Migrants are in the spotlight, again

Welcome to This Week, Those Books, your rundown on books new and old that resonate with the week’s big news story.

The few minutes it takes to read this newsletter will make you smarter, faster. If you’d rather listen, click on the audio button above for a human, not AI, voiceover by my close collaborator Michael.

Exciting news: We have an interview with Sam Miller, friend, former BBC colleague and author of the brilliant new book Migrants: The Story of Us All.

Please share. Find me on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook or YouTube.

Yours,

Share This Week, Those Books

The Big Story:

Britain’s highest court decides on the government’ policy of sending asylum-seekers to Rwanda. The issue of refugees and migrants is politically fraught in many parts of the world.

• Germany, Italy, Austria and Denmark want to outsource uninvited migrants to countries willing to take them for a fee.
• America’s Republican party blames President Joe Biden for an “open borders” policy with Mexico amid soaring numbers of migrants and asylum-seekers.
• Pakistan began evicting undocumented Afghans on November 1, but says 1.4 million registered refugees can stay until year-end.

The Backstory:

• The United Nations estimates that the number of international migrants worldwide — people residing in a country other than their country of birth — reached 281 million in 2020.
• Most international migrants reside in Asia and Europe (31% each), followed by northern America (21%).

This Week, Those Books:

• A new global history of human migration.
• A novel about a migrant who returned to his home in Sudan.
• A television journalist explores a world with more walls than ever before.
• Originally published at https://thisweekthosebooks.substack.com.