Natasha Maimba remembers being really lonely when she, her mother and her brother arrived in Dublin from Zimbabwe in 2011 seeking political asylum in a strange country.
“You were all alone and nobody gave you information. There was definitely no welcome,” said Ms Maimba (14).
Minahil Sarfraz was just five years old when her family moved to Ireland from Pakistan due to gender discrimination and because she could not get an education. When they arrived, her mother told her not to talk to anybody because they did not know who was friendly and who was not.
The teenagers, both Junior Cert students at Our Lady’s Bower secondary school in Athlone, travelled to the United Nations this week as Unicef Ireland youth ambassadors.
Both are settled and living happy lives in the Irish midlands. They wanted to tell their stories in New York so that the voices and experiences of migrants could be heard directly by world leaders at the first summit ever held at the world body for refugees and migrants.
Ms Maimba believes governments need to move beyond words with actions.
“It is long overdue,” she said. “Even though it is a really slow step, it is a step. They can definitely do more and work harder to protect young people in this situation.”
Ms Sarfraz says she is really proud Ireland has become a more diverse and accepting place. “From the beginning of time, there have been refugees and migrants,” she said.
