Amjad stayed in an asylum seekers’ centre (AZC). 'On some days it seemed as if the whole world had forgotten me.'

The war in Syria tore apart the family in which Amjad was born. 'We had to flee about 10 years ago”, says he. But my mother could not go to Turkey – and my father could not go to Lebanon. That had to do with political issues, but also with migration legislation. My sister and I travelled along with our mother and built up a new life in Lebanon. That lasted for seven years. Then a large-scale crisis also broke out in Lebanon. A crisis for which mainly refugees were blamed. We had to leave again. At the time it was September 2019. I had reached the age of majority and could choose on my own where I wanted to go. As a real Spinoza fan, I decided to apply for asylum in the Netherlands. I had heard that the Netherlands is a safe country and that the people are open-minded. Now I know how true that is.'

Talking with an IND staff member, really scary

Amjad remembers his arrival in Ter Apel as if it were yesterday. 'I remember how nervous I was', says he. 'After a journey that lasted five months I arrived completely on my own and I knew that I had to have an interview with someone from the IND. In the country where I come from it is dead scary if you are investigated by the government. But at the IND a very nice woman was sitting across from me. She was professional and reassured me with her calm manner of asking questions. In Syria no one would even think of looking straight into the eyes of a government official. And then I was conducting an interview! A real interview with someone from the government. I could hardly believe it.'

Sanitising shopping trolleys and making friends

After his interview with the IND, Amjad stayed in an asylum seekers’ centre for approximately a year. That was not always fun, especially the lack of privacy was sometimes hard to take. 'But', says he, 'in some ways it was a nice period anyway. That may be difficult to believe, but it is true. Because of the corona crisis that had broken out I was able to start volunteer work: sanitising shopping trolleys to protect people against the virus. At the time the supermarket was the only place people still went to. I could practise my Dutch there and I got to know people who are still my friends.'

When Amjad thinks back to the asylum seekers’ centre, waiting was especially difficult. 'Waiting for interviews, waiting for a decision, waiting for a residence permit. That sometimes gave me a strange feeling. As if time and place no longer existed. I no longer had my family surrounding me and I did not belong to Dutch society either. I simply existed there, somewhere between heaven and earth. Between the walls of the asylum seekers’ centre. On some days it seemed as if the whole world had forgotten me.'

To a very kind host family

Amjad calls the possibility to stay in a Dutch host family after the asylum seekers’ centre ‘the best thing that ever happened to him’. He tells about it: 'I was taken into the host family as a full family member. I learned Dutch much faster than in the asylum seekers’ centre and I was able to take a course. The education I underwent in Lebanon enabled me to go to a university of applied sciences (in Dutch: hoger beroepsonderwijs or HBO). But I really wanted to undergo an academic university programme, so I started a transfer year. I, of course, still found it difficult that I no longer had my own family surrounding me, but it felt good to work on my future at a safe place.'

The Open Asylum Seekers’ Centre Day is important

On 24 September, the Dutch Council for Refugees, the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) and the Ministry of Justice and Security will organise the annual Open Asylum Seekers’ Centre Day. Amjad hopes that many Dutch people will take the opportunity on this occasion to have a look inside an asylum seekers’ centre. Amjad: 'After my period at the host family, I started working as a social counsellor at the Dutch Council for Refugees. By way of my own experiences and this work, I know how important such an open day is. On that day the asylum seekers see that people outside the walls have not forgotten them and that Dutch people are concerned about them. This makes them feel more human, and less a refugee who has to be ashamed of him or herself.'

Have not seen one another for all of 9 years

In the meantime, Amjad has a sister in Germany, a mother in Lebanon and a father in Turkey. Amjad: 'Unfortunately they are not doing very well and that makes me sad. My parents have not seen each other for all of nine years! Nine years. I cannot imagine how appalling that is. I, unfortunately, was already an adult when I arrived in the Netherlands and because of that there was not much chance at all of a journey in connection with family reunification. I understand that and respect the migration rules. I hope nevertheless that something will happen someday that will enable us to be together again. For the time being I remain positive and I focus on my own future here. I intend to make the best of this, because the Netherlands is spectacular to me. I had never thought that such a wonderful country with such wonderful people could exist.'