“Ostelsheim has set an example of inclusiveness and global citizenship.”
Ryan Alshebble (29), a young Syrian who came to Germany to escape the civil war in 2015, received a special bouquet of flowers and smiled broadly at the City Hall of Ostellsheim, a small town in the southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg on the 3rd. Running as an independent in the mayoral election the day before, he defeated two German candidates with 55.4%.
Al Shebble will lead Ostelsheim, which has about 2,500 residents, for eight years from June. As it is a rural area with strong conservative tendencies, it is evaluated that his election as a refugee is unusual. He is the first Syrian mayor to be elected in Baden-Württemberg as a whole. According to The Guardian and others, about 27% of the German population is from immigrants, but only 1.2% of the market is from immigrants.
Born in 1994 in As Suwaidah in southwestern Syria, Al Shebbl originally had an ordinary dream of getting a job in a bank after graduating from university. When the civil war broke out in 2011, he decided to go to Europe in 2015 to avoid conscription and find a better life opportunity.
After going to neighboring Turkey (Turkey), he struggled to cross the Mediterranean Sea, relying on rubber boats. He came to Germany via Greece and worked for seven years in the town hall of the nearby city of Althengstedt, where he obtained his citizenship. At the time, he was in charge of strengthening digital accessibility and welfare for the elderly. In this election, he also pledged to strengthen digital access to administrative services, flexible childcare and climate protection policies that made use of his experience.
There were also far-right voters who expressed their hatred towards him during the election process. However, President-elect Al Shebble said, “The campaign experience was positive,” and said that he would focus on the mayor’s work regardless.
Ryan Alshebl
Ostelsheim
As Suwayda
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.