Muzoon Almellehan - Global Citizen Festival Hamburg 01

Muzoon Almellehan (; born 1999) is a

Syrian Syrians () are the majority inhabitants of Syria, indigenous to the Levant, most of whom have Arabic, especially its Levantine and Mesopotamian dialects, as a mother tongue. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend ...

activist and

refugee A refugee, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is a person "forced to flee their own country and seek safety in another country. They are unable to return to their own country because of feared persecution as ...

resettled in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. She is known for her work to keep Syrian girls in school, and has been referred to as the " Malala of Syria". In June 2017, she became the youngest GoodWill Ambassador of

UNICEF UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...

Biography

Almellehan was born on April 16, 1999, to Eman and Rakan Almellehan, and brought up in the Syrian city of

Daraa Daraa (, Levantine Arabic: ) is a city in southwestern Syria, north of the border with Jordan. It is the capital of Daraa Governorate in the Hauran region. Located south of Damascus on the Damascus–Amman highway, it serves as a way sta ...

. Her father was a schoolteacher. She has two brothers and a sister, who are between one and four years younger than her. After the Syrian civil war broke out, their city was besieged by the government. In early 2014, her family moved to

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

when the fighting became severe in 2014 and lived in refugee camps for three years. The Almellehan family was forced to move multiple times. When her family fled from

for the first time to take refuge in the

refugee camps, she claims that all she took with her were her books because education was the most important thing for her. The first camp they lived in was Za'atari, from where they moved to

Azraq Azraq ( meaning "blue") is a small town in Zarqa Governorate in central-eastern Jordan, east of Amman. The population of Azraq was 9,021 in 2004. The Muwaffaq Salti Air Base is located in Azraq. History Prehistory archaeology, Archaeologic ...

, another Jordanian camp. While there, her family received offers to move to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. Almellehan's father rejected these for logistical reasons. Almellehan later negotiated her family's move to the

under a plan announced in September 2015 by

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron, Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton (born 9 October 1966) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016. Until 2015, he led the first coalition government in the UK s ...

, by which the British government planned to accept 20,000 Syrian refugees. The family was brought to

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

two and a half months later, being among the first Syrian refugees admitted to the UK. The Almellehan children were enrolled in a local school. Almellehan was among nine refugee children at

Kenton School Kenton School is an Academy located in Newcastle upon Tyne, in Tyne and Wear, England. It is near Kenton Lane in Kenton and provides education for students in Key Stage 3 – 5, specifically Years 7 – 11. Kenton School is a specialist Arts ...

, and has expressed interest in becoming a journalist. She has stated that she found adjusting to the local variant of English difficult.

Activism

Almellehan was led to advocate for girls' education by the fact that half of the 40 girls in her class at Za'atari dropped out of school to get married.

Child marriage Child marriage is a practice involving a marriage or domestic partnership, formal or informal, that includes an individual under 18 and an adult or other child.* * * * Research has found that child marriages have many long-term negative co ...

, although not particularly common in Syria, increased dramatically after the civil war began. Almellehan became known for trying to persuade parents to leave their children, particularly girls, in refugee schools rather than making them marry early. She also tried to persuade children to remain in school, and to prevent child marriage. Almellehan is a friend of

Malala Yousafzai Malala Yousafzai (; , pronunciation: ; born 12 July 1997) is a Pakistani female education activist, film and television producer, and the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize laureate at the age of 17. She is the youngest Nobel Prize laureate in history, ...

, whom she met in 2014 when Yousafzai was visiting the refugee camp Almellehan was staying in. Yousafzai later invited Almellehan to the ceremony at which the former received the

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish language, Swedish and ) is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the Will and testament, will of Sweden, Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobe ...

. Yousafzai also visited Almellehan upon the latter's arrival in the UK. Almellehan's activism received recognition in a number of countries, and has led to her receiving the sobriquet "Malala of Syria." In 2015, she was listed as one of

BBC's 100 Women ''100 Women'' is a BBC multi-format series established in 2013. The annual series examines the role of women in the 21st century and has included events in London and Mexico. Announcement of the list is the start of an international "BBC's wome ...

. On October 16, 2017, Muzoon travelled back to Jordan for the first time after her migration to meet, support and help the students of the war stricken country, who were determined to gain education even during the toughest circumstances within the country. Almellehan became the youngest GoodWill Ambassador of

in June 2017.

References

External links

Opinion piece by Almellehan and Yousafzai
{{DEFAULTSORT:Almellehan, Muzoon Syrian refugees Syrian women's rights activists Syrian women activists Syrian dissidents Education activists Refugees in the United Kingdom 1999 births Living people People from Daraa Youth activists Asia Game Changer Award winners

Biography

Activism

See also

References

External links