EPISODE NOTES 

As of May 2023, there were an estimated 110 million forcibly displaced people worldwide, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. 

Many are escaping wars, gang violence or repressive regimes, others are fleeing climate change impacts. Some are leaving collapsed economies where they can’t feed their families. How journalists cover refugees and immigration has a major impact on public perceptions. 

This is the first in a series of episodes looking at the intersection of journalism, refugees and immigration because it’s such an important issue, and because how journalists report on it has such a strong impact on public attitudes.

Guest Dina Francesca Haynes is an immigration and human rights attorney with decades of experience around the world. She worked for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Bosnia and Afghanistan, and with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Rwanda, among other international organizations. She’s personally represented hundreds of asylum seekers and victims of human trafficking.

Haynes also writes for publications like The Jurist and The Hill, and has served as an expert source for journalists at CNN, Vice News, NPR, and other news outlets. She is the founder and president of the legal aid organization Refugee Projects, and directs the Immigration Law Certificate Program at New England Law. In this interview, she shares moving stories about clients trying to escape war and human trafficking, as well as advice for both journalists and activists on how to communicate fairly and accurately about immigration in a highly politicized atmosphere. 

LEARN MORE

Visit refugeeprojects.org, and follow on Instagram @refugeeprojects.

Read Dina Haynes’ article in Jurist: Rule of Law Chronicles: Migration, Xenophobia and the Immigrant Other (May 2023)

Read the Vice News article on human trafficking in Afghanistan quoting Dina Haynes: The Anti-Trafficking Movement Is Pivoting to Afghanistan (October 2021)