He – like one million others – traveled to Europe last year escaping war, in search of a better life outside of the misery of Turkey’s refugee camps and neighborhoods. 90% of Turkey’s 2 million refugees live outside official refugee camps, and until recently it was illegal for Syrians to work in Turkey. He now lives in Germany, temporarily placed in a tiny rural village called Ostheim, south of Kassel, where he awaits relocation once his papers are processed. His hope is to be granted asylum.  

Five years ago, Yazan had just finished high school when he was recruited by the Syrian army. After two months, amid the turbulence sweeping across Syria and the government’s brutal crackdowns on its citizens, he defected, and moved to territory controlled by the rebel group known as the Free Syrian Army. He began working as a fixer for journalists in Aleppo, where he spent two years before escaping to Turkey, where he worked as an illegal immigrant for three years – as a barber, for the most part. Frustrated by the precarious conditions of life in Turkey, and with no future prospects, he moved from city to city in search of work. He finally decided to leave altogether and risk the journey to Western Europe in the hope of finding a place in Germany where he could live and study at university.

The journey to Germany was fraught with uncertainty. We’ve heard the many testimonials of arbitrary detention and police brutality at the borders that form today’s refugee corridor in Europe, and Yazan’s story includes much of the same – clashes with police, hunger and harsh weather, being bussed off to unknown locations, waiting for 12 hours without any knowledge of what lies ahead.

Yazan is now in the process of settling in Germany, and hoping to move back to Weisbaden, the small city where he initially spent two months in a refugee camp, and where he made German and Turkish friends. Ostheim is “too small,” he says, with no one around to interact with and practice German. Aside from his morning German classes, the only social outing he has is his weekly grocery shop – a journey that takes 6 hours round-trip.