11 refugees and migrants who have helped to make Birmingham brilliant

By Asmita Sarkar

Digital Journalist

Published 3rd Mar 2023, 16:22 BST

As a City of Sanctuary Birmingham welcomes people from across the world. Here we celebrate refugees and migrants who have helped to make the city so brilliant

Birmingham is a city with a truly international heritage. A City of Sanctuary it has welcomed people from across the globe for hundreds of years - some fleeing conflict, some looking to start a new life amid fresh opportunities.

From Jewish settlers in the 1700s to Irish families escaping the Potato Famine in the mid 1800s and modern day refugees from Ukraine, the city has a vast international community - including diasporas from South Asia, East Asia to the Middle East and African.

People have come in search of a new way of life, others are escaping dictatorial regimes or other political unrest in their home countries. While the debate around asylum-seekers and immigration often raises controversy, there are so many refugees and migrants who helped to make Birmingham brilliant.

Here are 11 refugees, migrants or descendants of migrants that make the city great:

Malala Yousafzai, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, is an education activist from Pakistan. She has been an activist from a young age and even an assassination attempt has not stopped her from campaigning for her cause. She has been a Birmingham resident since moving to the UK in 2013. (Photo by Kate Green/Getty Images for BoF)

1. Malala Yousafzai, activist

Malala Yousafzai, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, is an education activist from Pakistan. She has been an activist from a young age and even an assassination attempt has not stopped her from campaigning for her cause. She has been a Birmingham resident since moving to the UK in 2013. (Photo by Kate Green/Getty Images for BoF) | Getty Images for BoF

Alec Issigonis (1906 - 1988), the designer of the Morris Mini-Minor. Issigonis and his parents were evacuated to Malta by the Royal Navy in September 1922 before the Great Fire of Smyrna and the Turkish capture of Smyrna at the end of the Greco-Turkish War. He lived in Edgbaston, Birmingham and died there. (Photo by Derek Berwin/Getty Images)

2. Alec Issigonis, automotive engineer

Alec Issigonis (1906 - 1988), the designer of the Morris Mini-Minor. Issigonis and his parents were evacuated to Malta by the Royal Navy in September 1922 before the Great Fire of Smyrna and the Turkish capture of Smyrna at the end of the Greco-Turkish War. He lived in Edgbaston, Birmingham and died there. (Photo by Derek Berwin/Getty Images) | Getty Images

Baronness Amos is the first black Baroness to be appointed to the House of Lords. Amos emigrated to Great Britain from British Guiana (now known as Guyana). She studied at the University of Birmingham and is a British Labour Party politician and diplomat who served as the eighth UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator. (Photo - GERRY PENNY/AFP via Getty Images)

3. Baroness Amos of Brondesbury, politician

Baronness Amos is the first black Baroness to be appointed to the House of Lords. Amos emigrated to Great Britain from British Guiana (now known as Guyana). She studied at the University of Birmingham and is a British Labour Party politician and diplomat who served as the eighth UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator. (Photo - GERRY PENNY/AFP via Getty Images) | AFP via Getty Images

Vanley Burke is known as the godfather of Black British photography. Since moving from Jamaica, he has captured the Handsworth riots and the lives of immigrants across the country. His work has been exhibited around the country as well. (Photo by Shane Anthony Sinclair/Getty Images)

4. Vanley Burke, photographer

Vanley Burke is known as the godfather of Black British photography. Since moving from Jamaica, he has captured the Handsworth riots and the lives of immigrants across the country. His work has been exhibited around the country as well. (Photo by Shane Anthony Sinclair/Getty Images) | Getty Images

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