Zazai was also conferred with fellowship of Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2022 and the Lord Provost's Award For Human Rights in 2019.

Zazai was born in Afghanistan, where his early education was disrupted by the Afghan Civil War.

At the same event the editor-in-chief of the Guardian, Katharine Viner, who had supported Zazai, also received an honorary doctorate.

[8] Zazai joined many others including the Archbishop of Canterbury who were objecting to the UK government's policy of moving refugees to Rwanda.

[9] He is the Honorary President of City of Sanctuary (UK)[5] and a Visiting Practice Fellow of the Centre for Trust Peace and Social Relations at Coventry University.