withdrawal of coalition forces, the Taliban reinstated power, the Ghani government collapsed, and Kabul fell. Thousands fled and sought refuge in other countries, including the UK.  In this special episode, the EbE Network podcast hosts two Afghan members who share their first-hand experiences with the audience.  This episode is produced, edited and hosted by Azadeh Hosseini, the Communication & Engagement officer at Refugee Action For more information about our work, please visit: Refugee Action Follow us on: Twitter LinkedIn

Connectivity is a major challenge faced by refugees and people seeking asylum in the UK. As the role of technology in community life, education and interaction with the state grows, digital exclusion has become a major cause of social isolation and deprivation. Recent developments have created a ‘digital gap’. A lack of proper devices and digital literacy combined with language barriers and internet access costs exacerbates isolation and social and economic exclusion. In this episode, the panel of EbEs discuss Digital Exclusion and explores recommendations to tackle the issue.  This episode is hosted by Mercy Okpebholo Ray with panelits: Mohammed, Alba and Harbi Jama, the Corporate Partnership Manager at Refugee Action.  Produced and edited by Azadeh Hosseini, the Communication & Engagement officer at Refugee Action For more information about our work, please visit: Refugee Action Follow us on: Twitter LinkedIn 

Employability has a direct relation with mental health. It's a known fact that unemployment and not having access to the job market has negative effects that cause depression, anxiety and loss of self-esteem.  In this episode, the panel of EbEs explore employability and its impact on refugees' and asylum seekers' mental health in line with Refugee Week 2022 theme, healing. This episode is hosted by Jason Thomas-Fournillier with panelits: Mohammed, Jose & Alicia Rivas. Produced and edited by Azadeh Hosseini, the Communication & Engagement officer at Refugee Action For more information about our work, please visit: Refugee Action Follow us on:  Twitter LinkedIn