A man who was held captive and tortured by the Taliban at the age of 12 has been giving a group of Concord students an ‘exclusive’ insight into his experiences.

Rohullah Yakobi, who originates from Afghanistan but is now a British citizen and living in Oxley, Wolverhampton, chose as his theme ‘Born in war, raised in disaster, now living in peace’ for his talk at Concord.

He addressed a group of students who regularly meet in college to discuss Politics and Economics – thanks to the foresight of Andrea Solis in 6.1 (pictured with Rohullah Yakobi).

Andrea, a member of the Politics and Economics Discussion group, met Mr. Yakobi in Wolverhampton during an internship and invited him to talk to her fellow students at Concord.

“I asked him if he would be interested in coming to speak to the students and he said he would be delighted,” commented Andrea who hopes to study Philosophy, Politics and Economics at university.

“I felt that was a coup for Concord and his talk generated a great deal of interest, particularly as his experiences will give us ideas for future discussion,” she added.

Rohullah, who is taking an Open University degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, is also involved in Think Tank projects.
He said:  “I gave the students a different perspective of my experiences, growing up in Afghanistan with all the turmoil, and now working in Wolverhampton to help immigrants integrate positively into the wider community.

“I am especially keen to help those who have been through turmoil and war and so my community work is concentrated around that.  I bring a different perspective to the community which will help people.”

An Associate Fellow of a Think Tank called Human Security Centre, based in London, he writes pieces for Think Tanks in theUK.