Dr truly honoured and humbled by his award
A child psychiatrist who fled war-torn Afghanistan as a teenager and went on to create a mental health service for vulnerable youngsters in Wakefield has been honoured.
Abdullah Kraam is to be given a British Citizen Award (BCA) for his services to healthcare. The awards recognise people who make a positive impact on society.
Dr Kraam, 53, set up the forensic child and adolescent mental health (FCAMH) service – based at Fieldhead Hospital – in 2010.
It works with children and young people caught up in the in the criminal justice system.
Dr Kraam fled from Kabul to Germany the year after the Soviet-Afghan war began in 1979. He moved to England in 1999 and became a consultant at the children and family unit at St James’s Hospital in 2004 before leaving to start FCAMH.
Dr Kraam said: “This award has a very special and personal meaning for me as a refugee from Afghanistan who was brought up in Germany and is living in England. The award says to me: ‘Thank you for your work. You and your family are more than welcome to stay in this country’. And this is a message we have been longing for.
“I feel truly honoured and humbled but also proud.” He will be honoured at the Palace of Westminster on January 25.