Australia’s Newest Miss World Is A Muslim And Former Refugee Who Has A Message For The Country

A Muslim woman and former Bosnian refugee has just been crowned Miss World Australia, and says she wants to use the platform to help people see Islam as a religion of “peace and inclusion”.

Esma Voloder, 25, works in psychology as a criminal profiler, and sees both her day job and the Miss World Australia platform as ways to “bridge the gap” of empathy and understanding between different people.

25-year-old criminal profiler Esma Voloder has been crowned Miss World Australia, and has her eyes set on the global title. @MelinaSarris7 pic.twitter.com/l6nx5duT5Z

— 7 News Melbourne (@7NewsMelbourne) July 15, 2017

Voloder told The Morning Show that being born in a refugee camp and learning from her parents’ experience as refugees has shaped her by helping her “exercise my gratefulness for the fact that I have this opportunity that they didn’t.”

“I want [Australians] to know we’re just people,” she said of being a former refugee. “We’re people from around the world, and obviously there has to be quite a strong reason for people to need to leave their country.”

Regarding her faith, she emphasised the way that Islam is a nuanced and diverse faith that is practised differently by different people. “A lot of things have been misconstrued about Islam,” she told The Daily Mail. “‘I feel that a category has been created that is not really what the Quran actually promotes. I believe Islam is about peace, unity, prosperity and inclusion.”

The Miss World pageant centres around the theme of “beauty with a purpose”, and includes volunteering, interview and talent-based components as well as traditional beauty pageantry. As part of this year’s competition, Voloder drew anime commissions to raise money for children’s charity Variety. She also works in anti-bullying advocacy as a representative for Bully Zero Australia.

As part of my @missworldaustralia charity fundraising for 2017, I will be commisioning my anime pieces for @varietyaustralia ❤️ (perforated edges not included ?) I am not a professional artist – but Anime had always been close to my heart and helped form a beautiful childhood , therefore would love to use my passion to help make other childhoods beautiful for the kids at Variety The Children’s Charity. If you have a favourite character you would like drawn or would like to see yourself as an anime figure , I will be drawing one for you in exchange for a donation to the kids at Variety. please send me an email or PM (preferably email) to discuss the details ?? #charity #anime #mwa2017 #animelove #manga #missworldaustralia #art #animelover #kids #otaku #fundraising #animefans #animedrawing #beautywithapurpose

A post shared by ESMA VOLODER (@esmavoloder) on Jan 1, 2017 at 4:19pm PST

As Miss World Australia, Voloder will travel to China later this year to compete for the world title.

Stay tuned for our longer, in-depth interview with Voloder tomorrow.

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Feature image via Amasone/Instagram