Hassan Akkad (Arabic: حسان عقاد) is a British writer, filmmaker and human rights activist originally from Syria.
[5] Akkad raised the issue of how many refugees had died trying to enter Europe when invited to join director James Bluemel at his acceptance speech.
[6][7] In July 2020, he worked with Marc Quinn in creating and installing the statue A Surge of Power (Jen Reid) 2020 to replace the one of Edward Colston in Bristol.
[2] In response, he filmed a message to UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, which he published on Twitter, explaining that he was "shocked to find out that your Government decided to exclude myself and my colleagues who work as cleaners and porters and social care workers [from the scheme] ... so if I die from coronavirus my partner isn’t allowed indefinite leave to remain".
His family also left Syria: his parents now live in the UAE, and his brother works for the World Food Programme in Yemen.