He is due to start in September but can only take his place if he has the funds
The friends and family of a Coventry man with disability have launched a fund to allow him to accept a place on a prestigious PhD course.
Nigerian born Dickson Tarnongo is a 40-year-old asylum seeker currently living in Coventry.
Mr Tarnongo is also wheelchair user after contracting polio at just nine years old.
He initially came to the UK to study an International Development Law and Human Rights Master’s degree at Warwick University.
Upon completing his post-graduate degree, Mr Tarnongo, a disability activist, returned to his home country of Nigeria.
But there came a point that his life became exposed to danger following his activism over disability rights, and he was forced to return to Coventry and claim asylum.
Government policy means that asylum seekers are not allowed to work in the UK, and like so many in that position, Mr Tarnongo’s asylum claim is ongoing.
He has spent his free time volunteering for the British Red Cross, Migrant Voice and Coventry Refugee and Migrant centre.
Speaking to CoventryLive, Mr Tarnongo said: “I want to help other people who need it, I enjoy doing this and I have the fulfilment of helping.”
On the impact of not being able to work, he added: “Everything about you is on hold indefinitely, your career, your struggles, your hopes, and you can’t do anything about it. But instead of that I choose to work on my life’s dream, and get into education.”
As reported in the CoventryLive newsletter, there are growing calls to allow people waiting for a decision on their asylum claim to work.
The Lift the Ban coalition – which includes Coventry City Council and Coventry Asylum and Refugee Action Group – said in a report this month that allowing people to work if their claims take longer than six months would create huge savings for the government.
Source: Coventry live
