CNN
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A Syrian who arrived in Germany as a refugee in 2015 won a mayoral election in the Southwestern German state of Baden-Württemberm.
Ryyan Alshebl, who left his hometown of SywayDA in Syria eight years ago, is running as an independent in the municipality of Oselsheim. He won 55.41% of the votes on Sunday, beating two German candidates, Marco Strauss and Mathias Fey.
Locals cheered the 29-year-old as he accepted his victory, a victory he described as “frightening,” local German broadcaster SWR reported.
“Today, Oselesheim sends an example for broad-mindedness and cosmopolitanism for the whole of Germany,” he said, according to German Public Broadcaster ZDF. “That’s not something that can be taken for a conservative, mountain place.”
Alshebl’s first call after his victory was to his mother in Syria, who was happy with the news, SWR reported.
The association of municipalities in Baden-Württember said Alshebl is the first person with Syrian roots to run for the mayor’s office. He will review his paper in June.
Residents of Oselesheim welcome their incoming mayor. “The fairy tale came true, and the right person became our mayor,” Annette KEK, who lives in the village, told SUM.
Strauss, one of his opponents, thanked 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.
State labor minister Manne Lucha says Alshebl’s victory shows that diversity is a natural part of Baden-Württemberm. “I am very happy if the election of Ryyan Alshebl inspires more people with a history of migration to run for political office,” he said.
Not everyone is so hot on the 29-year-old. ZDF reported the Syrian received enthusiastic comments on the old passage.
The young politician went first to each house, promoting his election program, and “the most positive experiences,”
Born to a teacher and agricultural teacher 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 began in 2011 shortly after the civil war began. The fighting and later rise of ISIS Placed 10.6 million people from home in late 2015 – about half of Syria’s pre-war population.
Alshebl faced the dilemma of being drafted for military service with the Syrian army or leaving the country, according to his website.
While many Syrians have been internally displaced or fled to countries in the region, others like Alshebl have made the perilous journey to Europe. He was 21 years old at the time, and it is said that he crossed from Turkey to the Greek island of Lesbos in rubber.
Former German Chancellor Nerkel Merkel implemented a brief open-door policy in 2015 that saw the country take in about 1.2 million asylum seekers in the following years, including ALSHEBL.
The move sparked a backlash in Germany and the sudden growth of the far-right, anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AFD) in summer 2015.
Once in Germany, Alshebl lived near Oselesheim and said at the time he felt “there’s only one thing you can do: Go back to your future.”
For the last seven years he has worked in the management of Althengstett Town Hall, in a neighboring town. He grew from his experience, he said in his campaign, and made digital access to public administration services one of the priorities. Flexible nursing care and climate are also on his agenda.
Alshebl, who is a member of the Green Party and now has German citizenship, promised in his campaign that he was once elected as mayor that he would move to Ostelsheim.