This film focuses on two families struggling to get by in an India that still fails to ratify the Refugee Convention. One has fled Burma and ekes out an existence insufficient to pay for the medical care desperately needed by the sick mother. They have failed to gain refugee status from UNHCR, and consequently live their lives on the fringes, unable to educate their children, and reliant on the charity of church friends to aid their survival. The second are Afghans, the father a former kite seller who was forced to leave Kabul under threat from the Taliban, to find themselves in a country which presumes them to be just that. We see Mohd. Masoud and his large family of ten struggle to get by on so little, facing discrimination in accessing accomodation, working all hours and yet continually behind on the school fees. But the difference is that Masoud and his family have refugee status, and though this has little financial benefit, it does mean he has been assisted in finding a job, and is able to access healthcare for himself and his family and education for his children. With only one attempt at gaining refugee status, and one chance to appeal, the odds are stacked critically against those hoping to claim asylum in the world's largest democracy. What shines through is the Indian state's incapacity and apparent unwillingness to address the situation whilst refugees continue to arrive on a daily basis from war-ravaged and despotic countries in the region.
DVDs of the film are available for purchase for just $2 each and all proceeds from the sales will be shared between the two refugee families in the film. The film also has a Facebook page which includes images from the film, trailers and other info about the film.
First Broadcast: Friday 20 Nov 2009, Channel 4 (UK)
Unreported World reveals shocking evidence that Burmese refugees fleeing the country's brutal military regime are being detained and then allegedly sold by Malaysian immigration officials to Thai human traffickers. Reporter Aidan Hartley and director George Waldrum travel to Kuala Lumpur to highlight how the refugees are forced to exchange one hellish existence for another. Living in complete fear of the state, the refugees claim they are being rounded up and subjected to bloody whippings and indefinite imprisonment in overcrowded detention camps. As Unreported World reveals, for some this is just the beginning of a horrific journey into the trafficking network, where men, women and children disappear into a world of slavery and prostitution.
Gender Against Men - The Refugee Law Project, Makerere University
"Voted Best Documentary 2009" - Kenya International Film Festival. This documentary explores "the hidden world of sexual and gender-based violence against men in the conflicts of the Great Lakes region." It is a movie about men, violence, and the inability of society to recognise or address male vulnerability in times of conflict. The movie is intended to raise as many questions as it gives answers in its quest for an honest examination of the gender stereotypes underlying mainstream approaches to sexual and gender based violence (SGBV). Gender Against Men, Refugee Law Project available on Vimeo.
'On the day Yafa`s refugees return' - Zochrot (February 2010)
A film from Oxfam partner Zochrot exploring the attitudes of local Israelis towards both African and Palestinian refugees in Jaffa, Israel, and asking them to consider the prospect of the return of the town's refugees. Available on YouTube.
Films
