This campaign built a wall in Strand, but it’s not what you think

The KCL International Students' Rights Campaign have created a display celebrating student immigration.

The Wall of #Immigreatness currently features nine photos of international students at King's. The pictures are captioned with their reasons for coming to London and how the city has changed them.

We spoke to international student activist and campaign founder Robert Liow about his idea:

Was the concept of 'building a wall' a twist on Trump’s pledge to keep immigrants out?

It was not deliberate, but an ironic coincidence.

I was one of the only East Asian students on the 'Wall of Bame' campaign in 2015/16, which also targeted the People of Colour achievement gap at King’s.

When we finally achieved our goal I thought to myself that we had hit upon a powerful idea.

It was quite coincidental that the 'Wall of #Immigreatness' and Trump’s despicable border wall were two sides of the same concept.

Why do you think this wall is necessary in our current times?

We need to remind people that migrants are humans searching for a better life.

#Immigreatness is meant to remind everyone that, just like us, migrants are not just doing what anyone else would do in their situation but following the same human motivation that drives all of us.

I want it to stand on its own, but also to inspire creative actions to help bring this message across.

Do you have one #Immigreatness story that touched you the most?

I think each of them are unique. Everyone on that wall presents a different perspective.

Currently on the wall are nine different people, from nine different countries.

We went through our own struggles and overcame our own challenges, happened to pick this university and decided to walk through the Strand Quad on the day I was taking photographs for the campaign.

Answers edited for clarity and length.

#Immigreatness is looking for new faces for their wall – especially female, nonbinary and BAME international students. If you want to contribute to the project email [email protected]. The wall is currently located next to S0.12 on Strand Campus.