Some Syrians abandon Europe, aim for USA
They say they see greater opportunity here despite Trump restrictions
Filmmaker Feras Fayyad endured bombings, prison and torture in Syria before gaining asylum in Denmark. Sunday, he could become the first Syrian to win an Oscar.
His documentary Last Men in Aleppo is nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. Fayyad, 34, is one of about 11 million Syrians who fled their homes since civil war broke out in their country in 2011.
Last Men in Aleppo tells the gutwrenching story of the WhiteHelmets, a volunteer rescue organization in Syria, where a half- million people have been killed over the past seven years — more than 500 in the past few weeks.
Fayyad’s story is a new twist in the largest wave of asylum seekers to enter
Europe sinceWorldWar II: He is one of a handful of Syrians who found Europe too stifling for their creative and professional ambitions.
Fayyad and Syrians like him said the USA offers better opportunities to assimilate despite the Trump administration’s hard- line views on immigration.
“In Europe, everyone always make you feel like you are a victim. You are always a refugee first. Your dreams and desires come second. In America, you can be anyone you want to be,” said Fayyad, who is trying to move to Los Angeles from Copenhagen. He’s been in the USA on a series of short- term business visas.
“I don’t want to spend my life being told that I ama refugee,” he said. “I don’t think Europeans are prepared to let me do this.”
The majority of asylum seekers have little control over where they end up. There is little data about how well immigrants settle into one country versus another, according to Ran Abramitzky, a Stanford University researcher.
Fayyad’s chance of obtaining residence in the USA has dropped as President Trump has sought to impose entry restrictions on Muslimmajority countries, including Syria. The Supreme Court will rule on the travel ban by June.
In 2017, the Trump administration allowed 6,500 Syrian refugees to resettle in the USA. In 2016, President Obama allowed about double that number, StateDepartment data show. European countries have processed about 900,000 asylum claims from Syrians since 2011, according to the United Nations.
Uncertainty has not stopped some displaced Syrians from believing in the American Dream.
Waasim Majeed, 36, lived in the United Arab Emirates, then France as an aspiring actor before seeking asylum in Los Angeles a year ago.
“The Europeans, they give you money, and the government understands your basic needs, but there isn’t the sense of freedom and opportunity you get here,” he said.
Majeed sees Americans as more understanding of a person’s past. “They are more willing to accept you have a back story or made mistakes. We say in Syria, ‘ Everybody has brokenwings.’ Americans seem to understand this,” Majeed said. That idea rings true for Tima Kurdi. Kurdi is the aunt of Alan Kurdi, a 3year- old Syrian boy who drowned off the coast of Turkey in 2015. He became a haunting symbol of the refugee crisis.
“After Alan’s death, I spent a lot of time in the U. S. speaking to people. I expected to hear what Trump was saying in the news about not wanting us,” said Kurdi, who lives in Canada. “It was the opposite. Everyone wanted to help.”
Rachel McCormack, a literacy specialist at RogerWilliams University in Rhode Island, said the USA is full of opportunity. “Especially if you have a niche skill, you will do well here,” said McCormack.
Peter Nannestad, an expert on immigration at Denmark’s Aarhus University, conducted a study that found high- skilled refugees tend to gravitate toward societies with large income gaps between rich and poor.
“Denmark is not a good place to be a high- skilled refugee,” he said. “Taxes are high. You will pay for social benefits you may not need. If you are highly skilled, you will probably try to reach the United Kingdom. Or even better, the U. S.”