Habib’s story shows the journey and painful losses that he experienced. Like many other unaccompanied child migrants Habib lives in constant fear of being returned to Afghanistan, waiting nearly 7 years for his status to be confirmed. Habib’s story shows that despite this, with the right support (and positive attitude), he was able to become a valuable part of his new community in the UK, participating meaningfully in large and small ways – from supporting his neighbours, to winning a national education competition.
“While Habib’s story is unique to him, it represents reality for many other refugees in our study who arrived alone as children and who face uncertainty as they become ‘adult’ in the UK. The animation beautifully captures how young people come to belong, the friendships and connections they build, and their enthusiasm to contribute to the lives of others. O ur aim is to get people talking and to unsettle the policy assumptions about what should happen when such c hildren turn 18 with no legal right to remain here”. Dr Elaine Chase, Senior Lecturer (UCL IOE) and Dr Nando Sigona (IRiS, University of Birmingham).

Dear Habib is a short animation sharing the true story of a young, unaccompanied child migrant called Habib. Co-produced by Becoming Adult research associate Habib Rezaie, along with an extraordinary team:
● Majid Adin (who illustrated animations for Elton John’s Rocket Man and
Nick Mulvey based on his experiences as a refugee)
● PositiveNegatives (whose ethnographic comics have featured on the
Guardian, BBC and even been submitted to parliament)

The short film was funded as part of ESRC Becoming Adult project.