Malaysia’s Dari Dapur project uses food to bridge migrants and locals

The “Dari Dapur (Stories from the Kitchen)” initiative in Malaysia produces a series of short videos that bring public figures together with migrant and refugee cooks to share recipes and personal stories. Funded by the Malaysia‑UN Sustainable Development Goal Trust Fund and backed by the UN Regional Office for Refugees, the International Organisation for Migration and other partners, the project highlights the country’s multicultural culinary heritage as a way to foster dialogue and counter division.

The latest season features five films in which participants prepare dishes from their countries of origin while discussing hopes, dreams and everyday realities. organisers say the series aims to show that “we are all made of the same ingredients,” using the universal language of food to promote inclusion in a nation that hosts between 2.6 and 5.5 million migrants and about 260 000 refugees and asylum‑seekers.

The videos are available on YouTube and are intended to encourage broader public conversation about migration, integration and social cohesion in Malaysia.