Human Rights Watch has announced the launch of a new five-episode narrative podcast series titled The Great Unrooting, which explores the experience of losing one’s home and the difficult process of starting over after displacement. The series is centered on the story of Maung, a Rohingya refugee now living in New York, and follows his journey through forced flight, survival, and rebuilding. Through his story, the podcast also examines the broader global reality of displacement at a time when the number of forcibly displaced people worldwide is at its highest level since World War II.
The podcast is hosted by Ngofeen Mputubwele, a journalist, attorney, and audio producer known for his work with The New Yorker and the acclaimed series Fela Kuti: Fear No Man. Human Rights Watch said the series blends personal storytelling with the organization’s research and investigations from around the world. It aims to show how borders and systems of belonging affect real lives, revealing the human cost of the political and social lines that divide communities and determine who is able to find safety.
According to Human Rights Watch, the series comes at a moment when record numbers of people are being forced from their homes while borders are becoming more restrictive and safe migration pathways are shrinking. The organization said The Great Unrooting brings listeners into the deeply personal choices people must make when their homes become unlivable and the long, uncertain journey that follows. It presents displacement not as an abstract global issue, but as a lived reality that reshapes families, futures, and identities.
Across its five episodes, the podcast explores what it calls the “hidden geography” of displacement. Rather than treating borders as simple lines on a map, the series looks at how they are experienced in practice through checkpoints, paperwork, detours, and the painful realization that returning home may no longer be possible. It also reflects on the emotional meaning of home—not only as a physical place, but as a space of belonging, familiarity, and recognition—and what happens when that sense of home is broken.
The series follows Maung’s story from the early warning signs of exclusion in Myanmar to the moment his family is forced to flee, and then through the complex and often exhausting logistics of survival while displaced. Later episodes examine life in prolonged uncertainty, the systems that determine who is allowed to move and who is not, and the challenge of trying to build a new life in a different country while still carrying the loss of home.
Human Rights Watch has outlined a clear progression for the series. The first episode, The Unrooting, is already available and focuses on the moment when the idea of home begins to unravel. The second episode, Flight, scheduled for release on March 30, 2026, examines the practical and emotional realities of escape. The third episode, The Shadow City, arriving on April 13, 2026, looks at life inside the world’s largest refugee camp. The fourth episode, The Toll it Takes, due on April 27, 2026, explores the mental health consequences of displacement. The final episode, Arrival, set for release on May 11, 2026, focuses on the process of rebuilding life after forced displacement.
Overall, The Great Unrooting is presented as both an intimate personal story and a wider reflection on one of the defining humanitarian issues of our time. By combining Maung’s lived experience with Human Rights Watch’s broader human rights analysis, the series seeks to deepen public understanding of displacement, belonging, and the long-term impact of being forced to leave home.
