@rogermid.bsky.social
Horn of Africa research. MD Sabi Insight Ltd and Rift Valley Inst Fellow. Ex CDI, Oxfam & Chatham House.
Strong sourcing here for #Ethiopia backing the RSF in #Sudan: www.reuters.com/investigatio...
10.02.2026 09:36 — 👍 8 🔁 5 💬 1 📌 0Please do join us later today for the seminar. Details & webinar registration link below.
10.02.2026 09:06 — 👍 1 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
Tigray’s interim president described the fighting as “something resembling an all-out war”.
That outcome appears to have been averted, for now. Yet the risk of further violence remains uncomfortably high.
Our piece on the latest war-scare in Ethiopia👇
www.economist.com/middle-east-...
UPDATE
Join EWNET for an online webinar on how #Ethiopia has been written into global knowledge and how Ethiopian thinkers have written the world from Ethiopia.
Fri 30 Jan 2026 | 13:30 Cambridge | 16:30 EAT (corrected time)
Register here: tinyurl.com/3kbm7xuj
SAVE THE DATE | Join EWNET for an online webinar exploring how #Ethiopia has been written into global knowledge and how Ethiopian thinkers have written the world from Ethiopia.
Fri 30 Jan 2026| 13:30 Cambridge | 15:30 EAT
Register: tinyurl.com/3kbm7xuj
unbelievably, incredibly pleased to share with you that one of my oldest friends managed, with a straight face, to convince her partner that Jon Hamm was married to an Italian woman called Ana Mortadella
23.01.2026 20:52 — 👍 610 🔁 33 💬 22 📌 3Anyone here is from Somaliland?
I use to connect with many Somalilanders on ex-Twitter...
A sobering, timely warning from Dr Afyare Elmi on the danger of #Somalia's fragile political settlement unravelling: "The federal government’s unilateral pursuit of power, cloaked in the language of democratic reform, threatens to trigger a legitimacy crisis..."
www.aljazeera.com/opinions/202...
I do a Book Club subscription (see attached).
for #buyastrangerabook day, in memory of his Dad, who died this year, @mjazzg.bsky.social is offering to buy a 6 month subscription for for someone who'll be by themselves at Xmas or working Xmas shifts in NHS.
If you'd like it, get in touch.
UK only.
Some photos of Haitians running in the streets. There's smoke in the background. It looks like political disorder.
A Haitian man stands next to a wall with some barbed wire behind him. The original Magnum caption said the man felt Haiti was a prison and he dreamed of making it to the United States. He wanted to be a rapper.
Some men take a break from building a boat.
A boat sets sail far off into the distance.
A story I found about Haiti:
In 1999, a group of Haitians were tired of political disorder and dreamed of a better life in the United States. So they built a small, 23-foot boat by hand using pine trees, scrap wood, and used nails. They called the boat "Believe in God."
It’s not necessary to keep highlighting the qualities of exceptional immigrants as a reason for them to be treated well by their governments. We don’t have to be on our best behaviour to receive a basic level of human decency: that‘s why they’re called “human rights”, and not “human privileges”.
12.12.2025 23:33 — 👍 558 🔁 173 💬 7 📌 6You better watch out,
You better not cry,
You better not pout,
I'm telling you why,
Big Green Books will post to your town,
Big Green Books will post to your town.
Now make a long a list,
We’ll work out a price.
We’ll find lots of books to make you feel nice.
Big Green Books can post to your town
Watch the whole thing. Absolutely chilling.
11.12.2025 12:20 — 👍 618 🔁 204 💬 4 📌 0
Adopt far-right policies to stop the far right gaining influence - continues to be the stupidest idea in European politics today.
www.theguardian.com/law/2025/dec...
SKULL OF THOMAS AQUINAS: TAKE A LEFT NOW
PRIEST: No, the GPS says we have to keep going—
SKULL: I KNOW A SHORTCUT
PRIEST: Do you remember the last ti—
SKULL: FOR THOSE WITH FAITH, NO EVIDENCE IS NECESSARY; FOR THOSE WITHOUT IT, NO EVIDENCE WILL SUFFICE
Local responders are holding communities together as aid to #Sudan and #SouthSudan hits historic lows. Join RVI and partners in Nairobi on 10 Dec to discuss what’s needed to adapt policy and practice.
