Inspiring Stories Of Arab Refugees Who Rebuilt Their Lives
Today is World Refugee Day, a day dedicated to honoring the most heroic members of society, ones who displaced courage as they fled their home country to escape conflict yet managed to showcase resilience by rebuilding their lives. In light of this, we are taking a look at inspirational Arab refugees and how they rebuilt their lives.
The Mardini Sisters
Exemplifying relentless selflessness, to flee Syria, the Syrian refugees known as the Mardini sisters swam for three hours and a half across the Aegean sea while pulling a dingy packed with 18 asylum seekers. Today, they paved successful paths for themselves with Yusra Mardini as a UNCHR Goodwill Ambassador and Sarah Mardini as a human rights activist.
Mo Amer
Turning an experience of displacement from Palestine into an ingenious semi-autobiographical show is Mo Amer. He was forced to leave his home, travel and seek refuge in Kuwait. Today, his successful show chronicles his real life struggle of navigating the asylum process in the US during his 20s.
Narjis Al-Zaidi
Facing the hardships of war-torn Iraq, Narjis Al-Zaidi is a 23 year old former Iraqi refugee who used her voice to create a radio program called “Voice of Aroha” to act as an inclusive platform for refugees to share their stories and struggles.
Mona Ishaq
After fleeing war-torn Sudan in 2015 as well as the continuous harassment her husband faced from government entities, Mona Ishaq sought refuge in Egypt. She didn’t just want to re-settle, she also developed her own business of selling Sudanese perfumes, a business she hopes to grow and prosper in the nation.
Muzoon Almellehan
She is known as the Syrian refugee who made history by becoming the first ever United Nations Goodwill Ambassador with an official refugee status. Almellehan fled Syria back in 2013 and lived as a refugee in Jordan for three years. She then began advocating for children’s right to access education and continues her efforts by working at UNICEF’S humanitarian program.
We hope that each of these Arab refugees showcase the potential of what persistence can foster and inspire more refugees to follow in their footsteps.
