Pakistani Journalist Afifa Selected as Researcher at TMU
News Desk
Lahore:After more than a decade of reporting on migration and displacement, Pakistani journalist and documentary filmmaker Afifa Nasar Ullah has entered a new professional chapter as a researcher at Toronto Metropolitan University’s Global Migration Institute in Canada.
Nasar Ullah has spent much of her career documenting the human stories behind migration, human trafficking, migrant smuggling and displacement.
Her work across Pakistani and international media has taken her into communities where migration is shaped not only by economic pressures, but also by family expectations, climate-related challenges, misinformation and the search for better opportunities.
Her new role at TMU builds on that experience, bringing years of field reporting into academic research on the changing systems that govern migration.
At the university, she is researching the intersection of digital governance, gender and migration, with particular attention to the growing role of emerging technologies in how migration is managed and experienced.
From the newsroom to academia
For Nasar Ullah, one question has remained central throughout her career: why do people leave their homes?
Her reporting has examined the circumstances that influence migration decisions, including economic hardship, family pressures, climate-related challenges and the information people encounter before making the decision to move.
Her experience in the field now provides a foundation for her research at TMU.
She is examining the growing use of artificial intelligence, biometric technologies, digital screening and data-driven systems in migration governance, with particular interest in their impact on migrants, including women and young people in South Asia.
As technology becomes increasingly embedded in migration systems, digital platforms are also shaping how people obtain information, make decisions and form expectations about life abroad.
More than a decade of migration journalism
Nasar Ullah’s professional career spans Pakistani television, international media and documentary filmmaking.
She has worked with Deutsche Welle, InfoMigrants and BBC World Service Urdu, alongside Pakistani media organisations.
As a multimedia journalist and documentary filmmaker, her work has covered migration, human trafficking, climate change, environmental issues, women’s rights and marginalised communities.
Rather than focusing only on individual migration cases, her reporting has often explored the wider social and economic forces behind people’s decisions to leave.
Information has been a recurring theme in her work.
Social media can provide prospective migrants with immediate access to information, but it can also expose them to misinformation, deceptive recruitment and unrealistic portrayals of life overseas.
For Nasar Ullah, understanding this digital information environment has become an important part of understanding contemporary migration.
A focus on women and vulnerable communities
A significant part of Nasar Ullah’s journalism has focused on women and girls affected by migration, displacement and vulnerability.
Her work has explored not only their individual experiences but also the social and institutional factors that shape those experiences.
She has also been involved in programmes and initiatives related to migration journalism, migrant protection and professional capacity building.
Alongside reporting, she has worked as a trainer and mentor, supporting journalists, young people and women with skills in documentary filmmaking, ethical journalism, constructive storytelling and digital production.
Her approach has emphasised reporting that looks beyond migration statistics to capture the people and circumstances behind them.
Turning field experience into research
Nasar Ullah’s move into academia builds on rather than replaces her journalism.
Reporting gave her the opportunity to meet migrants and displaced communities and document their experiences. Research now provides an opportunity to examine the policies, technologies and systems that influence those experiences.
Climate-related migration is another area connecting her journalistic and research interests.
Floods, extreme heat, environmental degradation and changing livelihoods can place additional pressure on communities already facing economic insecurity.
As climate change affects livelihoods and living conditions, migration increasingly intersects with questions of gender, technology and access to information.
These interconnected issues form part of Nasar Ullah’s wider professional focus.
From storyteller to mentor
Nasar Ullah has also spent years helping develop the next generation of storytellers.
Through The AN Films, which she founded, she has worked on documentary and multimedia projects with development organisations and civil society groups.
She has trained hundreds of young people in filmmaking and storytelling, with a focus on constructive journalism and responsible representation of vulnerable communities.
Her professional journey has also included international fellowships, journalism programmes and training initiatives linked to migration, climate change, women’s rights and international reporting.
These experiences have expanded her work from journalism and filmmaking into training, mentorship and now academic research.
Taking Pakistani experience to global stage
Nasar Ullah’s new role also places her professional experience within a broader international conversation about migration.
For many people in Pakistan, migration is associated with employment, education and economic opportunity. At the same time, irregular migration, human smuggling and exploitation can expose migrants and their families to serious risks.
Access to reliable information therefore remains an important part of the migration journey.
Where do prospective migrants get their information? Which sources do they trust? How do social media narratives influence their expectations? And how could artificial intelligence and other digital systems change the way migrants are screened, assessed and governed?
These questions connect Nasar Ullah’s years of journalism with her new research work.
Her position at TMU gives her an opportunity to bring field-based experience from Pakistan into an international academic environment examining the relationship between migration, technology and society.
A new chapter
Nasar Ullah’s move into research marks another stage in a career centred on documenting the human realities behind migration.
The tools may be changing. Her camera and reporter’s notebook are now accompanied by research, analysis and academic inquiry.
But the central focus remains the same: understanding the people behind migration stories and the forces that shape their decisions and journeys.
From Pakistani newsrooms and international media organisations to the research environment at Toronto Metropolitan University, Nasar Ullah’s career reflects a continuing effort to document and explain migration through the experiences of the people living it.
Her new role at TMU opens another chapter in that journey, bringing together journalism, documentary storytelling and research.
