Author Ben Rawlence tells the harrowing stories of individuals who have sought sanctuary in Kenya’s Dadaab refugee camp and joins a panel discussion on what our politicians need to do to end the refugee crisis.

Rawlence spent four years getting to know Dadaab, an isolated city set in inhospitable desert where only thorn bushes grow. In City of Thorns: Fear and Longing in the World’s Largest Refugee Camp, he tells the individual stories of those who have sought sanctuary there. They include the stories of Guled, a former child soldier who lives for football, and schoolgirl Kheyro, whose future depends on her education.

Rawlence is a writer who studied at the School of African and Oriental Studies in London. He has worked for the Social Science Research Council in the USA, the Liberal Democrats in the UK and the Civic United Front in Tanzania. His writing appears in many national newspapers and magazines.
The debate is one of two Oxford Martin School Roundtable Talks and will be chaired by the director of Oxford Martin School, Professor Ian Goldin, a former vice-president of the World Bank and former chief executive and managing director of the Development Bank of South Africa.

In association with the Oxford Martin School.