Reports | 25 05 2020
Over the last four years, many Syrians have taken the dangerous journey from Syria to Europe. After they arrive and settle, many of these Syrian refugees impress the world with what they are able to accomplish, despite the risks they have taken, the suffering they have endured, and the loss of their loved ones.
Syrians in Europe
Three years after the beginning of the Syrian refugee wave in Sweden, an article titled “Syrians in Sweden are the most educated of the country’s refugees,” was on many news and social media websites.
The Syrians’ reputation was not only based on their love to learning and education, but it was also based on how they excelled in many fields, across the many European countries in which they had taken refuge.
One example is Haytham al-Aswad, who was prominently featured on French news channels or excelling in his studies and receiving a scholarship for engineering. Another example is Nour Qassab, a 19-year-old girl from Latakia, who obtained perfect grades on the German Baccalaureate.
In the United States, the brothers Jad and Ram al-Shamaa received the prestigious President’s Award for Educational Excellence.
“Syrians have proven to be very talented at learning languages. Most Syrian refugees are committed to learning the languages of the countries in which they have settled, and the vast majority of them pass the language exam in less than one year,” said Abdul Latif al-Haj, a Syrian journalist living in Sweden.
Abdul Latif himself excelled in learning Swedish, and passed the test in only three months. “My Swedish language teachers have become my friends. They are now interested in the Arabic language and want to learn it from me,” he said.
A Group of Distinguished Syrians at a University in Cypress
Educational excellence is greater than scattered, individual cases. The top three students in the college of dentistry at Near East University in Cypress are Syrians; Muhammad Saleh from Damascus was the top-ranked student, Hani Kakaji from Raqqa secured second place, and Wahid Keikhya from Aleppo came in at third place. These three Syrians took a picture together to create a remembrance of the success they had achieved so far away from their home country. Near East University in Cypress expressed their appreciation of the Syrian students’ success, and announced that “the students have done exceptional work, and they achieved that even though they first had to learn English, which is the university’s language of instruction.”
The story of these three students received a lot of attention on social media, especially from Syrians who commented with pride and joy. One Syrian person said, “our happiness is double today. We are happy that these young Syrian men are successful, but we are also happy because three Syrian men coming from different cities have gathered to collaborate around education, and not around war and fighting.”
“We achieved this success because of two things; the support we have received here, and our collaboration. We studied together and supported each other,” said Muhammad Kakaji, one of three distinguished students. By their own account, the three Syrian students supported each other because they wanted to show the world what Syrian students can do.
“Muhammad al-Saleh, who came in first place has been accepted to enter a graduate level program in prosthetic dentistry at the same university in Cypress. Wahid Keikhya, who took second, place began practicing dentistry, and Muhammad Kakaji, the third Syrian student said, “I have been accepted in a graduate studies program for periodontal pathology in a university in Izmir, Turkey.”
Abdul Rahaman Keikhya, Wahid’s brother, also graduated from the same university with the highest grades in the college of economics, and received a grant from the Cypriot government for these excellent grades.
Refugee Status Helps Students
Before 2011, most study abroad scholarships were processed through the corrupt government of the Syrian regime, and were given to students with connections. With their new status as refugees, a much more diverse spectrum of Syrian students are receiving equal opportunities, so that they can shine from their own merit.
“Being refugees has inspired many Syrian students to work harder in order to prove that they deserve these opportunities and that they are capable of building a bright future for themselves. Additionally, many of these students, who had always been brilliant, did not have the chance to succeed back home, simply because the corrupt Syrian regime never gave then the opportunity to shine,” said Jamal Durziyya, a researcher in education.
“The barrier that always stopped these students from succeeding in higher education was not the language, nor was it the cultural differences. The real barrier was the regime itself, because a generation of well-educated young people represented a threat to the regime,” he added.
The years of war, and the waves of refugees have placed hundreds of talented Syrian students in countries where they can shine, starting in Turkey, and extending far to the West.