Al Jazeera Magazine: Natural born stateless

At the beginning of 2013, more than 45 million people had been forcibly displaced worldwide as a result of armed conflict, violence and human rights violations, and the number is rising every day.

In the October issue of the Al Jazeera digital magazine, we tell some of their stories – from the Rohingya babies born stateless in IDP camps in Myanmar to the Afghans risking their lives to reach European cities where they encounter dangers and difficulties as real as those they fled.

We explore the power of the Right of Return to unite generations of Palestinians, whether they reside in refugee camps in the Middle East or comfortable homes in the West. While, in Lebanon, we meet Palestinians who have once again been forced to flee – this time from the conflict in Syria.

We examine traditional cultures – from the Bedouin of the West Bank to the Dongria Kondh tribe in India – facing the threat of extinction as their relationship with the land that sustains them is pushed to its limits by forces beyond their control, whether multinational mining companies or politicians with little regard for their way of life.

And, as environmental disasters, climate change and unsustainable development destroy ever more homes and livelihoods, we ask if it is time to reconsider the definition of a refugee.

Featured in this edition:

Because we are not children of a lesser god – Novelist Susan Abulhawa examines the Right of Return, words around which a nation’s dignity and a people’s narrative is wrapped and woven

The day the bulldozers came – Residents of two slum communities in Lagos, Nigeria remember the day 9,000 of them were rendered homeless, as they contemplate starting over, again, in a city of refugees

A 21st century crisis – From Japan’s nuclear ghost towns to Indonesia’s sinking city; from the last nomads of the Tibetan Plateau to the millions displaced by Pakistan’s yearly cycle of flooding, how will environmental crises and climate change influence patterns of migration both within nations and across borders?

The cobbler, the landmine victim, the date seller and the post-9/11 refugee – According to the UNHCR, on average, one out of every four refugees in the world is from Afghanistan. We meet four in Pakistan, a country that has consistently topped the list of refugee host nations for the past 32 years

Solidarity: The other side of the river – Congolese families who were once refugees in the Central African Republic are now opening their homes to their former hosts as they flee conflict on the other side of the river

The camel boys – For the Bedouins of the West Bank, the clock is ticking on a traditional way of life seemingly under attack from all directions

The magazine was recently honoured at the 2013 Webby Awards where it received the People’s Voice Award in the Best News Tablet category.

In past years, Al Jazeera English has been named “News Channel of the Year” by the Royal Television Society, received a Peabody award for its coverage of the Arab uprisings, and a Columbia-DuPont award for its coverage of the Haiti earthquake.

The Al Jazeera English magazine is available for free download on iPad, iPhone and Android tablet devices.

To download via iTunes: aje.me/magazine

To download on Android: aje.me/ajemagazine

Magazines for Al Jazeera Arabic and Al Jazeera Documentary were launched last year.