DailyExpertNews
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A Syrian who arrived in Germany as a refugee in 2015 has won a mayoral election in the southwestern German state of Baden-Württemberg.
Ryyan Alshebl, who left his hometown of As Suwayda in Syria eight years ago, ran as a self-employed person in the municipality of Ostelsheim. He won 55.41% of the vote on Sunday, beating two German candidates, Marco Strauss and Mathias Fey.
Locals cheered the 29-year-old as he welcomed his victory, a victory he described as “sensational”, German local broadcaster SWR reported on Monday.
“Ostelsheim is today an example of open-mindedness and cosmopolitanism for the whole of Germany,” he said, according to German public broadcaster ZDF. “That’s not something that comes naturally in a conservative, rural area.”
Alshebl’s first phone call after his victory was to his mother in Syria, who was delighted with the news, SWR reported.
The Association of Municipalities of Baden-Württemberg said Alshebl is the first man with Syrian roots to run for mayor and win it. He will start his position in June.
The residents of Ostelsheim have welcomed their new mayor. “The fairy tale has come true and the right man has become our mayor,” Annette Keck, who lives in the village, told SWR.
Strauss, one of his opponents, congratulated Alshebl. “I wish you good luck and at the same time ask for support for Mr. Alshebl, for our shared Ostelsheim,” he said on Facebook.
Manne Lucha, the state’s integration minister, said Alshebl’s victory showed that diversity is a natural part of Baden-Württemberg. “I would be very happy if Ryyan Alshebl’s election encourages more people with a migration history to run for political office,” he said.
Not everyone has been so warm to the 29-year-old. ZDF reported that the Syrian received snide remarks during the campaign trail.
The young politician went from house to house promoting his election manifesto, and “the experiences were mostly positive”, but there was also a minority of far-right fringe voters in Ostelsheim who did not want to accept him because of his Syrian roots. Alshebl told ZDF.
Born the son of a schoolteacher and agricultural engineer in Syria, Alshebl described his life as carefree until the age of 20, according to his campaign website.
At the time, protests against the Syrian government that began in 2011 soon spiraled into chaotic war. The fighting and subsequent rise of ISIS forced 10.6 million people from their homes by the end of 2015 – about half of Syria’s pre-war population.
Alshebl faced the dilemma of whether to be called up for military service with the Syrian army or leave the country, according to its website.
While many Syrians were internally displaced or fled to countries in the region, others like Alshebl made the perilous journey to Europe. He was 21 years old at the time and said he crossed from Turkey to the Greek island of Lesbos in a dinghy.
Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel had introduced a brief open-door policy in 2015 that saw the country take in about 1.2 million asylum seekers, including Alshebl, in subsequent years.
The move triggered a backlash in Germany and the sudden growth of the far-right, anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) in the wake of the summer of 2015.
Once in Germany, Alshebl lived close to Ostelsheim and said at the time that he felt “there is only one thing you can do: get back on your feet quickly and start investing in your own future quickly.”
For the past seven years he has worked in the administration of the town hall of Althengstett, in a neighboring town. He drew on his experience, he said in his campaign, and made digital access to government services one of the priorities. Flexible childcare and climate protection are also on his agenda.
Alshebl, who is a member of the Green Party and now holds German citizenship, promised during his campaign that once he was elected mayor he would move to Ostelsheim.
