Sabir Zazai is a former refugee from Afghanistan, who became the CEO of the

Scottish Refugee Council The Scottish Refugee Council is a registered charity that provides advice and services to asylum seekers and refugees. The objective of the organisation is ‘building a better future with refugees in Scotland’. The charity was formed in E ...

. He has honorary doctorates from the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

The Open University The Open University (OU) is a British public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate students are based in the United Kingdom and principally study off- ...

and an OBE. Zazai was also conferred with fellowship of

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

in 2022 and the Lord Provost's Award For Human Rights in 2019.

Life

Zazai was born in Afghanistan, where his early education was disrupted by the Afghan Civil War. In 1999 he arrived in the UK with only seven years of formal education and he was accommodated in Coventry, as part of the UK's asylum dispersal policy. In 2002 he began his first job in the UK working with refugee children in Coventry. He was invited to talk at Coventry Cathedral and a friend, Penny Walker, who had started the Coventry Refugee and Migrant Centre, arranged for an interview on the BBC. He spoke to Coventry Council and asked them to make their city a "City of Sanctuary". left, Dr Sabir Zazai talking to a Rotary meeting in 2022 In 2010, Zazai graduated from

Coventry University , mottoeng = By Art and Industry , established = , type = Public , endowment = £28 million (2015) , budget = £787.5 million , chancellor = Margaret Casely-Hayford , vice_chancellor = John Latham , students = () , undergr ...

with a degree in Human Resource Management and in 2013, he was awarded an MA in Community Cohesion Management. From 2014, Zazai led the Coventry Refugee and Migrant Centre and this was a charity that previously helped him when he was a refugee. In 2017 he left England and he became the CEO of the

. He made his home in Scotland where he worked with others to ensure that refugees in Scotland are allowed to vote. He was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Glasgow in 2019 but the occasion was marred as his father was refused permission to enter the country to witness the ceremony as the authorities said that they thought his father would not return to his country. Two members of parliament raised this issue in the

house of commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

. Eventually the government reconsidered his fathers application and Zazai's father, Mohammad Zahir Zazai, saw his son receive the doctorate from Prof

Alison Phipps Alison Phipps may refer to: * Alison Phipps (sociologist), British political sociologist, gender studies scholar and feminist theorist * Alison Phipps (refugee researcher) Alison Phipps OBE FRSE FRSA FAcSS a University of Glasgow professor of ...

, and he met two of his grandchildren for the first time. At the same event the editor-in-chief of the Guardian,

Katharine Viner Katharine Sophie Viner (born January 1971)Katharine Vine"Dear diary ..." ''The Guardian'', 27 November 2004 is a British journalist and playwright. She became the first female editor-in-chief at ''The Guardian'' on 1 June 2015 succeeding Alan ...

, who had supported Zazai, also received an honorary doctorate. In the same year Zazai received the Lord Provost's Award for Human Rights. Zazai joined many others including the Archbishop of Canterbury who were objecting to the UK government's policy of moving refugees to Rwanda. He was awarded an

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(OBE) in 2022. He is the Honorary President of

City of Sanctuary (UK) City of Sanctuary is a charity supporting a network of groups across the UK and Ireland working to build a culture of welcome and hospitality within their communities. Although this welcome spreads to anyone who may need it, this movement mainly l ...

and a Visiting Practice Fellow of the Centre for Trust Peace and Social Relations at Coventry University. He served as a Council Member of Coventry Cathedral, advising the

Bishop of Coventry The Bishop of Coventry is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Coventry in the Province of Canterbury. In the Middle Ages, the Bishop of Coventry was a title used by the bishops known today as the Bishop of Lichfield. The present ...

on interfaith and refugee issues. The Bishop is a friend.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zazai, Sabir 1970s births Living people British chief executives Refugees in the United Kingdom Alumni of Coventry University Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh