Giving Compass' Take:

• The authors at News Deeply reflect on some of their most compelling stories and commentary in the last year that focused on refugees and migration. 

• How can the media help tell refugee stories and spread understanding of the state of migration? 

• Read the Giving Compass Guide on how to respond to the refugee crisis. 

In 2018, the world’s displaced population reached 68.5 million, including more than 25 million refugees – numbers that have soared since Refugees Deeply launched nearly three years ago.

This was the year asylum policies tightened across the globe as wealthier nations in the grip of right-wing populism took unprecedented steps to deter refugees and migrants. And it was the year the effects of harsh policies on the most vulnerable migrants – particularly children – came into focus in the United States and Australia, prompting officials to partially reverse course after public outcries.

It was the year humanitarian groups and individual volunteers were arrested, criminalized and harassed into ending their work to help people on the move.

Finally, 2018 was the year the world came together and adopted two global compacts, one on refugees and one on migration. While not without controversy, their adoption is a minor miracle in the current political climate. It remains to be seen whether they’ll bring about real change – and who will benefit most.

Here is some of our best reporting and commentary from this year, as selected by our editors.

  • Dangerous Exit: Who Controls How Syrians in Lebanon Go Home?  Refugees Deeply editor at large Charlotte Alfred examines how staying in countries such as Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey is often risky, too.
  • Niger: Europe’s Migration Laboratory Refugees Deeply editor at large Daniel Howden and journalist Giacomo Zandonini examine how Niger, the world’s second-poorest country, became the “southern border of Europe” in the European Union’s effort to deter African migrants.
  • Love in the Time of Displacement: Part I and Part II Newlyweds Oudai and Alaa fled the war in Syria together and kept a diary detailing their separation, from Syria to Jordan to Germany.

Read the full article about reporting on refugees and migration by Tania Karas, Daniel Howden, and Charlotte Alfred at News Deeply