Virtually a decade in the past, a Syrian refugee’s selfie with Germany’s then chancellor Angela Merkel went viral. As we speak, Anas Modamani has a job, a German passport and a fiancee and no plans to return to his war-ravaged nation.
Whereas right-wing politicians in Europe have been fast to demand that Syrians “go residence” after the autumn of president Bashar al-Assad, Modamani’s story typifies what number of have put down roots of their host international locations.
“I’m a Berliner, I’ve my life right here,” stated the 27-year-old cameraman who arrived within the German capital in 2015 on the age of 18, and is now a part of the most important Syrian refugee neighborhood in Europe.
Having financed his research in communication with a part-time job at a grocery store, Modamani is now working as a freelancer video journalist for public broadcaster Deutsche Welle.
He lives together with his Ukrainian fiancee, a mechanical engineer who herself arrived in Germany a couple of months earlier than Russia launched its full-scale invasion of her nation in February 2022.
“I’ve an exquisite residence and a really lovely girl, I’ve every part I want right here,” Modamani informed AFP.
He stated he initially fled Syria as a result of he “didn’t need to carry out navy service” for Assad’s regime, and that now he does not need to return as he had “skilled horrible issues there”.
“I misplaced pals,” he stated. “Members of my household died due to the regime.”
– ‘Anxious’ for pals –
Lower than three months earlier than early elections are anticipated in Germany on February 23, far-right and conservative politicians have made the repatriation of Syrians a marketing campaign problem.
International Minister Annalena Baerbock of the Greens get together on Wednesday criticised such calls, saying they revealed “an absence of realism in regards to the scenario within the Center East”.
Modamani stated that “for my pals who, in contrast to me, do not have a German passport, I’m frightened”.
“The struggle is over however the scenario is unsure, now we have to see the way it develops.”
Whereas he has “extra pals in Berlin than in Syria”, his mother and father and siblings nonetheless reside in Syria, round half an hour’s drive from Damascus.
He stated he additionally worries in regards to the air strikes Israel has carried out since Assad was overthrown, concentrating on the ousted regime’s navy belongings.
“It might have an effect on anybody,” Modamani stated, noting that “once I phoned my mom lately, she was hiding within the cellar”.
– ‘A part of historical past’ –
Modamani is safely settled however the destiny of others hangs within the steadiness after German authorities this week determined to freeze issuing choices on pending asylum purposes from Syrian nationals.
Since his well-known Merkel selfie, Modamani has change into one thing of a celeb within the Syrian neighborhood and says he need to use his platform of greater than 50,000 followers on TikTok to be a “voice for individuals who come from Syria”.
The selfie on the time grew to become a logo of Berlin’s welcome of just about 1,000,000 individuals escaping the war-torn nation.
Nevertheless it additionally attracted some adverse consideration because it was utilized in disinformation linking him to terror assaults.
In 2017 he took Fb to court docket in an effort to make the social media big take away such photographs however he misplaced the case.
Whereas Modamani and Merkel haven’t crossed paths once more, the previous chancellor nonetheless remembers the incident.
In her memoirs revealed final month, Merkel admitted she had been stunned by the stir the picture brought on, when supporters and critics used it as a logo of Germany’s migrant coverage.
“Even now, I can’t perceive how anybody might assume {that a} pleasant face on a photograph might encourage individuals to flee their homeland in droves,” she wrote.
“Or that, conversely, the grimmest doable expression would have stopped them from doing so.”
Modamani thinks it is “nice” that his picture discovered its approach into Merkel’s tome.
“My image goes to be a part of historical past perpetually.”
