Resources
want to understand more or get involved?
If you want to understand more about what it means to be a refugee or a person seeking asylum, there is a very wide range of material available in a very wide range of media! LOSRAS provides information via regular open meetings and a newsletter. This webpage suggests just a few of the available resources – for adults and for children – and we update this page regularly.
LOSRAS
Resources:
LOSRAS
NEWSLETTER
We produce a regular newsletter with updates on issues and events both local and national.
Read our recent newsletters below:
Annual report
Th Annual Report for 2023-2024 is now available.
Open
meetings
Regular open meetings are held with invited speakers.
See upcoming events for details.
Books
MY FOURTH TIME, WE DROWNED, by Sally Hayden (2022), (pub. Fourth Estate). An award-winning journalist and photographer focused on migration, conflict and humanitarian crises, Hayden details the brutal inhumanity of European migration policy and the migration crisis of North Africa.
DIARY OF AN INVASION by Andrey Kurkov (2022) (pub. Welbeck Publishing Group). Kurkov’s latest nonfiction book brings together his writings and broadcasts from Kyiv in order to deliver the truth about the invasion of Ukraine to a global audience.
THE DISPLACED: REFUGEE WRITERS ON REFUGEE LIVES by Viet Thanh Nguyen (2022), (pub. Abrams Press). Pulitzer Prize–winning writer Viet Thanh Nguyen, himself a refugee, brings together a host of prominent refugee writers to explore and illuminate the refugee experience. The Displaced is an indictment of US policy that denies entry to refugees and offers a powerful lens on what it means to have to seek refuge away from one’s homeland.
THE GREY BEES, by Andrey Kurkov (2021) (pub. Quercus Publishing) tells the story of a gentle beekeeper’s journey from the grey zone between post-2014 warring factions in the Donbas region, to Russian occupied Crimea. Published before the whole scale invasion, it offers a fascinating insight into Ukrainian society.
THE CROSSING by Manjeet Mann (2021) (Penguin Random House). A book of narrative verse for young adults that explores migration and the refugee crisis from the perspective of two teenagers from opposite worlds (Britain and Eritrea) – both dealing with profound loss.
THE LIGHTLESS SKY by Gulwali Passerlay (2015) (pub. Atlantic Books). An account of Gulwali’s journey from Afghanistan to England as an 11-year-old boy travelling alone after being separated from his brother. It is an extraordinary story of resilience, despair and hope – but with the greatest challenges of his journey experienced after arrival in the UK.
Film, Documentary & radio
HIT THE ROAD by Panah Panahi (2021) is the story of an Iranian family’s journey to the border of Iran and Turkey to smuggle their eldest son out of the country and to an uncertain future as a refugee.
FOR SAMA (2019). An epic and intimate journey into the female experience of war. Filmed through five years of the uprising in Aleppo, Syria, Waad al-Kateab keeps a photographic record of meeting her husband, marrying and giving birth, and all while facing war. Available on Channel 4 – All 4.
THE REAL MO FARAH (2022). The moving documentary about Mo Farah’s history as a child trafficked into domestic servitude. Available on iPlayer.
THE SWIMMERS (2022). Two Syrian sisters forced to flee their war-torn home in Damascus, swim to survive and to save others in rough Mediterranean waters to reach Greece as asylum seekers before going on to compete at the Rio Olympic Games. Available on Netflix.
MATAR (2023): Matar follows the story of an asylum seeker in England who, when confronted with the hostile immigration system in the UK, is forced to live on the fringes of society and rely on his bike to survive. It is a powerful and poignant story of resilience and perseverance, based on the lived experience of co-writer Ayman Alhussein and directed by Hassan Akkad for WaterBear films.
RADIO CALAIS: Radio Calais is produced by Brighton-based activists and DJs involved in offering solidarity to communities in Calais. It mixes music with information from the perspectives of refugee communities living in the ‘unofficial settlements’ of northern France and those working to support them.
Broadcast days and times are the 4th Tuesday of the month at 1400, 1st Friday at 0900 and the 3rd Thursday at 1500.
Of Interest To Children
Books:
ON THE MOVE: poems about migration, by Michael Rosen (2022) illustrated by Quentin Blake. (Pub. Walker Books). (For age 9+) Rosen’s new collection of poems focuses on migration and displacement and draws on his childhood as part of a first-generation Polish family living in London; on his perception of the War as a young boy and his “missing” relatives and the Holocaust; and on global experiences of migration. This anthology makes the point: “You can only do something now.”
YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT WAR IS: the diary of a young girl from Ukraine by Yeva Skalietska (2022), (pub. Bloomsbury). Hard hitting hourly bulletins of the invasion of Ukraine as experienced by Yeva who kept a diary of the invasion that began on her 12th birthday: February 14th 2022. Yeva and her grandmother fled and found safety in Dublin. Foreword by Michael Morpurgo.
WE ARE DISPLACED: my journey and stories from refugee girls around the world, by Malala Yousafzai (2019) (pub. Weidenfeld & Nicolson). Malala is a Pakistani activist for female education and the youngest-ever Nobel Prize laureate. ‘We Are Displaced’ presents true stories of refugees’ experiences alongside her own story of displacement.
BOY 87, by Ele Fountain (2018) (pub. Pushkin Children’s books.) Boy 87 is a gripping, ultimately hopeful tale of a young boy, Shif, and his struggle for survival as a refugee. (For age 10-11)
THE BOY AT THE BACK OF THE CLASS, by Onjali Q Raúf (2018) (pub. Orion). (For age 8-10) Told with heart and humour, The Boy at the Back of the Class is a child’s perspective on the refugee crisis, highlighting the importance of friendship and kindness in a world that doesn’t always make sense.
REFUGEE BOY, by Benjamin Zephaniah (2017). Life is not safe for Alem. His father is Ethopian, his mother Eritrean. Their countries are at war, and Alem is welcome in neither place. Alem is excited to spend a holiday in London with his father until he wakes up to find him gone. What seems like a betrayal is in fact an act of love, but Alem has to manage alone.
WAITING FOR ANYA by Michael Morpurgo (1990), (pub. Farshore). A gripping story describing the dangers of hiding Jewish people in Nazi Europe and helping them to escape. Published two decades ago but remains as relevant, especially each January for Holocaust Memorial Day.
websites:
WALK WITH AMAL: tells the story of The Walk – a journey of 8000 km made by Little Amal, a nine-year-old Syrian girl in the form of a 3.5 metre high puppet. Little Amal, who was designed, built and operated by The Walk Productions, Good Chance and Handspring Puppet Company, walked from Turkey to the UK in 2021 to represent the journeys made by refugee children to reach safety. It is a powerful performance art project; Little Amal continues to spread the message: ‘Don’t forget about us’.
SHORT FILMS:
DEAR HABIB: The animation follows Habib, who journeyed to the UK from Afghanistan at just 14, and shows the incredible challenges, and opportunities, that young unaccompanied migrants face. The animation was co-produced with Habib himself, alongside Majid Adin the artist who created the official animation for Elton John’s Rocket Man.
ROCKET MAN: In his own interpretation of Elton John’s iconic hit, Rocket Man, Iranian filmmaker and refugee Majid Adin’s poignant animation of the song tells his story of flight, peril and loneliness – but also hope.
FACTS AND FIGURES:
Facts about Refugees (Refugee Action)
Figures on people who are forcibly displaced (UNHCR)
