Jaz O’Hara
Jaz O’Hara founded Asylum Speakers to give voice to asylum seekers, bringing their powerful stories of survival and resilience to a wider audience. Here, she tells us about the experience of setting up the charity and the responses it has brought.
Jaz O’Hara is founder of the charity Asylum Speakers, which enables asylum seekers to share personal narratives of survival, resilience, and identity. inspired by her own journey as the big sister to five refugee brothers, she believes in the power of storytelling to challenge stereotypes and foster empathy. In February 2025, Asylum Speakers partnered with Inhabit Hotels to launch a powerful storytelling series, featuring four compelling talks from individuals who experienced forced migration, including Halima, trafficked at nine from Nigeria, and Eamon, a Syrian who hid in a suitcase to reach the UK.
I grew up in London without knowing much about asylum or the UK’s immigration process. In my early 20s, my parents began the process of becoming foster parents. My first brother arrived from Eritrea 10 years ago, inspiring me to go to the Calais Jungle and start this work, as I wanted to understand the reality of the situation. Learning that people were risking their lives to make that same journey felt so jarring and unfair. While I could cross in the comfort of a car, others were desperately hiding under trucks.
I have four adopted foster brothers from Eritrea, Afghanistan, Sudan, and Libya. They came as unaccompanied minors and have lived with us for years. My parents would adopt them if they could, but they still must go through the asylum process, with the risk of being denied. Thankfully, all my brothers’ claims have been accepted, and the oldest is now a citizen. Only my Afghan brother was initially denied, receiving a letter of deportation on his 16th birthday. We appealed, and he won, and he now lives in the UK with his wife and child.
It wasn’t family issues that forced my brothers to flee, but political danger. My Afghan brother’s parents were killed by the Taliban – his father first, then his mother (though he only learned of her death after reaching the UK). My Eritrean brother’s father is in forced military service, the same system he was fleeing. My Libyan brother has a small amount of family, but his father was killed by militia. My Sudanese brother lost his mother, who was murdered. They all went through a lot.
My first trip to Calais was lifechanging. The camp was shocking – 3,000 people without basic needs such as tents or food, struggling with cold nights and hunger. It was an improvised settlement that, over time, even developed a High Street. The Afghans in Calais were very entrepreneurial, building tents for commerce, setting up little shops and restaurants – even traveling to Belgium to buy tobacco and sell cigarettes. One even built a clay oven to sell bread.
I was shocked to witness the situation in France firsthand, and I wrote about some of the people I met that day. One of them – a Sudanese man – became a very good friend and remains so to this day. He recently had a baby girl. He told me about leaving Darfur, a situation I only knew about because a friend had written her university dissertation on it. We had discussed it then, but I never expected to hear the story firsthand. He even showed me his AK-47 wounds – crazy stuff.
A single viral post changed everything – raising £250,000 in just 48 hours. It started with a small JustGiving page, aiming to raise just £50 to cover a trip to Calais – the ferry, boat, or train crossing. But suddenly, donations poured in, far beyond anything I had expected. That moment marked the beginning of the charity. Having never worked in the humanitarian sector before, it was completely overwhelming.
We continue to grow our social media platform, and raise awareness through films, podcasts, and education programs, with six speakers who have completed our public speaking training. They share their personal stories in schools, universities, corporate settings, and conferences. My brother Mez was our first speaker, helping to reclaim the word “migrant” and educate others on immigration from a human perspective. Hearing Mez’s story truly affected me and changed my life. Now, whenever I read about Eritrea, refugees, or asylum seekers, I think of him and know that the stories I read are often not the full picture.
If anyone deserves to be a British citizen, it’s Mez. He was 12 years old when he hid underneath the Eurotunnel train – just months after my first trip to Calais. He squeezed into the gap, hiding just before the train started moving, traveling for 40 minutes while it was a freight train, waiting for the right moment to slip onto it.
The main goal is to inspire and empower people to believe they can overcome challenges. If a young person can hide underneath a Eurotunnel train to reach the UK at just 12 years old, then the audience should leave feeling motivated, energised, and ready to apply that resilience in their own lives. There’s definitely a motivational speaker element to these talks. We often receive messages saying, “You came to my school, and now I do this,” or “I went to volunteer in Calais because of you.” The feedback is overwhelming – people say it’s life-changing and gives them a new perspective.
When I feel hopeless, I remind myself of the resilience my little brothers have brought into our lives.They’ve shown me that if they can endure so much, then what I do in my day-to-day feels like the least I can do. At times, I need to shield myself from the news, as it can be overwhelming. After spending time with them, I always leave feeling recharged and reminded that what I do really is the least I can do.
Adapting our talks based on the audience is crucial, especially when there are people with lived experience in the room. In schools, we aim to raise awareness for both those unfamiliar with these stories and those who can relate. This helps foster understanding and empathy. Integration and inclusion are key, as seen in my time in Holland, where cultural clashes exist due to immigration. We approach these discussions with care, allowing time for meaningful conversations and respecting differing beliefs, a practice we also uphold in our family.