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Meet the refugees who sought sanctuary with Jewish volunteers

To mark national refugee week, we speak to the men rebuilding their lives in the heart of our community

June 21, 2018 10:26
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ByRosa Doherty, Rosa Doherty Social Affairs Correspondent

5 min read

Abdul Malek Al-Keblawi is a 20-year-old Syrian refugee living in Pinner.

He is a Sunni Muslim, but on the door he opens each night after work there is a mezuzah, and his housemates are a Jewish couple in their 70s.

He is one of 850 refugees to be offered a safe place to live through Refugees at Home — a British charity aiming to connect those with a spare room with asylum seekers and refugees in need of accommodation.

According to the charity, Sarah and David Levy* are one of a disproportionate number of Jews who have opened their home to those fleeing conflict in countries including Syria, Sudan, Iraq and Ethiopia.