REmember what it means to care

By Rishan, Media Ambassador

I came to the UK as a child, completely alone. I was scared, confused and had lost everything I knew about my home, my family, my sense of safety. I didn’t come here because I wanted to. I came because I had no choice. My country was no longer safe. 

Being a refugee is not something anyone chooses. We leave because the danger behind us is greater than anything we might face ahead. We leave because we want to live.

When I see what is happening now in places like Sudan, Syria, Myanmar, parts of the Sahel region in Africa, Gaza, Israel and Ukraine my heart breaks. I see children in fear and mothers and fathers crying, helpless to protect their children. Many could end up like me, crossing borders, searching for safety, alone. The world feels like it is breaking in so many places and more and more children are being forced to flee their homes.

Last year, so many children lost their lives trying to reach safety at the UK-France border - see Project Play’s We Want to Be Safe: The Impact of Violence on Children on the UK-France Border in 2024. More children died there than in the four years before combined. These were boys and girls just like me - hoping for peace, hoping to survive. Instead, they were met with fear, violence, and death. Some were hurt by police. Many were left alone without help.

I was lucky to make it here. Many others are not. Some never arrive. Some don’t survive the journey. They are not dangerous. They are children, young people, and families just looking for safety.

Children should be protected, not punished. They need safe routes. They need kindness. They need a world that remembers what it means to care.

I share my story because silence will not save lives - action will. Every statistic we read hides a name, a face, a life full of dreams. I could have been one of the children who didn’t make it. The only difference between me and them is chance.