Crossing Borders

Crossing Borders

There have never been more people seeking safety and so few places around the world willing to welcome and protect them. More than 100 million - the most in history - have fled persecution and conflict, usually with just the clothes on their back. Crossing Borders takes you inside the experience of being a refugee and introduces you to some of the people who are helping rebuild their lives.

Episodes

February 21, 2023 27 mins

In many refugee crises, there is a clear divide between victims of the crisis and the humanitarian staff who help them. But in Ukraine, that line is blurred and many of the aid workers who work with the country’s enormous displaced population have themselves been uprooted by the conflict.

In this episode of Crossing Borders, HIAS’ podcast about what it’s like to be a refugee, we hear from some of these hum...

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When Mohammed and his family arrived in the United States last year after being evacuated from Afghanistan, they were assigned to a Welcome Circle: nine volunteers from a Baltimore-area synagogue tasked with helping them settle into a new life. The experience proved to be transformational for everyone involved. In this episode of Crossing Borders, we learn more about how this remarkable bond was form...

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February 3, 2022 36 mins

Monim Haroon escaped Sudan and thought going to Israel in 2012 would be the best way to start anew. But his life as an asylum seeker in Israel has been anything but easy. Monim was detained, imprisoned and then lived for years without any rights. There are more than 30,000 Sudanese and Eritrean asylum seekers in Israel and most live in legal limbo with little hope for a normal future. In the latest e...

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August 27, 2021 18 mins

For the past few weeks, Yalda Afif, an Afghan program officer for HIAS in New York, and Bahar*, an Afghan refugee resettled by HIAS who now volunteers for the organization, have fielded scores of phone calls from family, friends and others in Afghanistan, desperate for help as the country quickly fell to the Taliban.

For this special episode of Crossing Borders, journalist Rhoda Metcalf spoke with the two HIAS staffers, who have li...

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In recent years, tens of thousands of people have made their way to the U.S.-Mexico border fleeing violence, persecution, and threats on their lives. They hoped to apply for asylum and restart their lives in safety in the United States. Instead, they found the border almost entirely closed. In this episode of Crossing Borders, we delve into the lives of these asylum seekers, their arduous journeys, t...

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March 1, 2021 35 mins

The bucolic Greek island of Lesvos, located just a few miles off the coast of Turkey, has in recent years become one of the epicenters of the global refugee crisis. Since 2014, more than 1 million refugees have sought safety in Greece; today, tens of thousands remain stranded in refugee camps amid the olive groves of Lesvos. In this episode of Crossing Borders, we’ll hear from a few of those refugees...

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December 15, 2020 31 mins

In recent years, South America has experienced the largest refugee movement in that continent’s history. More than five million Venezuelans have fled economic, social and political instability, straining the resources and patience of neighboring countries. In this episode we’ll hear stories of people from Venezuela who are trying to restart their lives in Ecuador.

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December 15, 2020 30 mins

The COVID pandemic has upended the lives of people all around the world, but it poses particular dangers to refugees, many of whom live in overcrowded conditions, without the legal status of regular citizens. When travel and economic restrictions lead to job loss, many of these already vulnerable people are unable to afford food, rent or other necessities.

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December 1, 2020 2 mins

Crossing Borders is a new podcast series that takes you inside the experience of being a refugee, and into the work of HIAS, an organization which is helping refugees around the world find safety and rebuild their lives.

Come with us -- to South America, to the Mediteranean, to Afric...

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