Maya Ghazal

From AviationSafetyX Wiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Maya Ghazal (Arabic: مايا غزال) is a UK-based Syrian refugee, a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador, the first female Syrian refugee pilot, and a Diana Award winner.

Early life in Syria[edit | edit source]

Ghazal was born to a father who ran a fabric factory on the outskirts of Damascus[1] and has two brothers.[2]

The Syrian civil war started in 2011, when she was 12 years old.[2]

Life in the United Kingdom[edit | edit source]

In September 2015,[3] at the age of 16, with her mother and siblings, following the path that her father took, Ghazal fled Syria to Birmingham, UK.[4] In the UK, she struggled to continue her education, because 16 is a legal school-leaving age in the UK, no school was obliged to accept her, and the schools did not respect her Syrian education credentials.[1]

The family moved from Birmingham to London.[2]

In 2017, Ghazal was one of 20 people to be given a Diana Award.[5][6]

Ghazal studied aeronautical engineering and pilot education Brunel University London.[1][3] In 2020, she became the first female Syrian refugee pilot and in 2021 she became a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Goodwill Ambassador.[2]

References[edit | edit source]


External links[edit | edit source]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 'Saya adalah seorang pengungsi... Sekarang saya mengendalikan hidup saya seperti saya mengendalikan pesawat’.   Swaminathan Natarajan.  (2021-09-09)  Retrieved 2022-07-31 from BBC News Indonesia
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 How Maya Ghazal became the first female Syrian refugee pilot.  Liam Freeman.  (2021-06-21)  Retrieved 2022-07-31 from Vogue India
  3. 3.0 3.1 Meet Maya Ghazal.  (2018-08-01)  Retrieved 2022-07-31 from The Diana Award
  4. 5 Gen Z activists and changemakers to have on your radar for 2021.  Maria Coole.  (2021-03-08)  Retrieved 2022-07-31 from Marie Claire
  5. People Magazine (2021) Diana: Her Life and Legacy. United Kingdom: TI Incorporated Books.