Forced Migration Online: Blog

A new documentary, by film maker Simon James is now available to view on Forced Migration Online. ‘Across the Border: Uyghurs in Kazakhstan‘ focuses on the situation of the  Uyghur minority in Kazakhstan.

While Uyghurs account for just 1.5% of the Kazakh population, relations with the Kazakh government are often strained and Uyghurs live today in a sort of limbo. They can do business, study their native language and organize cultural events, provided they do not interfere with politics and accept limited freedom of thought and tight State control.

This situation gives minorities the opportunity to survive as a community and enjoy stability, but it does not grant them the status of full citizens.

• Watch the Video: Across the Border
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The film ‘Silk Road to Guantanamo: The Story of Adel Hakimjan‘ is now available to view online. Silk Road to Guantanamo shows the plight of ex-Guantanamo Bay inmate Adel Hakimjan, a Chinese Uighur, who was abused, persecuted, traded, and falsely imprisoned. There will be a screening of the film at the Blue Boar Lecture Theatre, Christ Church College, University of Oxford, on Tuesday, 17th November 7.30pm-9.30pm. After the screening there will be a Q & A with the film’s director S L James and Enver Tohti, chairman of the UK Uyghur Association.

• Silk Road to Guantanamo: The Story of Adel Hakimjan
• Screening in Oxford
• Subscribe via iTunes

The film ‘Jenin‘ is now available to view online. Jenin is a documentary film depicting the events before, during and after the Israeli invasion of the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank on 5 April 2002. Produced by the Palestinian Return Centre and directed by Mohammed Bakri, the film documents the events through a series of interviews with some of the Palestinians effected.

• Jenin
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The film ‘Yemen: Refugees crossing the Gulf of Aden‘ is now available to view online. The film reports how thousands of people risk their lives every year to cross the Gulf of Aden to escape from conflict, violence, drought and poverty.

During 2007, almost 30,000 took the dangerous voyage to seek relative safety in Yemen. Due to the escalation of the conflict in Somalia and the food crisis in parts of the Horn of Africa, more and more people are joining the already large refugee and migrant population in Yemen. During the first five months of 2008 over 20,000 arrived, more than double the number of arrivals in the same period last year.

• Yemen: Refugees crossing the Gulf of Aden
• Subscribe via iTunes

The film ‘Iraqis in Egypt: Time is Running Out’ is now available to view online. The documentary looks at the lives of six Iraqi families who have been forced to flee their homes and are now living as refugees in the massive urban sprawl of Cairo. As the years pass by, their situations are becoming increasingly desperate, with little or no rights in their country of first asylum.

• Iraqis in Egypt: Time is Running Out

UPDATE: Visit iraqisinegypt.org for the latest media releases, films, podcasts and more.