As an ethnic Rohingya growing up in Myanmar and then as an asylum seeker in Malaysia, much of Nasim Ahmed’s life has been lived on the margins of societies which did not really want him. But the 38-year-old’s resilience and…

About 80 students studying at the Cisarua Refugee Learning Centre (CRLC) do not wear uniform, as the local students do. They wear ordinary clothes because they are asylum seekers – mostly from Afghanistan. The centre, set up by asylum seekers…

As the US sinks into a toxic debate about whether to let Muslim refugees into the country, its northern neighbour has set about welcoming tens of thousands of Syrians. Newly elected Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced last year Canada…

With a rapidly ageing population and an economy stuck in neutral, Japan is having to kick start a national conversation about migrants and refugees for the first time in its history. Traditionally an insular society wary of foreigners and protective…

Bilingual speakers often switch between languages mid-sentence with apparent ease, despite many studies suggesting language-switching should slow them down. But new research suggests that consistency may allow bilingual speakers to avoid the issues that come with switching between languages, essentially…

Germany this month announced new laws requiring migrants and refugees to integrate into society in return for being allowed to live and work in the country. Under the coalition government’s measures, asylum seekers face cuts to support if they reject…

The great Dust Bowl of the 1930s which saw vast areas of the US prairielands devastated by drought and over-farming was not quite an ‘Okie diaspora’ as portrayed in popular culture, according to new research. A study of longitudinal data…

A new publication, the ‘Atlas of Environmental Migration’, brings together for the first time, existing knowledge, research and country-level case studies exploring the links between migration, environment and climate change. Produced by International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and the Paris…

Former refugee and emerging artist Mehdi Jaghuri has created an art gallery devoted to diversity and inter-cultural harmony. Mehdi, who fled his homeland Afghanistan in 2005 as a member of the persecuted Hazara minority, is the driving force behind the…

Violence and gang-related strife in Central America has seen a rise in the numbers of refugees from the isthmus seeking asylum. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported 3,423 people asked for asylum in Mexico in 2015, a…

Chinese dissidents are the latest group of asylum seekers looking for refuge in South East Asian countries. Fears over the growing reach of Chinese security services on the part of many Chinese activists and a spate of recent disappearances have…

Slavery or forced labour among refugees and displaced persons is a burgeoning issue across the globe, according to two new reports commissioned by anti-slavery organisations. One report found a growing number of children whose families have fled the Syrian war…