I’m Asya Abubakar, a Kenyan-Somali. I’m a medical student who was displaced by the war in Ukraine. I organize with International Women* Space, a feminist and anti-racist migrant and refugee women*’s group.
I fled the war in Ukraine just as my parents had fled the war in Somalia in 1991 so the issues of refugees and forced displacement are deeply personal for me.
I have always been the “other”. Whether it was growing up with anti-Somali & anti-refugee sentiment in Kenya, living and studying in Ukraine or navigating Europe after the war.
I know what it’s like to have the odds stacked against you.
I also know the world of difference it makes to have people who advocate specifically for issues affecting minorities in rooms where decisions that affect all of us are made.
When I arrived in Germany, I benefited from the work of groups that came together to help those who were left out by the initiatives helping Ukrainian refugees. From my arrival in Germany to the present moment, I have benefited from and seen the importance of BIPoC refugee-focused groups.
That’s why I wish to be a voice for both myself and those who I understand and share part of their journeys. I also look forward to hearing and learning from those who face struggles that I don’t.
