humans_in_flight

09/24/2026

09/24/2026

If refugee protection is a global responsibility, why is the responsibility still so geographically concentrated?

09/23/2026

I Never Intended to Become a Writer ( Part 1)

By Jonaid

My story as a writer and refugee advocate began in Myanmar.

In 2012, I was in my second year studying physics at Sittwe University when conflict erupted in Rakhine State.

I witnessed violence against the Rohingya and was forced to flee. I first escaped to Bangladesh, then travelled through India and eventually returned to Myanmar, making my way to Yangon.

I stayed in Yangon hoping that the situation in my country would return to normal.

But it never did.

I then went to China, thinking I could wait there until things became safe enough to return.

Again, nothing changed.

Eventually, I made the difficult decision to leave Myanmar for good. I crossed into Thailand, travelled through Malaysia, and finally arrived in Indonesia.

Indonesia changed my life.

I had hoped that Indonesia would be a temporary stop before I could reach Australia. I tried to travel by boat, but the journey failed when the engine broke down in the middle of the ocean. Indonesian authorities rescued us and brought us back.

I was detained.

Inside the detention center, I saw something that changed the direction of my life. Thousands of refugees were living in detention and uncertainty.

Some had spent ten years there. Some families had been separated from normal life for nearly two decades. Children were growing up behind restrictions. People were suffering mentally, losing hope, and some were dying.

I kept asking myself: How can people live like this for so many years?

I realized that simply waiting was not enough.

I began studying human rights, refugee law, and the policies that affected refugees in Indonesia. I shared what I learned with other refugees. Slowly, people began to understand their rights and realize that they could organize and speak for themselves.

We started discussing different forms of peaceful advocacy, including protests and hunger strikes.

While I was still detained, I secretly obtained a phone. That phone became my connection to the outside world.

I began writing.

09/21/2026

I once dreamed of becoming an Indian police officer. I grew up in India and wanted to protect people and serve my community.

Then I realized everything I had worked for could disappear because of a document I did not have.

Still, I refused to stop.

With support from UNHCR, I became one of the first Rohingya students to complete Grade 10 through the Indian school system. That moment gave me more than a certificate.

It gave me belief.

While studying, I became involved in refugee advocacy and community work. Later, I worked as a counsellor supporting Rohingya families in Hyderabad. I witnessed gender-based violence, child marriage, child labour and trafficking. I realized education had changed my life, but many people still needed someone to stand beside them.

My father once told me, “A real hero is someone who protects people who are in need.”

I carried those words with me.

When my refugee status made university difficult to access in India, another opportunity appeared: the Duolingo Scholarship. Only 25 students from around the world would be selected.

I applied. Then came the email. I had been selected.

I chose the University of British Columbia and arrived in Canada in 2023 with a full scholarship.

My journey took me from Myanmar to Bangladesh, Bangladesh to India, and finally India to Canada.

Myanmar gave me my identity. Bangladesh gave my family shelter. India gave me education and helped me discover my voice. Canada gave me an opportunity to continue my journey.

At UBC, I started over. I volunteered with organizations supporting newcomers and refugees, worked as a translator and teaching assistant and supported Rohingya women and marginalized communities.

Today, I study Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice, with a minor in Political Science.

My greatest motivation remains my family. My younger siblings are still far away.
I am grateful that my family survived. But surviving and living are two different things.

I want them to have safety, education, dignity and the freedom to dream.
Every time one door closed, I searched for another.

Now, I want to be the person who opens the door for someone else.

09/19/2026

Congratulations to .create.become ! 🎉

At Humans in Flight, we were honoured to feature Sediqa’s powerful story. Her journey became part of our work documenting the voices, resilience, and experiences of displaced people.

Today, we are especially proud to celebrate her as she publishes her first book, sharing her story and experiences with the world.

Sediqa, your story matters, your voice matters and your courage to share your journey can inspire many others.

Congratulations on this incredible achievement! We wish you continued success with your book and your journey ahead. ❤️📖

09/18/2026

I Was Born Without a Country, But I Refused to Give Up on My Dreams

By Farhana Roshan

I was born stateless, into a Rohingya family whose roots were in Myanmar. My parents had already experienced displacement, and from the beginning, our lives were shaped by a question many children never have to ask:

Where can we be safe?

In 2012, my father, my sister and my brother were targeted in Myanmar. They had to cross the border into Bangladesh for their safety.

A year later, my mother and I followed. I was still very young when we crossed the water and entered another country, hoping that Bangladesh would become a place where our family could finally live safely.

It did give us shelter.

But my parents wanted more for their children than simply a safe place to sleep. They wanted us to have an education and a future.

At that time, however, education opportunities for Rohingya children in the camps were very limited.

So my parents made another difficult decision.

