Rabia Nasimi


Rabia Nasimi is a former Afghan refugee who fled Afghanistan in 1999 and now campaigns for refugee rights in London. Nasimi is a refugee activist in London where she works for the Afghanistan and Central Asian Association as the organisation's development officer and is responsible for launching several services and shaping the charities long term strategy. In 2017 she was accepted as a sociology PhD candidate at the University of Cambridge.
Nasimi and her family fled Afghanistan in 1999 out of fear of persecution at the hands of the Taliban. They arrived in the UK in the back of a refrigerated container and in 2001 the family established the Afghanistan and Central Asian Association, a charity dedicated to improving the lives of Afghans and all refugees in London. Nasimi volunteered with the organisation from the beginning, and became the Development Officer responsible for designing and shaping the organisations long term strategy as well creating and launching new services such as the ACAA's supplementary school for struggling refugees or the ESOL for Integration programme.
In 2015 she was nominated for the Afghan Professionals Network Aspire Award for outstanding contributions to the Afghan community in London while in 2017 she was nominated for the Lewisham Mayors Award for contributions to Lewisham. In 2018 she was nominated for the WeAreTheCity Rising Stars Award, shortlisted for the Women of the Future Award, and for the Asian Voice Charity Awards in the most inspiring young person category for her work advocating refugee rights both in the UK and Afghanistan.