Hassan Akkad is a Syrian refugee, filmmaker, and refugee rights activist living in the UK. He was part of the team that made Exodus: Our Journey to Europe which won the BAFTA for Best Factual Series or Strand in 2015. Hassan worked in TV production and Choose Love, a refugee advocacy organization until the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 when he took a job as an NHS hospital cleaner in London as a way to give back to the local community. 

He recently published the book “Hope Not Fear: Finding My Way from Refugee to Filmmaker to NHS Hospital Cleaner and Activist” 

Meet Hassan through a conversation with our CEO Lina Sergie Attar. 

Lina: Hassan, can you tell us about your journey from being an English teacher in Damascus to your daily life in London. 

Hassan: Before I answer your question, I want to say that I am a big fan of Karam Foundation and that I believe in your message. Your work is very important. My name is Hassan Akkad, and I’m from Damascus. I was an English teacher and a photographer by hobby. When I was a teenager and in my early 20s, I was a nightmare to my family. I was a troublemaker. My way of thinking was very complicated. But what changed me and my opinions was working as an English Teacher.

Teaching at different schools changed me a lot. It made me realize that I am a role model to those around me. I loved the career a lot because I became the teacher I never had. When I used to teach, I not only focused on the books but on everything beyond that. The film, the music, and the visual arts. That’s how I built a strong connection with my students.

Then when the revolution started, a friend of mine, Hamad, encouraged me to protest and let my voice be heard. And since I loved photography, I used to take photos and videos of the protests and share them.

My parents did not approve of that. They wanted me to stop because it was dangerous. But being naive and not understanding the consequences, I refused by saying why not? I kept protesting and ultimately got arrested. I was taken to a center known for being the worst detention center for punishment and torture.

They broke both of my legs, 0rib cages, and arms. I was there for two weeks. Once I was released, my mom wanted me to leave the country, but I did not want to. I got arrested again and was there for another two weeks. I just want to point out that this is nothing compared to the length in which other people get arrested.

What I have seen and witnessed caused me depression, and my mental health deteriorated.  We did not know much about mental health awareness back then, so when I got out, I became a bitter and hateful person. I changed a lot. 

I finally left Syria after the second arrest, and visited a few different countries: Egypt, Emirates, Turkey, and others. And because of the mental health state I was in or the PTSD, I channeled my trauma with negative things. It was basically a period of self-destruction.

My visa expired and I couldn’t renew my passport, so I went to Turkey around 2015, and from there I went on a boat in hopes to get to Europe. But the boat drowned. We tried again and failed. After three months and three attempts, I made it to Britain.

When I took this journey, I decided to document the trip. The camera protected me from reality, from this situation. After all, it was like we were animals being crammed in trucks. Each one of us had a number. It was severely dehumanizing.

I was really affected by how we were perceived by the western media; Refugees who are coming to steal jobs, or them wondering how we are refugees if we have iPhones and other luxuries 

The reporting was always from a third-person point of view. The reporters would ask questions, but nothing was coming out from us as refugees in this situation. We want and should document the trip ourselves. I believe this is very important. I want to have a voice in this journey, so I documented this trip. 

The Film Exodus: Our Trip to Europe was released in three different countries, and it was very successful. The film received many awards, but the biggest award was how it encouraged people to help refugees by volunteering and donating. 

I got here (London) as a refugee. The trip that follows the physical trip, though, is the harder one and much less discussed. The trip that is in your mind of a new culture and a new language. I was lucky enough to have known the language before. 

When I got to London, I was 27, so not very young, but I had to start all over. I started with something I did not know much about, filming. I started gaining experience and taking on jobs for free just to learn.

There was no help here to get me started, no internship or even jobs,  so I worked on my own. I kept working a lot, and now I have a movie coming out soon on Netflix. It’s all thanks to my mother’s prayers and my hard work. 

Lina: In 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic, you decided to volunteer at a hospital as a custodian to clean one of the COVID-19 units near your home. Why did you decide to do that? And what have you learned from it?

Hassan: I want to be honest with you. I was going crazy at home when the quarantine started. It impacted me a lot. It triggered past traumatic memories. So I said I have to help myself first, then I want to help the community around me.

In London, they sometimes think I am either from Poland or Romania, so I did not go through a lot of racism. 

My experience in Britain was positive. There was a family who gave me a room to stay in for a whole year until I was able to pay rent. So I was thinking of how I can repay them. I know it is within my right to ask for a safe refuge, but I wanted to give back to the community because they deserve it.