We left Bangladesh and went to India.

We thought India might give us the opportunity to study. We registered with UNHCR and settled in Haryana. But when my parents tried to put us in school, we discovered that crossing a border did not mean the barriers had disappeared.

We were refugees.

We did not have Indian government documents, and schools would not admit us.
I remember the reason my parents had brought us to India was education. Yet even after crossing another border, education was still out of reach.

Then someone gave us a chance.

A man named Farooq Nizamuddin met my father and heard our story. He offered us free education at Salama Residential High School in Hyderabad.

So we moved again.

From Bangladesh to India. From Haryana to Hyderabad.
This time, I finally had a classroom.

I studied hard. My sisters trained in nursing, and our family began to imagine a different future.

But when I reached Grade 10, another door closed.

Because I was a Rohingya refugee without Indian government documents, I was initially not allowed to take the board examination.

I was devastated.

09/10/2026

By Marcella - Volunteer and sponsor

(1/2) Like many Canadians, I got involved in helping refugees back in 2015 or 2016, when the crisis in Syria was really hitting the news.

The headlines were one thing, but what really changed things for me was a single photograph. It was that picture of Alan Kurdi, the young boy who had washed up on the beach. He and his family tried to escape Syria by sea, and the family drowned.

This young three-year-old boy just washed up on the shore. That image sparked a lot of people to do something, including me.

One thing led to another, and I was soon put in contact with a Syrian woman who was hoping to find safety in Canada, through our country’s private sponsorship program. I said yes.

When you look back on your life and any major direction or little change you've made, often it's because you said yes to something.

It might be an opportunity you hadn’t considered before, but in that moment, your life changes forever.

That decision to say yes remains to this day the best thing I've ever done. I'm still so close to that family, whom I call my first family, because I have since become a sponsor for others. The moment they arrived was magical. When I think about it now, I want to cry.

The mother is just phenomenal. I respect her energy, intelligence and passion for protecting her family.

09/10/2026

By Marcella - Volunteer and sponsor

(2/2) She took great risks to get them here. When she contacted us, her Canadian helpers, she was still in Syria, in the middle of a war zone. There were bombs raining down around them and she told her children they could not go outside. But to keep them from being afraid, she said that all around the house were beautiful green fields and other peaceful scenes.

She reached out to us on social media and said she wanted to leave the country and join her husband, who was working in construction in Lebanon. Doing so was very risky, given the war and the checkpoints, and the fact that she was traveling as an unaccompanied woman with four children. And Lebanon wasn’t much of a safe or welcoming place for Syrians either.

But she would do it, she would take her children through a war zone to a foreign country where they would be refugees, if she knew there was hope on the other side. Her Canadian friends agreed and she made the journey.

The family has now been in this country for three years. The kids are amazing, and they’ve signed up for Girl Guides and soccer leagues. The parents have friends and jobs and all the other things they need from life in Canada. And now the family is applying for citizenship. They've got all the paperwork done and passed the tests. They're just waiting for the date.”

We will have a big celebration when they become Canadian citizens. This is how it goes. It's very emotional, and you become invested in the people you’ve helped. It makes you feel good. Everybody can do something to make a difference.

I proved it to myself, just by saying yes.

09/10/2026

By David- Sponsor and Volunteer

This year, I’ve had the privilege of welcoming five sponsored newcomers to our country. I’ve also got to know many others who arrived around the same time - and hopefully, more to come in the future.

Every experience is different yet the same. It’s like welcoming a family member home: that’s what it feels like. Through the private sponsorship program, I have been able to build relationships, a human bond, between like-hearted human beings. A bond that has only continued to grow.

Yes, each newcomer expresses their gratitude for the kindness shown towards them, but it is important to understand that it is truly a two-way street. When you welcome someone to their new home, you find a piece of yourself that you did not realize was missing.

When our friends arrived, it felt just like that. So powerful, and what a gift to receive. Collectively we come together to change the lives of each other in ways we may never quite understand.

Is there a moment that stands out in this experience? Was it the comment from one friend when he stepped out of the gate at the airport to hug me and say that this was his first taste of freedom and liberty, after eight years – did that bring tears to my eyes? Yes, that was a moment.

But I want to share another experience, made up of many moments. Recently I was able to spend a weekend in the country, surrounded by wilderness. It was snowing, and the wind was blowing, but we all went for a walk anyway.

To see and experience the laughter, the singing, and the snowballs flying through the air, missing their targets by miles, will never be forgotten. Not that the sadness and trauma is not buried deep inside, but to have the strength and resilience to live in the moment, to express joy, and to experience new life is a gift that I will never forget.

I am forever grateful to have these moments and many more to come with strong, beautiful, resilient people who will teach many of us the skills and the benefits of living in the present. Not in the past nor the future, but in the present.