Our Misson
Movement in Refuge (MIR) brings sport and physical movement to refugee and host communities, starting in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. We create spaces for young people—especially girls—to move, play, connect, and thrive. In places where opportunities are scarce, MIR offers hope, and community through the universal language of sport.
Our Story
Movement in Refuge emerges from the personal experiences of Magnus, Kasha and Jasmin. It is inspired by the enthusiasm that they have felt from young people living in displacement, and others living in local communities in Bangladesh and many other countries.
Each of us have found purpose, energy and joy for life through the sports we found growing up. It has given us the motivation to drive on through the challenges of life.
We recognise how therapeutic and amazing movement, play and sports can be – and we want to share this with those people who have been left behind.
Who We Are
MiR is more than a humanitarian project – it’s a people-powered movement. We’re ordinary people who believe in the power of play, exercise and sport. From refugee camps to ordinary folks at home, helping their kids get ready for the next game, we’re united by a simple belief: movement is a lifeline – to health, recovery and human connection.
Meet the team
Magnus
Magnus has worked in humanitarian emergencies since the early 1990s, responding to crises in the Balkans, the Middle East, Asia, and Africa. He has led NGOs, advised UN operations, and most recently served as a humanitarian advisor for the UK Government, including in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. In 2024, inspired by the work of his late fiancée Kasha Rigby, Magnus founded Movement in Refuge to bring the healing power of sport to displaced and host communities around the world. He believes that movement is a human right—and that sport can restore joy, dignity, and hope, even in the hardest places. He is now passionate on building a global network of people to power MiR’s mission into the future.
Jasmin Akter
Training Coordinator
Jasmin plays a vital role within MIR organising events within the camps. She makes sure that workshops and classes are carried out smoothly and respectfully within the communities we are working with.
Jasmin was born in a refugee camp in Bangladesh. Her family fled persecution in Myanmar, her father died just before she was born. In 2008 when she was around 7 years old she and her family were granted asylum in the UK. For the first time she could attend school, participate in games and sport. Then tragedy struck again – on a family trip to Bangladesh to visit family who remained in the camps – her mother was paralysed in a traffic accident, throwing Jasmin’s life into turmoil. Struggling with depression and anxiety, it was a school sports coach who helped her rediscover hope and meaning through training, team work and sports.
Sport became her lifeline—she went on to represent England in the World Street Cricket competition (add date). Inspired to help others, Jasmin now brings sports and coaching to refugee communities in Bangladesh, including her former home Nyapara Refugee Camp, using play to uplift and empower.
Doug Mercado
Doug is a seasoned humanitarian leader with over three decades of experience responding to crises and supporting vulnerable communities across the globe. He has led emergency programs, shaped policy, and advised governments and NGOs in some of the world’s most challenging contexts. At Movement in Refuge, Doug is leading strategic development, program design, and U.S. registration. A lifelong runner and committed athlete, Doug has completed dozens of marathons and half marathons—bringing the same endurance, discipline, and heart to MiR as he does to every race.
Meet Kasha
Alpinist. Humanitarian. Comet.
Kasha Rigby was more than an elite skier and mountaineer — she was a force of nature. Born in Vermont, USA, she became a pioneering adventure athlete known around the world for her fearless spirit and boundless energy. As a longtime member of The North Face team, Kasha led all-women expeditions across the world’s most remote and rugged mountain ranges, pioneering some of the steepest descents ever attempted – on telemark skis!!
But her true power went far beyond the mountains.
In 2015, following the devastating earthquake in Nepal, Kasha turned her focus to humanitarian work — supporting the Nepal Mountaineering Association’s recovery efforts, and later joining the UN World Food Programme in Bangladesh during the Rohingya refugee crisis. There, in the refugee camps of Cox’s Bazar, she found a new calling: empowering young people — especially girls — through education, mentorship, and sport.
Kasha believed in the power of movement to heal. She saw strength in girls told to stay inside, and light in boys with nowhere safe to run. Her final years were spent helping others find confidence, connection, and joy through play — in places where those things were far too rare.
Kasha was like a comet — brilliant, rare, unforgettable. A force of joy, love, and light.
Movement in Refuge is honoured to carry her spirit forward. Kasha is our first legacy leader — the founding spark in a growing pantheon of inspiration. Her soul soars with us still: in every camp, on every wave, with every young person who dares to dream.
