This week, Rai was joined by Vicki Gaubeca. Vicki is the Associate Director, US Immigration and Border Policy at Human Rights Watch. The two discuss the history of US Immigration policies, the current political realm centred around the US-Mexican border, US detention centres and its role at the border, the migrant crisis, and so much more.

As a result of climate change and increased armed conflict globally, the US-Mexico border has seen a surge of refugees from countries outside of the Americas, such as Cameroon and Syria, seeking asylum at the US-Mexico border.

Compounded by stringent immigration policies, and the militarization of the US-Mexico border, the number of deaths and bodies discovered in the Mexican border lands reached a record 850 in 2023.

Listen to this episode to learn more about the crisis, and how you can #HelpFromHome

If you want to keep up with Vicki Gaubeca:

LinkedIn: Vicki Gaubeca

Twitter: @vgaubeca

Global Rights Defenders is a non-profit dedicated to advocating alongside marginalized, displaced and vulnerable populations. Through podcast interviews, youtube videos, and articles GRD aims to shed light on human rights issues worldwide.

Follow us:

Website - www.GlobalRightsDefenders.org

Email: [email protected]

LinkedIn: Global Rights Defenders

Twitter: @GRD_Now

This week, Rai was joined by Nedal Izdden. Nedal is the co-founder of the Syria Civil Defense, otherwise known as the White Helmets. The White Helmets is a volunteer organization that operates in parts of opposition-controlled Syria and Turkey, and is the now the largest civil society organization in the Middle East. The White Helmets undertake tasks related to medical evacuation, urban search and rescue, and providing essential services, and have saved over 125,000 lives.

Nedal is the recipient of several humanitarian awards including the Tippery International Peace Award.

Nedal and Rai discuss the formation of the White Helmets, his reflections of the ongoing affairs in Syria, and Nedal shares his experiences as a newcomer in Canada. Today, Nedal has continued his advocacy efforts as a research assistant at the University of Victoria, focusing on men's mental health and labour employment for newcomers to Canada.

Nedal's story is remarkable, and we were honoured to have hosted a true hero and advocate.

If you want to keep up with Nedal:

LinkedIn: Nedal Izdden

Twitter: @NIzdden

Email: [email protected]

In this week's episode, Rai Friedman is joined by Eric Reidy. Eric is the Migration & Special Coverage Editor for The New Humanitarian. He has reported extensively on migration in the Mediterranean as well as on humanitarian aid work and anti-migrant vigilante groups at the US-Mexico border and the effort to document crimes and atrocities in Syria’s civil war.

The two discussed European migration policies, the dangers of crossing the Mediterranean Sea en route to safety, the double standard for refugee humane reception, and the future of refugee policy worldwide.

If you want to keep up with Eric Reidy:

Linkedin: Eric Reidy

Twitter: @Eric_Reidy

Email: [email protected]

Global Rights Defenders is a non-profit organization that advocates for refugee and human rights worldwide. Through podcast interviews, youtube videos, articles, and international projects, GRD aims to shed light on human rights issues.

Follow us

Website - www.globalrightsdefenders.org

Email - [email protected]

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In this week's episode, Rai is joined by Michael Page. Page is the Deputy Director of the Middle East and North Africa Division (MENA) at Human Rights Watch. The two discuss migrant workers rights in relation to international labour, and especially as it relates to the FIFA World Cup. When Qatar won the FIFA World Cup bid in 2010, they immediately began recruiting labourers to build all the necessary infrastructure. This has meant roads, stadiums, hotels - and anything you can think of that would host millions of people over the course of a month.

Thousands of people have fled to Qatar from Nepal, India, Bangladesh, and other Southeast Asian and African countries looking for employment opportunities to feed their families. Unfortunately, their rights have not been protected and many have been injured, if not killed, in the process. Find out more from Michael Page about how Qatar's FIFA representatives exploited these vulnerable populations, and how you can help from home.

Check out Pay Up FIFA - https://www.hrw.org/PayUpFIFA

If you want to keep up with Michael Page:

Human Rights Watch - https://www.hrw.org/about/people/michael-page

Twitter - @MichaelARPage

Global Rights Defenders is a non-profit dedicated to advocating alongside marginalized, displaced, and vulnerable populations. Through podcast interviews, youtube videos, and articles, GRD aims to shed light on human rights issues worldwide.

Follow us: Website - globalrightsdefenders.com

Email: [email protected]

LinkedIn: Global Rights Defenders

Twitter: @GRD_Now

Facebook: Global Rights Defenders

Instagram: Global Rights Defenders

In this week's episode, Rai Jordan is joined by Tamara Taraciuk Broner. Taraciuk is the Deputy Director for the Americas Division with Human Rights Watch. The two discuss the humanitarian issues in Latin America, the Migration Crisis in the region, the harmful policies designed to keep refugees and migrants out of receiving countries, difficulties accessing basic services like healthcare, and so much more.

Taraciuk also shed light on the different ways violence been detrimental in the region, negative affects of the pandemic within the political structure in Latin America, and successful advocacy efforts which need continued support.

Finally, Taraciuk reminded listeners how they can help from home, and to not forget about Latin America when they are advocating for human rights issues.

