Celebrating Refugee Week 2026 with inspiring stories from our student community

To mark Refugee Week 2026, we celebrate the courage and resilience of refugee students as we hear about their experiences.

This week at Capital City College (CCC), we celebrate Refugee Week which takes place from 15 to 21 June. Refugee Week 2026 explores the theme of courage, something that refugees around the world draw on daily, whether they are embarking on treacherous and unpredictable journeys or navigating unfamiliar places, systems and languages.

Refugee Week 2026 is also the 75th anniversary of the Refugee Convention, a landmark legal agreement recognising that those who are forced to flee deserve protection, dignity and hope.

Refugee Week invites us to come together and welcome refugees into our community, to celebrate culture and connection, and to recognise the courage that refugees show not just in getting here, but in imagining and pursuing new possibilities.

At CCC, we are proud to welcome refugees from around the world to be part of college community. We spoke to three students who have come to the UK as refugees to learn more about their experiences.

Akbar

Akbar first came to the UK in 2006 from Iran and is currently studying English and Maths Courses.

How has the college helped you?

If someone doesn’t come to college, they can speak English, but not perfectly. The college helps us to understand everything about grammar and the rules of English. This is important, and that’s why I come to college to study – I like it.

What would you like to do in the future?

I’d like to finish college and maybe go to university or get a job. Working in a hospital is good and working in a college is good. If I can do any job where I can help people, that is good.

How would you describe yourself?

I’m an honest person. I would like everybody in the world to have peace and have a good relationship with each other.

Shahrbanoo

Shahrbanoo came to the UK from Iran in 2021. She has completed ESOL Level 1 Course and is currently studying Mathematics – GCSE as well as a number of short courses

How has the college helped you?

When I first came to the UK, the college helped me to connect with people and communicate with them. I found some friends and I improved my integration. It’s good for me, it’s a friendly environment and the teachers in the department support me. They try to help each student and everything is positive for me and I had a good experience with them.

What are your plans for the future?

I would like to do my previous job that I loved and work with children. I like teaching them, they are passionate to learn and they are very active and very friendly. I want to continue this job, that is what the new life in the UK has started for me.

How would you describe yourself?

I like to learn. I want to learn everything and improve my knowledge. Another thing is that I want to pay back everything I gained during my life. 

Mutuwakil

Mutuwakil fled Sudan aged 15 and has been in London for two years. He is currently studying an ESOL course at the college.

How would you describe your life as a refugee?

I left my country in 2023 with my neighbour and some other boys. In my country, there is lots of fighting and it’s difficult. My family told me to go because it was dangerous. First we went through the Sahara desert, then we went to Libya, after that we went to Italy and then to France.

It was dangerous and difficult because I didn’t have any family or friends with me. I missed my friends and family. I missed everything, and I couldn’t sleep. I told myself “I will be strong, I will be patient, I need to be relaxed”. When we went to France it was difficult – it was raining and cold. The house was not housing and I was in a tent for two or three months. The police sometimes used pepper spray and I couldn’t stay there, so I came to the UK.

What happened when you arrived in the UK?

I arrived in Kings Cross on 28 February 2024 – I remember it was a cold, wet day. I went to the police station and gave them my information and a lady came and I went to her house. She cooked something for me and then I took a shower – I was so tired. She said “If you need anything, you can ask me.”

After a few months, they helped me find my mum, she’s still in Sudan. She cried when I called her but I said “Don’t worry. I’m in the UK. Everything is ok.”

What’s your situation like now?

With the foster family, it’s very nice. She helped me with education and with life. I have some friends in college and I feel happy now.

What do you like about life in the UK?

I think it’s education – it’s very different in my country. Here, you have everything you can study. Education is important.

What are your hopes for the future?

I think I’m going to do a plumbing course and then I want to go to university.

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