My life as a global citizen

Zakaria
Westminster Academy
United Kingdom

A global citizen is someone who has a place and a say in the world. I believe I am a global citizen.

I was born in Algeria in 1994. I had a good life but I only stayed there for five years. There were rebels there who started a civil war. As a result, my parents and I had to leave the country. We left behind the rest of our family. We were on our way to live in another country, which was totally unknown to us. This made us feel scared but, luckily, my uncle lived in London and he was going to help us.

My parents were originally planning to leave me behind, so that I could learn Arabic and stay with the rest of our family. However, then they heard that leaving me behind meant that they could not come to the United Kingdom, as the immigration service would not let them in unless they had a child. By bringing me to the UK, the Home Office felt more generous about letting my parents stay,and it worked.

We arrived in England in June 1999. After the whole journey from Algeria to England, at the train station my parents stated that we wanted to live in England. The Home Office sent my dad to an immigration unit. There, he had to confirm that he had the right documents to hand in, so that we could stay. It took six hours, but finally my dad came out of the immigration office with a contact number and we were allowed to leave. My uncle met up with us and took us to his flat to stay for as long as we needed. The next day my dad went to the town hall where he had to sort out our lives.

I did not understand what the whole journey was about at the time. I was just tired and I missed my family in Algeria. I also thought that the immigration officers were rude and inconsiderate.

Three months later we were placed in a town on the far outskirts of London and we were given permission to stay for the rest of our lives. We were in a one-bedroom flat and things were looking up for us. My dad started working and earning money and my mum was back to her old self again. I started at a multicultural school with children from all over the world in it.

After a while, I began to understand everything around me. I understood what was on TV, which helped me to learn English. Even though the UK was better than my own country, in terms of technology and wealth, and although there were no bombings or gunfights every day, I still didn't feel safe.

My life experiences so far have not been easy, but I have learnt a valuable lesson. The world can be a better place if everyone works together as global citizens and makes sure that there is no hatred.

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