Syed Hasnain is the founder and president of UNIRE (Italian National Union of Refugees and Exiles), the first national union of refugees in Italy. UNIRE seeks to change toxic narratives of migration by highlighting the positive participation of refugees in host societies. He is also a member of the Expert Group on the Views of Migrants in the Field of Migration, Asylum, and Integration at the EU Commission, which provides policy expertise in migration, asylum, and migrant integration.
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Currently, Syed is working as project officer and social media manager with Missing Children Europe on the Miniila App project. Active in 8 European countries, Miniila is a mobile application that provides legal information to migrant children, as well as guides them to the nearest organisations where they can receive services.
Syed was born in the Helmand region of Afghanistain. After his family members attempted to force him to fight for the Taliban in Afghanistan’s civil war at the age of 10, his mother helped him escape the country. For the next four years, he lived in Quetta, Pakistan, before moving again to Iran. After 3 and a half years in Iran, Syed was arrested, jailed, and later repatriated by Iranian police for staying illegally in Iranian territory. |
Nevertheless, he succeeded in returning to Iran by paying human smugglers, who helped him cross through Iranian territory into Turkey. From there, he again entrusted his life into the hands of smugglers to arrive in Greece by boat. But, after finally arriving in Athens, the Greek police denied his request for asylum.
Syed then ventured into the Greek countryside where, as in Iran, he was subjected to abusive labor conditions. Disappointed by the conditions in Greece, he decided to leave the country. At the direction of smugglers, he hid under a truck, dangerously close to the engine, and managed to board a ship to Italy. Finally, in 2007, Italy recognized Syed’s status as a refugee and guaranteed his right to stay legally in the country.
Syed jumped quickly into his new life, learned the Italian language, and immediately began engaging with refugees, asylum seekers, and unaccompanied foreign minors as a social worker, cultural mediator, and legal advisor. Syed has worked with several humanitarian NGOs like Save the Children, Jesuit Refugee Services, UNHCR, Intersos and MSF. In 2018, he joined Network for Refugee Voices to advocate for refugees’ rights to represent themselves in policy making processes and all refugee-related public events.
Syed holds a B.A. in in political science and international relations from the Roman University of Sapienza. His thesis was on the participation of refugees in policy-making processes.
Syed jumped quickly into his new life, learned the Italian language, and immediately began engaging with refugees, asylum seekers, and unaccompanied foreign minors as a social worker, cultural mediator, and legal advisor. Syed has worked with several humanitarian NGOs like Save the Children, Jesuit Refugee Services, UNHCR, Intersos and MSF. In 2018, he joined Network for Refugee Voices to advocate for refugees’ rights to represent themselves in policy making processes and all refugee-related public events.
Syed holds a B.A. in in political science and international relations from the Roman University of Sapienza. His thesis was on the participation of refugees in policy-making processes.
