Jack waited for him to finish. “You’ll do as you’re told, Jordan,” he said. “You can’t do everything on your own, so you need support. Now you’ve got it. We’ll see how you can get on with Faisal.”

Sam read the look on Jordan’s face. He didn’t think Faisal and Jordan would ever be friends.

24

Child refugees

CHILD REFUGEES

Many refugees are young people who have lost their families. They are often very lonely and afraid when they arrive in a strange new country where they don’t know anyone or speak the language.

Over 80 years ago, nearly 4,000 children came to the UK to escape from the Spanish Civil War. Not everyone wanted the children to come to Britain, but they arrived in Southampton in May 1937.

They were taken to a campsite where they lived in tents for a few months. The British government did not pay for food for the children, but ordinary people gave money to help them.

When the Spanish Civil War was over, many of the children went back to their families in Spain, but some stayed in the UK. Some fought for the British Army in the Second World War, and six of them became professional footballers and played for teams in the English League. One of those was Emilio Aldecoa, who played for Wolverhampton Wanderers and Coventry City. 25

Another famous group of child refugees arrived in Britain at the beginning of the Second World War. They came to Britain as part of the Kindertransport. That was what people called the nearly 10,000 mostly Jewish children who were brought to Britain to escape from the Nazis. Most of them never saw their parents again and were the only members of their families to survive Hitler’s mass killing of Jewish people, which we now call the Holocaust.

One of the children who arrived in the UK with the Kindertransport was Alf Dubs, who became a Member of Parliament and now has a seat in the House of Lords. Baron Dubs, as he is now called, has tried to help children who are arriving in the UK today without their parents. Many of them are fleeing from war in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. Baron Dubs campaigns for these children, who are refugees just as he was, to be allowed to come to the UK.

26

Chapter 3

Faisal

The match on Saturday was the first time the new team had played together. Sam arrived ten minutes early. His dad had come to watch. Hasan and Faisal were already there. Hasan was talking to his older brother, who was about to play on the next pitch. Faisal was standing to one side but not saying anything. Sam waited for them to finish talking. He was tying up his boots when Jordan arrived.

“I didn’t think they would turn up,” Jordan said, his voice a kind of grunt. 27

“Why wouldn’t they?” Sam asked.