Ammar Ibrahim is 30 years old man and from Aleppo in Syria
I arrived in Denmark in November 2015. In Syria I was a pharmacist. I have certificates in chemistry and pharmacy, but in Denmark they only accepted my chemistry degree. I am now studying a master in chemistry at Copenhagen University. I am now at my second year, where I’m doing a project at DTU.
In Syria I worked in a pharmacy where I had worked for 7 years. I also worked in the pharmaceutical industry for two years. It was my own pharmacy but when the war came, I was forced to close it for more than 5 month. There was fighting going on just by the pharmacy. When there was a free passage I went there and collected all of the medicine. Then I left Syria. I went to Turkey, where worked for one year as a translator in a hotel and in a pharmacy. At that time in Turkey there was no rights for people for Syria. No acceptance for certificates, no permissions to stay, salary was only half of what it was for Turkish people because we were Syrian. There was also no possibility to get a new passport, not in Turkey or in Syria, so I was forced to go to Europe.
I also had a dream to study my masters in Europe. From Turkey I went to Greece by an inflatable boat, At that time it cost 8000 Euro to go from Europe to Greece. From Greece I travelled by train truck and plane. First I went to Germany. Denmark was better than Germany at that time, because in Denmark I could study in English. But I did not really know anything about the differences between Germany and Denmark. I asked people which European country would be best to travel to, but everyone told me it was the same in all European countries.
When I first got to Denmark, there were a lot of people around us. I was in chok. When we came to the camp, the Danish people came to carry our things to our rooms. I got a lot of help to communicate and learn Danish. I have been to 5 camps. At that time a lot of refugees came, and there were no places for anyone. That is why we moved around a lot. It took three months to get permission to stay, so I lived in 5 camps during 3 month.
I came to Hillerød Commune. First I lived in Hillerød hotel. Then I lived in shared house, where we live 8 people. I still live there. After a year I realized my dream and started to study . My dream is to become a manager and I try to do it. Now I continue my education to achieve my dream. I want to be able to repay my debt to Denmark, because I got a free education.
Right now in addition to my studies I work as a Chemist in Foss. I work in the laboratory, analyzing and do tests.
My message to the people is that I would like to change the opinion of politicians and the opinion they have of war refugees. We are educated people. Doctors, engineers, pharmacist etc. they are people that can bring there to experience to Denmark, we do not just sit at home and do nothing. We just want to have a new and safe life. I hope someday European television can tell this story. Now I am in a project where I bring new ideas for Foss. I have worked here fulltime and they have accepted my project. They will work with me on the project when I have finished my studies. This I way I will repay my debt to Denmark.
In every camp there is good people and bad people, in every country the world. I feel the media only focus on the bad people.
Dublin Core: Language: en Subject: a million stories, refugee, denmark, aleppo, syria,