Among the million asylum seekers from Syria, Iraq or Afghanistan who arrived in Germany in 2015 was the young Syrian Ryyan Alshebl. He was 21 years old and fled his country to avoid military service and war. Eight years later, Alshebl has been elected mayor of Ostelsheim, a town of 3,210 inhabitants, in recent municipal elections in the Baden-Württemberg land. He ran as an independent despite being affiliated with Los Verdes, garnered 55.41% of the votes, defeating two other autochthonous candidates, also independent, and will take office on June 19.

His story of a former refugee who manages to reach a public position – the German press assures that he is the first German mayor of Syrian origin – draws attention, and he himself, at 29, sees it that way. “Ostelsheim has made a sign of openness to the world. My result, after a completely normal electoral campaign against candidates from the area, shows that it is possible for someone from outside to enter structures that seem closed; the voters did not take into account my origin, but my qualification, ”he argued in a meeting with foreign correspondents this week in Berlin, at the Heinrich Böll Foundation, linked to environmentalists. “In any case, it is not enough to learn and master the language and prepare yourself by studying and making an effort; You also have to be in the right place at the right time, and that’s what happened to me,” admits Ryyan Alshebl, who speaks excellent German.

In November 2015, the young Ryyan undertook a clandestine journey from Syria to Germany, where one of his two brothers already lived, having arrived in 2013 with a student visa. Gone are his parents – she, a high school teacher; he, an agronomist engineer– and the other brother. That part of his family still lives in his town, Sweida, in the southwest of the country.

“I went with four friends from Lebanon to Turkey and from there on a barge to the island of Lesbos; We were 49 people on board, it was cold, it was just after midnight and it was very dark,” Alshebl recalls. From Greece I passed through the route of the Balkans towards the center of Europe; sometimes by bus and sometimes on foot, we used to walk especially when we had to cross borders. It took us twelve days to reach Germany.

He ended up in Baden-Württemberg, where he learned German and completed dual professional training in administration, with a scholarship from the Land. “In Syria he had done the Selectivity and studied Finance and Banking at the University, but here it was not possible for me to validate the Selectivity.” In 2017 he joined the Alianza 90 / Los Verdes party, because “climate protection is very important”. In 2022 he obtained German nationality, essential to access public office, although he maintains his Syrian nationality, which is legally unfeasible to renounce. “I am not an exception; Any Syrian with refugee status and more than six years of residence in Germany can apply for German citizenship, ”he clarifies to prevent misunderstandings.

Until now Alshebl has lived in Althengstett, another town in the region, but he is moving soon to the town that has elected him mayor, Ostelsheim. Why have so many residents voted for him? “I think he carried a good electoral program, focused on opening full-time day care centers, promoting local businesses and advancing in the digitization of the administration. I did an internship in a family center in Althengstett and that allowed me to understand the general needs of the municipalities in the area”, he explains. Although during the campaign he received some hate messages, he says he has not had serious problems with the extreme right.

Do you think your experience as a refugee will help you in your new job? “Along the way I learned to assume responsibilities, for myself, for other people and for the environment. When you leave your country because there is a war, you mature sooner, although you don’t like having to mature for that reason”.

Ryyan Alshebl, who is single, belongs to the Druze religious minority, which comprises 3% of the Syrian population. The Druze, who profess a monotheistic and mystical faith, with Jewish, Christian and Muslim elements, number between 800,000 and one million people, mostly settled in the Mediterranean Levant. “In the campaign, some asked me if I am a practitioner; I am a Druze, but I am not a religious person, and I think that for the questioner, this neutrality was positive”.

The new mayor of Ostelsheim now has a new homeland, but he does not forget his homeland. “About Syria I have mixed feelings; It is the country where I was born and raised, where I spent my childhood and youth, where my friends and extended family are, and I miss that. But I am very glad to have the opportunity to live in Germany, others have not had it”.

The important thing now, he maintains, is that he has discovered that he has a passion for politics, so it is likely that the career he began in this small mayor’s office will one day grow.