After a ten-day solo journey from war-torn Aleppo, Syria, to Calais, Ishmael Hamoud spent 13 months in the Calais jungle alongside thousands of other migrants. Eventually, the Dubs Amendment (a policy by Lord Alf Dubs, himself a child refugee in WWII) allowed him legal passage to the UK and secured him a home with foster parents.

Ishmael applied to Birkbeck’s Compass project, allowing him to study a fully funded Access to Higher Education course, where he studied hard and proved bright enough to progress directly into the second year of a Bachelor’s in Global Politics and International Relations.

He has been interviewed on British TV about his experiences and undertaken work experience in Parliament with Lord Dubs. He has said: “I eventually want to become a politician, like my father. My dream job would be working for the British Foreign Office in Middle East Policy.”