Syrian refugee's Ramadan campaign: schoolboy protests outside UK Parliament to highlight plight of victims


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Every day during Ramadan, a teenage Syrian schoolboy is protesting outside the Houses of Parliament in London to shed light on the plight of refugees from his country.

Dressed in his purple school blazer, Abdullah Najjar, 13, says he wants to do what he can to help the millions afflicted by the decade-long Syrian civil war.

While Abdullah and his parents fled Syria when he was three, many of his family members are still in the country.

"When you are fasting and you have school on top of that, you don't really have that much energy to spare. I guess that's kind of the point really, because ironically you're campaigning for people that have even less than what we have right now," he told The National outside Parliament in Westminster.

Abdullah said it took him an hour to travel from his home to central London and two hours for the return journey.

He said he did "get very tired" but it was "all worth it".

“My mum, she seems lonely at times with her family. It’s been 10 years, and I really empathise with her,” he said.

  • People remove belongings from a damaged site after an air strike Sunday in the rebel-held besieged Al Qaterji neighbourhood of Aleppo, Syria on October 17, 2016. Reuters
    People remove belongings from a damaged site after an air strike Sunday in the rebel-held besieged Al Qaterji neighbourhood of Aleppo, Syria on October 17, 2016. Reuters
  • Civil Defence members inspect a damaged site after an airstrike in the besieged rebel-held Al Qaterji neighbourhood of Aleppo, Syria on October 14, 2016. Reuters
    Civil Defence members inspect a damaged site after an airstrike in the besieged rebel-held Al Qaterji neighbourhood of Aleppo, Syria on October 14, 2016. Reuters
  • A youth inspects a damaged site after an air strike in the besieged rebel-held Al Qaterji neighbourhood of Aleppo, Syria on October 14, 2016. Reuters
    A youth inspects a damaged site after an air strike in the besieged rebel-held Al Qaterji neighbourhood of Aleppo, Syria on October 14, 2016. Reuters
  • A general view taken with a drone shows damaged buildings in a rebel-held area of Aleppo, Syria, on October 13, 2016. Reuters
    A general view taken with a drone shows damaged buildings in a rebel-held area of Aleppo, Syria, on October 13, 2016. Reuters
  • Men inspect a site damaged after an air strike in the rebel-held Al-Qaterji neighbourhood of Aleppo, Syria on October 11, 2016. Reuters
    Men inspect a site damaged after an air strike in the rebel-held Al-Qaterji neighbourhood of Aleppo, Syria on October 11, 2016. Reuters
  • Syrians react as the bodies of children are pulled from the rubble of a building after government air strikes in the rebel held neighbourhood of Al Shaar in Aleppo on September 27, 2016. AFP
    Syrians react as the bodies of children are pulled from the rubble of a building after government air strikes in the rebel held neighbourhood of Al Shaar in Aleppo on September 27, 2016. AFP
  • Civil Defence members work at a site hit by an air strike in the rebel-held Al Shaar neighbourhood of Aleppo, Syria, on September 27, 2016. Reuters
    Civil Defence members work at a site hit by an air strike in the rebel-held Al Shaar neighbourhood of Aleppo, Syria, on September 27, 2016. Reuters
  • One of the warning leaflets dropped by the Syrian army is seen in the rebel held Tariq Al Bab neighbourhood of Aleppo, Syria on September 25, 2016. The leaflet reads "This is your destiny!!!" and "Who is next" as it depicts pictures of killed rebel commanders and fighters. Reuters
    One of the warning leaflets dropped by the Syrian army is seen in the rebel held Tariq Al Bab neighbourhood of Aleppo, Syria on September 25, 2016. The leaflet reads "This is your destiny!!!" and "Who is next" as it depicts pictures of killed rebel commanders and fighters. Reuters
  • People dig in the rubble in a search for survivors at a site hit by an air strike in the rebel-held Tariq Al Bab neighbourhood of Aleppo, Syria, on September 26, 2016. Reuters
    People dig in the rubble in a search for survivors at a site hit by an air strike in the rebel-held Tariq Al Bab neighbourhood of Aleppo, Syria, on September 26, 2016. Reuters
  • Syrian men look at a heavily damaged building following air strikes on rebel-held eastern areas of Aleppo on September 24, 2016. AFP
    Syrian men look at a heavily damaged building following air strikes on rebel-held eastern areas of Aleppo on September 24, 2016. AFP
  • A tractor clears rubble after Syrian government air strikes in the rebel-held neighbourhood of Tariq Al Bab in Aleppo on September 24, 2016. AFP
    A tractor clears rubble after Syrian government air strikes in the rebel-held neighbourhood of Tariq Al Bab in Aleppo on September 24, 2016. AFP
  • The wreckage of a bus sits in a bombed-out street in Ramussa on September 9, 2016, after pro-regime fighters took control of the strategically important district on the outskirts of the Syrian city of Aleppo. AFP
    The wreckage of a bus sits in a bombed-out street in Ramussa on September 9, 2016, after pro-regime fighters took control of the strategically important district on the outskirts of the Syrian city of Aleppo. AFP

Abdullah’s father Mohammed said some relatives, including aunties and uncles, were still in Syria – particularly Aleppo.

“He talks to them from time to time. He keeps asking ‘are you safe, are you OK? Do you need any help? I just want to help you in any way’,” said Mohammed, who is a doctor with the UK’s National Health Service.

“He’s one of the stars of this family and I am very proud, I am very happy, I am very blessed.”

Abdullah is raising money for the Orphans Shelter Foundation and said he was inspired by the campaigners Greta Thunberg and Malala Yousafzai.