Did you know that these British celebrities were refugees? - On World Refugee Day, take a look at which British celebrities were refugees, or came from families who were refugees.

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Freddie Mercury - A man who needs little introduction, Mercury was the renowned frontman for Queen.

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Freddie Mercury - Mercury was born on the island of Zanzibar in 1946. He fled to the UK with his family during the 1964 Zanzibar Revolution.

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Freddie Mercury - Mercury was 17 when he came to the UK. His family settled in Middlesex.

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Rita Ora - Pop star Rita Ora is best known for hits such as ‘Hot Right Now’ and ‘R.I.P’. She has also starred in films like ‘Southpaw’ and ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’.   

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Rita Ora - Ora came to the UK when she was just one year old. Her family fled Kosovo during the disintegration of Yugoslavia.

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Rita Ora - The singer has been very open about her past. “That word [refugee] carries a lot of prejudice but it also made us determined to survive”, she told the Evening Standard.

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Ben Elton - Ben Elton is the British-Australian comedian behind hit shows like ‘Blackadder’ and ‘The Young Ones’.

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Ben Elton - Elton’s Jewish parents were welcomed into Wales as refugees during the 1930s. They were fleeing Nazi Germany.

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Ben Elton - Elton has backed the Refugene campaign, which asks celebrities to tell their refugee stories. “I am only on this earth because, years ago, during another terrible European crisis, British people reached out their hands to a refugee boy in mortal danger”, he explained.

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Omid Djalili - Omid Djalili is a revered comedian in the British stand-up scene. He is also the star of films like ‘The Infidel’ and ‘The Love Guru’.

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Omid Djalili - The comedian has touched on his background through his comedy. In 2002, he played a benefit gig with Shappi Khorsandi, another comedian who fled Iran as a refugee.

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Omid Djalili - Djalili also starred in ‘Grow Your Own’, a comedy which focuses on refugees clashing with locals in Merseyside.

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Jamie Cullum - Jamie Cullum is a multi-talented jazz musician who is loved across the nation. That’s thanks to his fast-selling albums and weekly jazz show on BBC Radio 2

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Jamie Cullum - Cullum is outspoken about his refugee family, who fled Burma when Japan invaded between 1942 and 1945.

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Jamie Cullum - Cullum has also played benefits to raise money for Help Refugees. ‘Help Refugees With Jamie Cullum and Friends’ took place at the Jazz Cafe in 2016.

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Anish Kapoor - World-renowned sculptor Anish Kapoor was born in Bombay. According to Refugee Week, his parents were refugees who fled Iraq.

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Anish Kapoor - Kapoor is behind iconic sculptures like ‘Cloud Gate’ in Chicago and ‘Marsyas’ at the Tate Modern, London.

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Anish Kapoor - Kapoor has been a vocal supporter of refugee issues. He has donated $1,000,000 to refugee causes like Help Refugees, and Hillel International

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M.I.A. - M.I.A. is the controversial musician behind hits like ‘Paper Planes’ and ‘Bad Girls’.

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M.I.A. - M.I.A. had a rough childhood while living in Sri Lanka. When she was just nine, her primary school was destroyed in a government air raid.

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M.I.A. - M.I.A. has tackled refugee-related issues in songs like ‘Borders’ and ‘Born Free’. Her music videos are also very political.

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The Millibands - Ed and David Miliband are brothers with quite a sibling rivalry. They became household names when they both campaigned for the Labour leadership position in 2010. It was Ed who won in the end.

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The Millibands - Their father was Ralph Miliband, a Belgian Jewish refugee that fled to Britain in 1940.

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The Millibands - In 2017, David released ‘Rescue: Refugees and the Political Crisis of our Time’. The book explained the refugee crisis and presented some practical solutions.

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Alek Wek - Alek Wek is a celebrated model and activist. She began her fashion career when she just 18 in 1995.

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Alek Wek - Wek was born in Wau, a city in what’s known now as South Sudan. When civil war broke out in 1985, the Weks fled to London.

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Alek Wek - Alek has campaigned for refugee rights throughout her career. Since 2002, she has acted as advisor to the U.S. Committee for Refugees Advisory Council.

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Michael Marks - Michael Marks was the co-founder of Marks & Spencer, the retail chain with over 900 outlets in the UK.

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Michael Marks - Marks came to Leeds as a Polish-Jewish refugee. He was employed by Barran, a company known for employing Jewish refugees.

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Michael Marks - Marks was naturalised as a British subject in 1897. He died ten years later.

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