Amir: ‘I now have power over my own story’

Fleeing Afghanistan in 2021 amidst the Taliban’s takeover, Amir, a talented photojournalist, sought refuge in the UK. He was one of the International Migrants Day Ambassadors with IMIX and IOM(UK) in 2022. 

While grateful for his safety, Amir struggled with isolation and a lack of confidence. Determined to share his experiences, Amir got involved with IMIX’s media training programs for individuals with lived experience of asylum. 

The training gave Amir the skills to effectively communicate his story, including engaging with the media, crafting compelling narratives, and utilising digital media platforms. His newfound confidence empowered Amir to pursue his passion for filmmaking, leading to collaborations on documentaries and a communications role with a theatre company. Amir’s expertise and advocacy skills were recognised, and he was selected to serve as an Ambassador for IMIX for International Migrants Day last year. 

When IMIX first met Amir although he was keen to share his story, he was anxious about it and wanted to remain anonymous. Since receiving training and support from the IMIX team, Amir has gone onto appear in several news pieces, with ITV News, The Independent and Metro powerfully sharing his story and inspiring others to do the same. 

Appearing on the IMIX podcast, Un/Documented, Amir said: ‘ ‘The first time it was really hard for me to tell my story with lots of people… but I tried to be brave to talk about this story of the thousands and thousands of people who came to the UK, the same as me but who didn’t talk about their story… I am so excited that I shared my story because that was a starting point for me. I started learning, started achieving, I found lots of friends after that, I was familiar with lots of new people who were excited and happy to hear more stories like mine. I had lots of nice comments of people who tried to comfort my pain. This gave me more power to continue. Recently lots of people think about me and my story. It is important for them – who is Amir Hussain Ibrahimi?! When I shared it the first time I was nervous but now I am not. I have enough confidence to share it, to talk about it – because this is the story of thousands and thousands of people, people from Afghanistan.’