Register: tinyurl.com/CharitytoSolidarity
🧵1/2
Image of people laughing together with the writing: "Migrants are not statistics. We are part of communities. We are your colleagues, friends and family. Donate today to combat misinformation about migrants".
🚨Donate today and help combat misinformation about migrants🚨
Hate and hostile policies are rooted in misinformation about migrants. If you can, please donate today to support Migrant Voice and help us continue to ensure migrants' voices and experiences are heard.
www.gofundme.com/f/help-comba...
Had the chance to speak with BBC Mundo about the current situation in Somalia and US policy there www.bbc.com/mundo/articl...
07.12.2025 12:15 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Another example of all that is wrong with the Home Office and the hateful immigration rhetoric in the UK. And why should she have to pay visa fees if her parent is British? www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
28.11.2025 09:30 — 👍 3 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0(Although one point here is that the left should maybe start trying to actually have the argument on issues like this, instead of just giving up on it and hoping that if the policy is passed quietly no one will notice)
27.11.2025 13:52 — 👍 50 🔁 2 💬 4 📌 0
New XCEPT report by Hilina Berhanu Degefa on women’s participation in Ethiopia’s ethnonational armed groups.
Completed through the Women Researchers Fellowship in the X-Border Local Research Network, where RVI is a core partner.
Read here: tinyurl.com/w8dupaah
The UK isn’t a “soft touch” on asylum.
UK asylum seeker benefits are similar to European neighbours
No right to work before 12 months (it’s 6 months in France, Spain, Belgium, Netherlands)
UK settlement after 5 years (it’s 3 or 4 in Germany)
Let’s cut out the alarmist rhetoric.
Screenshot of a headline reading: "Refugees' jewellery could be seized to pay for asylum costs, says Home Office minister."
This is a new low from a govt plumbing the depths of performative cruelty in hopes that the public won’t notice they have no answers to the real issues facing this country
A sensible, humane govt would focus on safe routes to prevent people making dangerous small boat crossings
Stella Creasy MP writes that the asylum proposals of the Labour government are "performatively cruel" and likely to be ineffective in securing control or going after the smuggling gangs
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
I came to this country as a child refugee. No English, no certainty, no idea what my life could become. Britain gave me refuge.
Not on a timer, not with conditions attached, but with a chance to grow roots.
A thread 🧵 1/8
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Put Britain's safety before migrants' rights, Mahmood to tell judges Home Secretary to increase deportations and restrict asylum seekers' use of ECHR in plans modelled on Denmark 36 Gift this article free Plans for more deportations come as migrants continue to arrive by small boat Credit: PA Charles Hymas Home Affairs Editor 13 November 2025 6:30pm GMT Shabana Mahmood will force judges to prioritise public safety over the rights of illegal migrants in a crackdown on asylum claims.
The Home Secretary will on Monday pledge to "scale up" deportations as she announces new restrictions on the way judges apply the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) when foreigners appeal against being removed from the UK. Ms Mahmood will propose new statutory rules that require judges to prioritise public interest and safety over migrants' claims that deportation would breach their family rights or put them at risk of “inhuman" treatment if they were returned to their home country.
Sickening rhetoric by Home Secretary. Denying access to human rights isn't "protecting the public". This is Labour further demonising those seeking asylum in language very reminiscent of the far right. Yes, some break the law, so should be prosecuted within the law. Removing rights is not the answer
13.11.2025 21:11 — 👍 355 🔁 145 💬 17 📌 11
Flyer for event, with image of book cover, event time & address and blurb.
On 18 Nov, the Northeast Africa Forum will be co-hosting a book launch & discussion at Maison Française d'Oxford (4pm UK time).
Catherine Dom will be discussing 'Mekelle Stories: Life in Time of War'
Full details & venue address:
talks.ox.ac.uk/talks/id/3aa...
Clear out toys now!
Love being reminded to do this every year. It's a win/win all round
11.11.2025 11:00 — 👍 1588 🔁 1034 💬 17 📌 23
TB to the time when I was writing about Sudan to talk about art, not war...
Born in Khartoum in 1966, artist Salah Elmur now lives and works in Cairo, yet, no matter where in the world he finds himself, Sudan is always at the heart of his work...
wepresent.wetransfer.com/stories/sala...
