{"id":176940,"date":"2026-08-21T12:32:15","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T12:32:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/176940\/"},"modified":"2026-08-21T12:32:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T12:32:15","slug":"refugee-passes-gcse-after-fleeing-war-torn-sudan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/176940\/","title":{"rendered":"Refugee passes GCSE after fleeing war-torn Sudan"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">A refugee who fled a war-torn country and found safety in the UK before becoming a football referee says he has proved &#8220;you can achieve your goals&#8221; after passing his GCSEs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Nasser Hamid grew-up in a &#8220;tiny&#8221; village in Sudan, where millions have been displaced since the <a data-ylk=\"slk:country&#039;s civil war began;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/articles\/cjel2nn22z9o?xtor=AL-72-%5Bpartner%5D-%5Byahoo.north.america%5D-%5Blink%5D-%5Bnews%5D-%5Bbizdev%5D-%5Bisapi%5D\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">country&#8217;s civil war began<\/a> in 2023.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The 20-year-old, who was 16 at the time and could not speak English, fled his home and <a data-ylk=\"slk:moved to Ipswich;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/articles\/cn8qx00x1wqo?xtor=AL-72-%5Bpartner%5D-%5Byahoo.north.america%5D-%5Blink%5D-%5Bnews%5D-%5Bbizdev%5D-%5Bisapi%5D\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">moved to Ipswich<\/a>, where he was helped by Suffolk Refugee Support.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">After passing GCSE English earlier this year, he has now achieved grade 4 in maths and said it was &#8220;one of the proudest moments in my life&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"A young man wearing a black and white shirt while standing in front of a purple BBC Radio Suffolk backdrop. He is looking into the camera.\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/bbc_us_articles_995\/6571dd75222d5cc57d8290b906522d9d.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Hamid said he was keen to learn English from the moment he arrived in the UK [Suffolk Refugee Support]<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">When Hamid arrived in the UK, he stayed in accommodation provided by YMCA Suffolk along with other people who only spoke Arabic.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">He requested to be moved to a different shared housing block, with people who could help him learn English, and he also worked at Portman Road as a cashier.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">More stories from Suffolk:<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Hamid, whose mother and younger brothers remain in Sudan, said it was important to &#8220;just believe in yourself&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;With discipline and hard work, you can achieve your goals,&#8221; he added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;Thanks to Suffolk New College, without their help I wouldn&#8217;t be standing here.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"A man wearing a black referee kit while holding a football. He is standing on the pitch at Portman Road stadium. He is looking into the camera.\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"679\" height=\"382\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/bbc_us_articles_995\/73c5e3003dfc0a24053e1e6096a95db9.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Hamid was in charge of an Ipswich Town Foundation staff match at Portman Road [Suffolk Refugee Support]<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">An injury ended his dreams of becoming a footballer and he has qualified as a referee with the help of the Ipswich Town Foundation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">He has overseen a charity game at Portman Road and officiated Saturday and Sunday league matches.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;I went to the Edinburgh International Cup and I&#8217;d like to continue to progress \u2013 to the Championship, the Premier League, and the World Cup, who knows,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Hamid now wants to become an engineer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">David Squire, head of maths at Suffolk New College and Hamid&#8217;s teacher, said: &#8220;I&#8217;ve never been prouder of a learner in my life.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Do you have a story suggestion for Suffolk? Contact us below.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Follow Suffolk news on <a data-ylk=\"slk:BBC Sounds;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/sounds\/curation\/p0cjdz3v?xtor=AL-72-%5Bpartner%5D-%5Byahoo.north.america%5D-%5Blink%5D-%5Bnews%5D-%5Bbizdev%5D-%5Bisapi%5D\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">BBC Sounds<\/a>, <a data-ylk=\"slk:Facebook;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/BBCSuffolk\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Facebook<\/a>, <a data-ylk=\"slk:Instagram;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/bbceastofengland\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Instagram<\/a> and <a data-ylk=\"slk:X;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/BBCsuffolk\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">X<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>More on this storyRelated internet links<script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A refugee who fled a war-torn country and found safety in the UK before becoming a football referee&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":176941,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[17,55667,56047,30765,56048],"class_list":["post-176940","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","tag-canada","tag-gcses","tag-nasser-hamid","tag-portman-road","tag-suffolk-refugee"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176940","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=176940"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176940\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/176941"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=176940"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=176940"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=176940"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}