Diksia.com - A refugee from Syria made new history in Germany.
For example, Ryyan Alshebl, who is still 29, has just been appointed mayor of Ostelsheim.
Alshebl fled the war in Syria eight years ago.
The man took the oath of office as mayor of a city 30 kilometers from the city of Stuttgart on Friday evening (7.7.2023) in a ceremonial city council meeting.
In April 2023, the members of the 2,500-strong Swabian community elected Alshebl as the new mayor with an absolute majority of 55.4 percent.
According to the Association of the City of Baden-Württemberg, he is the only Syrian refugee to take up the post of mayor.
“This is a liberal country. “Anyone who is willing to do something here can get the chance,” Alshebl told the Reuters news agency in April.
Alshebl, who came to Germany at the age of 21 with a group of friends.
He was one of hundreds of thousands of refugees who fled Syria when Chancellor Angela Merkel opened the country’s borders in 2015.
According to the state news agency Deutsche Welle (DW), the man traveled across the Mediterranean before landing in Germany.
After learning the German language, Alshebl completed an internship at the Althengstett town hall near Ostelheim.
There he studied the functioning of public institutions.
“I asked the mayor if I could do vocational training here. I applied and had an interview and was accepted,” said Alshebl.
By the way, Alshebi studied finance and banking during his stay in Syria.
“In my first year of training, I knew I was going to do it, but the question was when,” he says.
After receiving his German citizenship, Alshebl worked for the local council of the nearby town of Althengstett before being elected mayor, DW reports.
