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Ikram Malik
Ikram was born in Afghanistan in 2000. He moved to the UK alone in 2014. He had to leave Afghanistan because it was unsafe for him to stay.   He was supported by his mother and maternal uncle to do so. Ikram decided to move to the UK because there is better support for young people compared to other countries in Europe. They had only heard of London in Afghanistan because it is the capital. It took Ikram three or four months to get to the UK. From Dunkirk he travelled in a lorry and when he was let out he found himself in Milton Keynes. Ikram hopes that his friends can move to the UK and work so that they can also be safe. Ikram was not scared of arriving in the UK as an illegal immigrant. When he arrived in Milton Keynes the police arrested him and held him in prison for twenty-four hours. They decided to send him to a foster family and he lived with them in Hatfield, Hertfordshire for three years. He loved living with his foster family and considered them family because they looked after him. When he turned eighteen he was moved back to Milton Keynes because that’s where he was arrested.   Ikram has made friends in Milton Keynes at college and they meet up in the City Centre. Ikram hopes to become a car mechanic and he wants  to do a course in IT. 

​Ikram has not faced any racism in terms of his colour, religion or dress. Ikram likes Campbell Park and he enjoys watching cricket matches. Ikram misses playing with his friends in Afghanistan and there is nothing to remind him of Afghanistan in his flat or room. Ikram feels like he grew up here because he was only fourteen when he came to live here and considers the UK to be  his home and he thinks everything he knows of home in Afghanistan has gone.

Ikram has been told that the Home Office will be deporting him back to Afghanistan.  He has been told he has to leave his flat by 13thJune 2019 and then has to leave to country or he will be arrested by the police and deported. Ikram has been told he cannot work, but he needs to work so that he can support himself. He used to have an advocated solicitor, but he has failed to help him. Ikram has no contact with his family in Afghanistan.

This project is  an MKIAC project,  in partnership with Living Archive MK