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:
9. Moeen Ali, cricket player
Moeen Ali OBE of the Birmingham Phoenix in the Hundred was born in Birmingham. He serves as vice-captain for England in limited overs cricket, and previously played for the Test team. He is of Pakistani and English descent; his grandfather migrated to England from Mirpur, Azad Kashmir. His grandmother was British and White. The cricket player’s father worked as a taxi driver. (Photo by Nathan Stirk - ECB/ECB via Getty Images) | ECB via Getty Images
10. Birmingham Edgbaston MP Preet Gill
MP Preet Gill was born in Edgbaston but her parents were Indian. Her father, Daljit Singh, was a foreman, and later a bus driver, and her mother worked as a seamstress. Singh was the longest serving president of the Guru Nanak Gurdwara Smethwick. (Photo - BirminghamWorld) | Birmingham World
11. Wouhra Brothers, owners of East End food company
In the 1970s, the five Wouhra brothers, Trilok, Tony, Jas, David and Don, started a small Asian spice store in Wolverhampton. Since then, their company has grown and moved to Birmingham. Their current base is in West Bromwich and is one of the most successful businesses in the region. The company opened the largest rice mill in Europe in 2006. (Photo - Unsplash/Ratul Ghosh) | Unsplash/Ratul Ghosh