{"id":3550,"date":"2016-05-26T15:19:01","date_gmt":"2016-05-26T14:19:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2016\/05\/26\/van-aleppo-via-erasmus-sport-naar-zuid-limburg\/"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:22:12","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:22:12","slug":"van-aleppo-via-erasmus-sport-naar-zuid-limburg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2016\/05\/26\/van-aleppo-via-erasmus-sport-naar-zuid-limburg\/","title":{"rendered":"From Aleppo to Zuid-Limburg via Erasmus Sport"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Zuid-Limburg. Take the Geleen exit off the motorway, go through the village, cross the railway line, and then turn left. Out of the trees looms the stately asylum seekers centre of Sweikhuizen. Families are hanging out of the windows, and children are running around on the forecourt in front of the main entrance.<\/p>\n

On a mound next to the barrier, which stays shut for journalists, there is a bench. And there is Ahmad. Eight months ago, the 17-year-old Syrian was living in a sports hall on campus Woudestein, and since then he has zigzagged across the whole of the Netherlands. As if he hadn\u2019t seen enough already. Ilhame stops her car in front of the barrier, and as soon as she gets out there is a big hug.<\/p>\n

Abandoned tennis club<\/h3>

The fact that he his here now, sitting on a bench in the middle of a forest in Zuid-Limburg, is the result of a long series of random events and circumstances. He never would have thought it possible five years ago, back in Syria when he lived in the city of Aleppo. In only a few months in the Netherlands, he has already lived in more places than the average Dutchman will live in his life.<\/p>\n

But only in places where most Dutch people never go: the registration centre for asylum seekers in Ter Apel, the abandoned tennis club in Hellendoorn, the warehouse in Vijfhuizen, the backstreets of Doetinchem, and now in a former country retreat in Sweikhuizen.<\/p>\n

'Little Brother'<\/h3>
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Ilhame Zarouka<\/span><\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>

In September, he spent six days in Rotterdam, in one of the sports halls of Erasmus Sport. There he made friends with numerous students, including Ilhame Talouka, a second-year Law student at ESL. Together with EM, she has come to visit Ahmad in Sweikhuizen. It is difficult to have a private conversation in the asylum seekers centre, so we drive out to a traditional pub called De Kroon in Geleen.<\/p>\n

Once we have seated ourselves at a table, Ilhame explained why they had stayed in touch all these months. \u201cHe is like a little brother to me\u201d, says Ilhame. \u201cI help him now and then to sort things out, like his residence permit or finding a course at college.\u201d Ahmad gets coffee and hot chocolate, and insists that he pays. \u201cLet him pay if he wants to, there\u2019s no point in arguing about it. He\u2019s going to pay anyway,\u201d says Ilhame.<\/p>\n

Ilhame, already a mother herself, has a special place in Ahmad\u2019s heart. \u201cIlhame is one of a kind,\u201d he says. \u201cShe always wants to know what is going on in my life. I like that.\u201d They mostly chat on Facebook, explains Ilhame. \u201cSometimes we don\u2019t speak to each other for almost a month, and then three days in a row. For example, if he is having trouble at school, or if I see an interesting photo on Facebook. Some of it is personal stuff, but also practical things as well. I feel like I have known him my entire life. His mother also calls me up a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schinnen Retreat<\/h3>
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Retraitehuis Schinnen<\/span><\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>

The former Schinnen Retreat is Ahmad\u2019s new home for the time being. At least until he reaches the age of 18 next month. Then he can live anywhere he wants to. Not that Ahmad is particularly tied down by the rules of the Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA).<\/p>\n

Because although Ahmad is a Syrian refugee, he is still just a teenage boy. \u201cThey keep contradicting themselves,\u201d Ahmad complains to Ilhame. \u201cIf I want to go out in Maastricht, they tell me I have to be back by 12 o\u2019clock because I\u2019m under 18. But if I want to go to the university to check out a course, or go to the local council to ask about something, then they say I\u2019m old enough to do it on my own.\u00a0Mind blowing!\u201d Ilhame has to laugh, because she was never allowed to stay out after 12 o\u2019clock when she was a teenager. \u201cOtherwise I would get grounded for two weeks.\u201d That is exactly the punishment Ahmad got from the COA. \u201cBut I went out the next week again anyway. And I didn\u2019t come home until five o\u2019clock in the morning.\u201d<\/p>\n

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No Visa<\/h3>\n\t
\n\t\t
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\n\t
\n\t\t\u2018We can always keep in touch through Skype, Facebook and WhatsApp. She pops up everywhere I go\u2019\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t–<\/span>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAhmad talking about his mother in Dubai\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption>\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

Ahmad\u2019s mother is living in Dubai now. He was living there himself for a while after the war broke out in Syria, but he wasn\u2019t allowed to stay.\u00a0Eventually he travelled through Turkey and Greece to the Netherlands<\/a>. His mother was allowed to stay because of her age, which means they are now 7000 km apart. And there is currently no possibility of them seeing each other again any time soon. \u201cIt\u2019s impossible because she is Syrian,\u201d explains Ahmad. \u201cIf she tried to catch a flight here, the first thing they would ask my mother at the airport in Dubai is \u2018where is your visa?\u2019 And of course she hasn\u2019t got a visa. I miss my mother. But it is a hard reality I\u2019ve got to face. We can always keep in touch through Skype, Facebook and WhatsApp. She pops up everywhere I go,\u201d he says with a smile. \u201cShe wants to talk to me every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, as a Syrian refugee he as a temporary residence permit and is going to a special school for refugees in Geleen. There, amongst other things, he is learning Dutch, which he is starting to get the hang of after eight months. Ilhame talks to him in Dutch, and the answers come back in English.<\/p>\n

European history<\/h3>
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After the summer break, he really wants to get busy. \u201cI want to study International Business or European Studies. I\u2019ve already experienced many different cultures, and I already speak good English and Arabic, and soon Dutch as well. I find European history fascinating.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ahmad doesn\u2019t know where he will be going to college next year. Perhaps in Sittard, Maastricht, or Nijmegen. \u201cMaastricht is\u00a0amazing.<\/em>\u00a0It is like going back in time when you walk around here,\u201d he laughs. Rotterdam is not on his list of favourite cities. He goes there now and again. \u201cWhenever I am in Rotterdam, I always go and see Ilhame.\u201d He has a few other friends there as well, people he met during his time at Erasmus Sport. After a second round of hot chocolate, this time paid for by EM, Ahmad walks out of the pub into the empty streets of Geleen, and heads back to the latest of his countless temporary homes.<\/p>\n

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More about refugees in Rotterdam<\/h2>