Asylum seeker speaks of his experience navigating through student life, with a little help from JRS

Sep 2, 2024

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Ibrahim* is a young apprentice student and part-time worker who arrived in Malta as an asylum seeker in 2020. He was a student back home and found it only natural to keep learning and acquiring useful knowledge which would eventually help him find work and build a community of family and friends in Malta.

“I could not go and work in construction. I was a student back in my country. Coming here I wanted to keep on studying,” he said in a short interview held with JRS staff.

Ibrahim is now successfully juggling a busy life between raking in hours for his apprenticeship and keeping up a part-time job at a local restaurant.

“When I arrived, I approached JRS Malta to help me, and they did. They helped me when I knew absolutely no one.”

Because, as he explained, sometimes all one needs is a little help.

“If there is something you like, something you want, you work hard to get it. At the Open Centre, AWAS (Agency for the Welfare of Asylum Seekers) referred me to JRS who helped me a lot. I am fulfilling what I wanted to achieve. You can make it when you get a little bit of help,” he explained.

The first thing he told JRS staff was that he wanted to speak English.

“I came to this office with zero level of English”, he said, adding that JRS had first helped him to get a bus card.

“From an appointment to set up the bus card, then I started English lessons. I was then assisted to getting a full-time course at MCAST and now I also have a part-time job. I also attend mathematics classes here after school. JRS guided me through all this.”

Since 2023, JRS Malta has been running a Youth Programme that aims to provide specialized services and support to young refugees. Part of this programme includes offering mentoring and guidance on education and employment. This employment support in parallel with the effort to improve working conditions for asylum seekers as a whole. This includes working hand in hand with employers to support them in complying with their legal obligations. These aspects of our Youth Programme have been partly funded by APS Bank.

“If you work hard and be available for everything, if you decide to put your mind to it, you can make it. It is difficult to study and work here in Malta, but you have to be patient and do all your best. Don’t think about today only. Studying will teach you and get you where you want to get eventually,” Ibrahim concluded.

*Ibrahim is not the person’s real name.

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