This illustration was made for a story in the Refugee Journalism Project, an initiative helping displaced and migrant media professionals build careers in the UK.

The Refugee Journalism Project is based at London College of Communication and delivered in collaboration with The Guardian Foundation, funded by Open Society Foundations. It publishes a series of stories written by and about its contributors.

This piece illustrates the experience of one contributor, Abdulwahab Tahhan, a Syrian refugee in the UK, and his encounter with the “Life in the UK” test required to become a British citizen.

The illustration follows Tahhan sitting for the test, surrounded by the odd, specific categories of British trivia it demands, from history and law to sport and tea. It leans into the absurdity and unfamiliarity of the process while keeping his resilience at the centre of the image.

Link to the publication and story is here.

One person’s confusing, funny, resilient brush with the “Life in the UK” test.

A reminder that editorial illustration can carry a real person’s story with care, without flattening it into a stock idea of “refugee experience.”