Refugee Week in Bradford: Ismail Mohammed of the Rohingya community

To mark Refugee Week, the Telegraph & Argus has spoken to people who were forced to flee their homelands and have since found sanctuary in Bradford.

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Today, we hear from Ismail Mohammed, a law graduate who lives in Manningham and is training to be a barrister. He is Rohingya and grew up in Bangladesh.

Growing up, Ismail had no access to education and lived somewhere where human rights were non-existent.

At 10, he arrived in Bradford with his family, unable to speak English.

Now 24, Ismail has a law degree and is training to be a barrister, hoping to right some of the wrongs he has seen his community face.

Ismail was not only denied education as a child – his life itself wasn’t promised either.

The Rohingya, who maintain they are indigenous to Myanmar, are one of the most persecuted minorities in the world. A genocide against them has resulted in Asia’s largest human exodus since the Vietnam War.

Over a million Rohingya – a Muslim minority in a mainly Buddhist country – live in Bangladesh. Others have fled to Pakistan, India, Thailand and Malaysia.

It is surprising to some that the largest Rohingya community in Europe is, in fact, in Bradford.

There are around 600 to 700 Rohingya here – the first arrived through the Gateway Protection Programme in 2008.

Members of Bradford's Rohingya community meet with former MP David Ward to discuss the situation in Myanmar, 2012

Ismail’s family were amongst some of the first Rohingya refugees who made Bradford home.

“I never imagined I’d end up in such a wonderful city,” the ex-Dixons Allerton Academy pupil says.

“I’m grateful to Bradford, it’s done so much for us. The Rohingya language is included in the list of the 120 languages spoken here – I think that shows the power of diversity.”

Ismail pictured with his parents and siblings

Ismail’s parents fled Myanmar in 1981, moving to a refugee camp in Bangladesh, where his grandparents still live today.

He has relatives who have been there for over 30 years.

“I was denied of my identity. The Rohingya have been victims of mass killings. Children have been tortured, and villages burned down,” he says.

“I’m privileged to live in luxury in the UK, but most Rohingya live in homes made of bamboo, so crowded and densely populated that privacy is difficult.”

Ismail's childhood friends, pictured in a refugee camp in Bangladesh, 2017

Ismail admits that finding his feet in Bradford was hard.

“I couldn’t speak a word of English and I was in the lower sets at school. I couldn’t even read a word from a book,” he says.

“Bradford is a huge city – for the first five years, I only really knew Manningham, I didn’t know places like Ilkley or Keighley.

“But help from locals and my teachers allowed me to integrate. Now, Ilkley Moor is one of my favourite places, as well as City Park, which I remember being built.”

Ismail says he has been reflecting a lot amid Refugee Week, and is proud of himself.

“I graduated in a Bachelor of Law (Honours) at the University of Bradford last year. I’ve been taught by some of the world’s best lecturers and professors,” he says.

“I’ll be commencing my Bar Practice Course in September and doing a Master of Laws, which will allow me to practice as a barrister.

Ismail (centre) meets Lady Hale, who was the President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom at the time, at the University of Bradford in 2019

“But I’m not finished yet, it’s like I’m climbing a mountain. The hard work doesn’t stop, and neither do my dreams.

“I just wish everybody in the camps had that same access to education, because through education you can reach the stars.

“I’m committed to supporting the most vulnerable. I want to ensure justice for victims of violent and sexual offences, because I think the justice system is broken.

“This is part of paying my debt to this country. I’ll never forget the kindness of the British people.”

Ismail with a friend during a 2017 visit to the refugee camp he grew up in

Ismail is also keen to point out the successes of the Rohingya community as a whole.

His own sister, Omme Kulsum, is a qualified nurse at Bradford Royal Infirmary – one of many Rohingya who supported the most vulnerable during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We have people making huge contributions,” says Ismail.

“People are starting businesses, serving locals with our traditional food and children are getting good grades.

“It shows you should always believe in yourself.

“Even though I’ve failed many times before, I’ve never lost hope.”