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Support Ismail to study at UEL

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This campaign has been created by Mia Tong, an American/Japanese citizen based in Turkey to provide financial support to Ismail Alsaghir, a Syrian refugee in Turkey, who has been accepted to continue his education with a postgraduate degree in the UK. Ismail Alsaghir is my close friend whom I met in 2017 at AD.DAR Community Center while living in Istanbul. He asked for my support in setting up this campaign due to bureaucratic hurdles he faces in setting up a compatible bank account for Go Fund Me. The text below was prepared by him:

My name is Ismail Alsaghir and I come from Syria. I was fortunate to be accepted to attend an LLM at University of East London (UEL) on Transitional Justice and Conflict. I would be honored to be part of this program and contribute in its pursuit of justice and fair legal practice. Attending an LLM at UEL is highly important for my future, and I aim to make the best of this learning experience. Studying at UEL will give me the chance to study Human Rights from a variety of perspectives and help me gain an insight into transitional justice, which is an area I am particularly interested in.

Since I was at a young age I was exposed to the legal profession as my brother is a lawyer in our city, Aleppo, in Syria; it was through him that I was introduced to practicing law and serving clients while trying not to compromise one’s principles. I wanted to learn more deeply about the guiding principles of our domestic legal system in Syria, but the war shifted my perspective to international law. To me, being a human rights lawyer means challenging discrimination and defending the human rights and freedoms of all people across the world. As a displaced person myself and as a refugee, I have been at both ends of the spectrum; someone who has defended people and someone whose basic human rights have been denied. This duality has reinforced my determination to work in the human rights field.  After completing my postgraduate studies, I plan to work in an international organization in the field of human rights; my aim is to help those who are faced with displacement and human rights violations.

 Regarding my professional skills, I worked as a trainee solicitor for a year, on civil and criminal cases, but I was forced to leave Syria before I could take the bar examination. During this period, I worked tirelessly and at times under great pressure to make sure clients were well represented. In terms of my academic ability, I can say I am more skilled now, years after my graduation, than I was during my undergraduate studies; since high school I was working to help support my family and that meant that I completed my studies within a span of seven years. Since I came to Turkey, I’ve worked hard to learn English and continue learning about my field while holding full-time jobs. Even after being displaced, I worked part-time in Turkey as a general coordinator in the Syrian Program at ILAC, a legal organization specializing in the rebuilding of legal systems in post-conflict countries.

 Overall, I am eager to study at UEL, be challenged and join an international community where strong bonds are forged that transcend preconceptions, political beliefs, religions and cultural backgrounds. But to study at UEL, I need your help. I applied to scholarships, including the Chevening Scholarship, and even made it to the final rounds of interviews, but due to the small number of students they fund, I was not offered a place this year. As a result, I have to prove my financial ability to pay for my studies in UEL. Due to the legal framework for displaced persons in Turkey, I do not have the legal right to work, and instead I find freelance work online as an Arabic teacher on Natakallam, a language learning platform to make ends meet. I spend my days volunteering at a cultural center in Istanbul where I regularly set up and organize events for other Syrians and Palestinians who are displaced by continuing conflict in Syria. However, this is not enough to prove that I can fund my study at UEL.

Therefore, I am turning to you to ask for your help to help cover my tuition expenses at UEL. The tuition itself is £12,480 and I received a scholarship of £3,000, but this doesn’t cover living expenses in London. My goal for this campaign is £13,000, and this money will go directly towards covering all of the tuition expenses and some other school and living expenses for at least the first months (textbooks, rent and board, transportation, etc.). It is difficult for me to ask for your money, so I would like to return this money to you after I complete my studies and get a job fighting for the human rights of others.

 Please help me however you can, as anything helps, and thank you so much for your support from the bottom of my heart. 

Ismail

(Esmaeil on my passport)

Proof of offer:
All donations will be withdrawn from Go Fund Me to my personal bank account every two weeks. The funds will then be directly transferred to Ismail's personal bank account.  Please don't hesitate to let us know if you have any questions!




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Donations 

  • Claire LdG
    • £50
    • 6 yrs
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Organizer and beneficiary

Mia Tong
Organizer
Evangelia Maria Strongylakou
Beneficiary

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