Umar* first came out in a detention centre, to a male immigration officer. ‘He wore a suit and had a badge. I didn’t like that I had to speak to him about my sexuality. I felt scared because I didn’t know if what I said would be kept a secret. But I had no choice, I had to tell him. I was very nervous as this was the first time I had told anyone that I was gay.’ Read more...
When Mohammad received a call from the Taliban one calm spring afternoon in 2013, his life was turned upside down. They told him they knew he was an interpreter for ISAF, the NATO-led forces in Afghanistan, and that he should either cooperate with them by passing over information about the military outpost in which he was based (in hilly Paktika Province, southeast Afghanistan) or they would kill him and his family Read more...
Pamela* had just had a shower and was still in her underwear, having applied moisturiser, when the immigration officers came into her room to remove her from the UK. She refused to be taken to the airport, as she still had an outstanding application for leave to remain in the UK, so the officers tried to remove her by force Read more...
For most of us, commitment to democracy means casting a vote. For Tahidul Hossain, it means standing up to a military regime, being shot at by police at demonstrations, being beaten, detained and tortured, and being forced to leave home Read more...
Joseph* had never before seen a dead body when, as a teenager, he saw his father’s decapitated corpse strewn amongst others on the street, a victim of intertribal violence. He can still remember the smell of blood, metallic and sweet in the close tropical air Read more...