If you want to keep up with Tamara Taraciuk Broner:

Articles - https://www.hrw.org/about/people/tamara-taraciuk-broner

Twitter: @TamaraTaraciuk

Instagram: tamarataraciuk

Americas Deputy Director @hrw

Subdirectora para las Américas de

@hrw_espanol

Vice directora para as Américas da

@hrw_brasil

Global Rights Defenders is a non-profit dedicated to advocating alongside marginalized, displaced, and vulnerable populations. Through podcast interviews, youtube videos, and articles, GRD aims to shed light on human rights issues worldwide.

Follow us: Website - globalrightsdefenders.com

Email: [email protected]

LinkedIn: Global Rights Defenders

Twitter: @GRD_Now

Facebook: Global Rights Defenders

Instagram: Global Rights Defenders

This week’s episode, Rai Jordan is joined by Nhial Deng. Nhial is a South Sudanese refugee, writer, community activist, founder, humanitarian consultant and so much more. He has held positions with Global Affairs Canada, the University of Oxford, the United Nations, and the list goes on. Today he tells us his unique story of living in Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya for 11 years, describes what advocacy means to him, discusses the initiatives he has founded and supports, as well as encourage others to do more.

In light of the Afghanistan and Ukrainian crisis, over 100 million people are currently displaced. Nhial uses an interpersonal lens and reminds us all that every displaced person is an individual with aspirations and dreams of their own. Nhial encourages us all to talk with refugees, listen to their stories, and rather than speak for them, provide them a platform so they can share their stories.

If you want to keep up with Nhial, follow him at:

LinkedIn - Nhial Deng

Twitter - @Nhialdeng

Author on Aljazeera - https://www.aljazeera.com/author/nhial-deng

Founder of Refugee Peace Ambassadors

Global Rights Defenders is a non-profit dedicated to advocating alongside marginalized, displaced, and vulnerable populations. Through podcast interviews, youtube videos, and articles, GRD aims to shed light on human rights issues worldwide. 

Follow us: Website - globalrightsdefenders.com

Email: [email protected]

LinkedIn: Global Rights Defenders

Twitter: @GRD_Now

Facebook: Global Rights Defenders

Instagram: Global Rights Defenders 

In this week's episode, Rai Jordan does a deep dive into the Migration Crisis in Europe. The Migration crisis of 2015 sparked a heated conversation within Europe, which led to sequential laws and policies that prohibit migration. From preventative measures such as stricter immigration pathways, to external border measures such as the creation of Frontex, Europe is increasingly acting outside of international humanitarian laws. 

Who's responsibility is it to assist refugees? How do we define a refugee? Do all people looking for protection or help receive it?

This week's episode discusses all that and more. As well as proactive ways to hold international organizations accountable.

This week, Rai Jordan does a deep dive into rape as a weapon of war. Though historically rape has been viewed as a by-product of war, rape is used systematically for ethnic cleansing, obtaining military objectives, and establishing social control.

Rai will outline the various ways rape is used to achieve these measures through examples from within the literature and case studies throughout varying countries.

This topic is shown in the Netflix documentary City of Joy which follows Dr. Dennis Mukwege as rape victims in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) as he treats victims of sexual violence during wartime.

To learn more about Rape as a Weapon of War, see here: https://wordpress.com/post/globalrightsdefenders.blog/53

To learn about the international laws that recognize rape as a weapon and advocate to protect women, see here: https://vawnet.org/sc/international-laws-and-policies-prevent-and-intervene-violence-against-women

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Global Rights Defenders is a non-profit dedicated to advocating alongside marginalized, displaced, and vulnerable populations. Through podcast interviews, youtube videos, and articles, GRD aims to shed light on human rights issues worldwide. 

Follow us: Website | Email | LinkedIn | Twitter: @GRD_Now | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Wordpress 

This week, Rai Jordan is joined by Paria Saremi. Paria is the case monitor for Iran for Lawyer's Rights Watch Canada, is the Director and co-chair for the Civic Association of Iranian Canadians in North Vancouver, and a recent law graduate currently pursuing a career in Human Rights and Public Interest Law.

Rai and Saremi discuss the proposed internet legislation bill for Iran, what it would mean for Iranians if this bill were to be imposed, and how it will further harm freedoms within the country. The proposed bill would block Iranians from accessing the internet outside of national borders. This would mean that services like Google, Twitter, Instagram, etc would be unavailable to Iranians within national borders and would thereby create a wall of silence for Human Rights harms within the country. The new bill is being called 'Draconian' by many and would allow the Iranian government impunity when engaging in Human Rights violations like arbitrary detention, disappearing of civilians, unlawful killings and more. The two also discussed the history of Human Rights in Iran and shed light on the amazing strides Iranian people have taken in fighting for their rights to freedoms.

If you want to keep up with Pariam Saremi's work, check out:

Linkedin

Lawyer's Rights Watch Canada - Iran

Civic Association of Iranian Canadians 

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Global Rights Defenders is a non-profit dedicated to advocating alongside marginalized, displaced, and vulnerable populations. Through podcast interviews, youtube videos, and articles, GRD aims to shed light on human rights issues worldwide. Follow us: Website | Email | LinkedIn | Twitter: @GRD_Now | Facebook | Instagram