TIGRAY'S LOOMING HUMANITARIAN CRISIS
Released July, 2021
Hundreds of thousands starving. Millions displaced. Thousands dead.
These are the consequences of 8 months of vicious conflict.
Since November 2020, Tigray, a region in northern Ethiopia, has been ravaged by brutal civil war. The federal government headed by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Abiy Ahmed, ordered a military offensive against rebels from the Tigray People's Liberation Front. Both sides in the conflict have been accused of mass killings and human rights violations.
Now, the most important thing is for aid agencies to be allowed into the region.
Without them, millions will starve.
This is a short video package I created to capture the current situation in Tigray. It was published on the website of the International Observatory of Human Rights.
UK’S UNDOCUMENTED MIGRANTS:
THE LOST MILLION
Released June, 2021
Imagine living in a world where it’s illegal to rent a flat or go to work, you’re barred from going to the hospital and the people meant to protect you are out to get you.
For millions in the UK, this is the daily reality.
An estimated 1.2 million people live in the UK with no legal status, struggling to survive in a hostile environment. They arrived in the country legally, on a temporary visa, but fell victim to the inflexible and unforgiving immigration system.
In a country which they considered home for many years, now they live in fear of deportation.
This is an interview I did with Zoe Gardner, a policy advisor for the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants. She recently co-authored a report exploring the main reasons why immigrants lose their legal status. The interview was published on the website of the International Observatory of Human Rights.
CHINA: BREAKING THE GENOCIDE CONVENTION
Released May, 2021
Is China trying to wipe out a population of millions of Muslims living in the country?
Is Xi Jinping's government incarcerating innocent people, reprogramming their minds and deleting their national identity?
Have we all been made accomplices to a genocide happening right before our eyes?
To find out more, I spoke to Yonah Diamond, legal counsel at the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights. He worked in collaboration with The Newlines Institute for Strategy and Policy and over 50 international experts on a report to identify if China broke the 1948 Genocide Convention.
The interview was published on the website of the International Observatory of Human Rights.
THE CASE OF SHAMIMA BEGUM
Released March, 2021
At only 21 years old Shamima Begum wears many labels: ISIS Bride, mother, future terrorist, child trafficked victim, stateless, citizenship stripped. She has lost her passport, her husband and children, her freedom and any path to rehabilitation. Have we lost our humanity?
I created this short video package after the Supreme Court's ruling to strip Shamima of her citizenship. I included interviews with Amal De-Chickera, director of the Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion and Dr Devyani Prabhat, professor of law in the University of Bristol.
BAYT UK
Released November-April, 2020/21
In Arabic, 'Bayt' means 'Home'.
And home is exactly what someone needs, if they've travelled across the world, running away from war and destruction.
Refugees in the UK don't have it easy. They're not here to steal our jobs, burn our churches and change our culture. They're here because they had no other choice. To understand these people, we need to look past the stigma and misconceptions, and imagine how much courage and resilience it takes to leave everything behind in the search for a better life.
Bayt UK is a series of video guides intended to educate Arabic-speaking refugees about life in the UK. Each video explains something they might need help with - whether it's finding a job, learning English, accessing healthcare, etc.
The presenter Abdulrahman, a brilliant 23-year-old Syrian refugee, is a bright example of how, with a little help, everyone can integrate and thrive in their new home.
I researched, filmed and edited these episodes, and translated them with the help of Abdulrahman. They are published on the website of the International Observatory of Huan Rights.
KEEPERS: A DOCUMENTARY
Released March, 2020
Keepers is a short-form documentary I filmed and produced for my final project at university. I wanted to capture the spirit of Arda - one of hundreds of Bulgarian villages on the verge of complete depopulation.
Bulgaria is one of the oldest European countries and a crossroad of cultures and century-old traditions. But its political and economic turmoils throughout the past century have led to it becoming home of the world’s fastest shrinking nation. Every month, mass internal and external emigration wipes a new village off of the Bulgarian map. And if this trend persists, in a decade almost half of the whole nation will live in only six urban centres.
Although these facts are alarming, I wanted to dive deeper.
Who lives in the remaining villages? Who did those emigrating from rural areas leave behind? What is it like to spend your whole life in a small, peaceful village in the tight embrace of Bulgaria’s most mystical, beautiful mountain?
Meet the Keepers.