{"id":6658,"date":"2015-09-23T17:30:37","date_gmt":"2015-09-23T15:30:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/2015\/09\/23\/22-nieuwsgierige-studenten-en-een-syrische-vluchteling\/?lang=en"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:22:22","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:22:22","slug":"22-nieuwsgierige-studenten-en-een-syrische-vluchteling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2015\/09\/23\/22-nieuwsgierige-studenten-en-een-syrische-vluchteling\/","title":{"rendered":"22 curious students and one Syrian refugee"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

Studenten luisteren aandachtig naar vluchteling A., die niet herkenbaar op de foto mag.<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tElmer Smaling<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

It had been a \u2018smooth\u2019 journey. He had even \u2018been able to enjoy a holiday on a Greek island\u2019. The Syrian refugee A. starts the meeting in C hall with the boldness of a 17-year-old. Later, during the conversation with over 20 students, it appears that his flight from Aleppo to Woudestein had actually been slightly<\/em> more complicated.<\/p>\n

The meeting was organised by Bob Scholte from The New University Rotterdam. Over the past few days, Bob has struck up quite a friendship with A, who speaks English fluently. He\u2019s a typical teenager, like any other you find in Rotterdam. Hobbies: gaming and manga. Subjects at school: maths, chemistry, physics. \u201cIt was all rubbish.\u201d But a very untypical life story.<\/p>\n\t

\n\t\t

The editors of EM have decided not to print his full name and photo because he is an under-age asylum seeker.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\t<\/div>\n

38 people in an 8-person minibus <\/h3>

He was 14 when the war broke out in Syria. Bombs exploded at the university in his district in Aleppo. \u201cStudents were treated really badly,\u201d A. tells the group. His family subsequently decided to move to Dubai. But after three years he was no longer allowed to stay there, so he set off for Europe.<\/p>\n

The \u2018smooth\u2019 journey starts with a bus trip through Turkey, with 38 people crammed into an 8-person minibus. \u201cThe worst thing was that we had a sick woman with us who couldn\u2019t walk anymore. She cried and cried. We couldn\u2019t do anything for her, just carry her with us.\u201d After three and a half hours in a rubber boat, A. landed on the Greek island of Chios. He spent his \u2018holiday\u2019 in a cell: as an unaccompanied minor, he was detained. On his release, he manages to reach the Netherlands via Serbia, Hungary, Austria and Germany. The journey takes him a month.<\/p>\n

\u2018Good night\u2019s sleep\u2019<\/h3>

The students have lots of questions. What\u2019s life like in the Erasmus Sport buildings? \u201cThe food is good and I get a good night\u2019s sleep. OK, there are some irritating children around,\u201d he laughs. A. hasn\u2019t noticed any negative sentiments against refugees. \u201cThe police have been very kind, and so have the volunteers and staff at Erasmus Sport.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a gamer, how does he now regard war games like Call of Duty, which glamorise violence? \u201cI enjoy those games even more now. For example, in a Call of Duty game from 2010, I once saw a wall with graffiti on it saying \u2018Bashar [al-Assad, ES] out!\u2019. I mean, that\u2019s cool!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t
\n\t\tThe terrorists are travelling the other way from Europe to fight in Syria, so why would they go back?\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\tA.\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

More serious issues are also discussed. How can A. be sure that there are no terrorists among his fellow refugees, for example? \u201cThat\u2019s total nonsense,\u201d says A. \u201cThe terrorists are travelling the other way from Europe to fight in Syria, so why would they go back? And when they\u2019re already there, they don\u2019t have to pretend.\u201d And what will happen to A. after Thursday, when the refugees have to leave Erasmus Sport? \u201cNo idea yet. We haven\u2019t been told anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read also<\/h2>