INTERNATIONAL MIGRANTS’ DAY: LOVE ISLAND’S NAS MAJEED PRESENTS FILM TO SHIFT PERCEPTIONS OF YOUNG MALE REFUGEES IN THE UK

Ahead of International Migrants Day on 18th December, TV personality Nas Majeed from Love Island (Season 6) is working with Migrant Help, the charity providing support to refugees, asylum seekers and survivors of modern slavery, to raise awareness of the challenges young men seeking asylum in the UK face.

Migrant issues have always been close to Nas’ heart as his grandparents immigrated to the UK from Pakistan and Guyana in search of a better life for their families. In Migrant Help’s film as part of its “I Have Dreams” campaign, Nas meets with two young refugees Eduardo and Osam to learn about the challenges they faced in reaching the UK and their dreams and aspirations for their new life here.

Over 18,000 young men arrived in the UK in the past year seeking safety and they are facing a future of uncertainty this Christmas. Whilst they are often met with prejudice and hostility, these are vulnerable young people who have barely reached adulthood and have often witnessed unimaginable horrors.

Migrant Help wants the public to share the film on social media and is encouraging people to donate to support young people seeking asylum in the UK. The film calls on the public to see the young men in the film as more than refugees.

Challenges facing young male refugees

In the film, young refugees Eduardo and Osam open up to Nas about the hardships they faced coming to the UK and the negativity they received from some people once they arrived. The men in the video reveal they had no choice but to flee their countries to escape violence.

Eduardo is a 28-year-old who left El Salvador as the country has some of the highest crime rates in the world. After he was kidnapped at 19, Eduardo managed to escape El Salvador and made his way to the UK where he now works doing business administration at a law firm that supports migrants.

Osam is a 27-year-old from Yemen, who left due to the civil war in 2018. He was a nurse in Yemen but believes that the country is not a safe place for young men to live. Currently he is training to become a nurse in the UK.

Nas Majeed, TV Personality and Presenter says:

“Both Eduardo and Osam had to leave behind all their family and friends to establish new lives in the UK in a safe environment where they can live in safety and pursue their ambitions of helping others. I would not be living here today if it was not for my grandparents coming to the UK and Eduardo and Osam’s powerful stories hit this truth home for me. It’s a shame to see brave young men like them be so poorly perceived in the UK media.”

Nas hoped that appearing on Love Island would help to break down negative stereotypes of young Asian men in the media and show a more positive representation. He is well aware of how being perceived negatively in the media can impact one’s life and self-esteem. Nas encourages the public to keep an open mind when forming an opinion about young men seeking asylum in the UK and hopes the film will highlight the extraordinary hardships they have faced and their positivity despite these challenges.

“For Eduardo and Osam, to bravely overcome the challenges of reaching the UK in search of a better life for themselves, to be faced with public hostility is heart-breaking. I hope people who watch Migrant Help’s film will understand the intense journeys young men like Eduardo and Osam have faced just to be here today, and think differently about young refugees setting up lives in the UK. I don’t think I would have such a smile on my face if I had been through half the things they have been through.”