One day, I was reading the news, and it sounded like a horror movie. Even Boris Johnson, the British Prime Minister, asked us to say goodbye to our loved ones because of COVID. I saw that the doctors and nurses are also getting COVID and dying because all the hospitals here became contaminated. So I was looking for a job, any job. 

I found one that they were asking for either a custodian, or someone who would dispose of dead bodies, and I did not want to do that!

I was really scared of taking on this job because when I was arrested in Syria and they broke my arms, they took me to a hospital where the soldiers who were in the hospital threatened to break my legs, and they broke my arm again at the hospital…so I became terrified of hospitals.

But the positive thing is that when I moved here, it broke that fear of hospitals. When I started working in the COVID unit, all of the workers were refugees and immigrants, all 18 of us, from all over the world. I felt that I belonged to them. And even though I saw a lot of death, this experience was very healing.

Lina: You also worked as a photographer while working as a custodian. Taking photos of these heroes who are front liners. You were able to show the world the work they do.

So after all this, on May 20th, 2020 you put a video on Twitter, a message directed to the British Prime minister, Boris Johnson, asking for his help. This video had a huge impact, with more than 6 million views and thousands of likes and retweets. Could you please tell us about it? 

Hassan: When I was working here, the British government came up with something called the Bereavement Scheme, which basically says if a refugee or an immigrant dies while working on the front line, their families will take permanent residence in Britain. But in this new law, they excluded NHS cleaners and carers who were 100% refugees and immigrants. 

I was driving to the hospital when I read the news about this new law, I was shocked. The decision was not fair at all. I wasn’t expecting a place like Britain to come up with a decision like this at this time. This decision would have affected me personally, and the people I work with. I had 9000 followers on Twitter so I took a video and posted it addressing Boris, asking him to change his mind. 

The first time I recorded it, it didn’t work. It took me three attempts. I am embarrassed because the video is still not how I wanted it. I was nervous but I just posted it and went into the hospital. We were not allowed to have our phones, so when I came back, I was the #1 trending on Twitter. Thirty minutes after my video was posted, the ministry made some changes to the decision and included everyone in this new policy. 

I was so proud that this happened because I put myself in a vulnerable position. I am here on a temporary residency, so that was a risk for me. But when I saw that I made a change, and thousands of people are protected now, I was so happy. I was dancing and jumping in the street.

Lina: You know our work at Karam Foundation, like educating and building future Leaders. I want to ask you how you define Leader and Leadership, and what advice do you give to those students in Turkey who are between the ages of 14-18 to build their lives as Leaders?

Hassan: This is an important question. Leader for us meant something different, it had a negative meaning. Now, it means something positive. For example, in my neighborhood, there is a group of us who every week run a food drive for homeless and hungry people, and that’s what leadership is. 

Our voices are very important. And everything you all do is also very important. Now we have a platform to use to have our voices heard. I used Twitter and changed the law. I know this is uncommon, but I feel that every one of us has the ability to change.

Our voice is so important in all aspects; socially, politically, and educationally.

Lina: This is very important. Everything you did and you do, your leadership, is through service. 

Hassan: My job is basically a storyteller, I deliver stories. In the hospital, I would take a photo and write a small paragraph under it, and publish it on social media.

One of the photos made it to a museum in Britain. It was chosen by Prince William’s wife. I love doing things that have a big and positive impact, and that’s how I became a leader.

Lina: Tell us about your movie.

Hassan: I was working on a scripted movie for Netflix about Sarah and Yusra Mardini, the Syrian sisters. One of them was in the Olympics and another one worked on a boat to save survivors. The movie is called Swimmers and will be out in 2022. 

I was also working as a movie consultant. I work on any movie that has anything to do with Syria and refugees. When I was taking photos in the hospital, I took permission to document everything from cleaning to my co-worker. 

The White Helmets director, Orlando von Einsiedel, is making a global film in ten countries to tell the story of COVID through community, so I went in as a co-director and my story will be featured in it. The film is called Convergence: Courage in a Crisis and it should be out on October 12th. 

Funny thing is that in one of the scenes I was arguing with my mom about Kibbeh, she kept saying to add more fat because it will make it more flavorful and I kept saying no.

Lina: Of course, she is right. Hassan, thank you so much for being here today, I enjoyed the conversation with you and I am looking forward to reading your new book. 

 

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