Mustajab Malikzada: Refugees can contribute to this country

From a speech by an asylum-seeker from Afghanistan, at the South Bank, London, to launch Refugee Week

I am a refugee from Afghanistan. I fled my country alone nearly three years ago. After a long and harsh journey, I arrived in this strange country in January 2000, aged 16.

After going through the necessary legal processes and the struggle to find support, I managed to settle down and find a place to live. I got admission to Hammersmith and West London College to improve my English. I met a youth worker in Hammersmith, and this completely changed my life. The youth worker introduced me to a youth club, and I got involved in local youth activities.

The project not only helped me to make positive achievements, but also to support other young refugees. Save the Children helped me to continue the project I had started, which is now called the Young Refugee Rights Project.

Young refugees have aspirations just like other young people in this country: education, sports, music and other social activities. They are eager to integrate and committed to contributing towards the development and safety of this country. But they face a great number of problems. They have difficulties with language, and there is not enough information about the local community. Being labelled asylum-seekers and refugees, they are bullied and suffer racist abuse. There is also a lack of financial support.

The Young Refugee Rights Project has come together to tackle these problems and to demonstrate what we can achieve given the chance. As young refugees our voices are not heard, and this project aims to change that.