Dear Sharon,

thank you for your email. For your webinar on “Successful Migrant Biographies Around the World”, I would like to tell you about Ryyan Alshebl, whose story has received a lot of international media attention in Germany.

Ryyan Alshebl is a Syrian refugee who became mayor of the small town of Ostelsheim in southwestern Germany in 2023. He is about 30 years old and originally comes from the Syrian city of as-Suweida. He fled from Syria to Germany in 2015 and was first placed in a refugee reception centre near Karlsruhe.

From the beginning, Alshebl made strong efforts to integrate into German society. While living in shared accommodation in the town of Calw, he quickly started attending German language courses and joined a local sports club. He later explained that he always knew he wanted to stay in Germany permanently. According to him, life in a small town gave him the opportunity to really get to know German society and culture.

At first, Alshebl completed an internship at a car repair shop, but he realized that manual work was not the right career for him. Afterwards, despite language difficulties, he applied for an internship in the local town administration of Althengstett. The mayor there recognized his talent and supported him. Alshebl was then able to complete a dual vocational training programme as an administrative clerk and later continued his professional education at the Chamber of Commerce.

In 2023, he decided to run for mayor of Ostelsheim after the previous mayor announced he would not seek re-election. Although Alshebl is a member of the Green Party, he ran as an independent candidate. He organized a very active door-to-door campaign and convinced many voters with a detailed five-point plan for the town’s future development. He won the election in the first round with more than 53% of the vote.

As mayor, he now deals with typical local political challenges such as shortages of childcare workers, housing projects, renewable energy and refugee accommodation. At the same time, he has become an important symbol of successful integration in Germany. International newspapers and television stations, including the New York Times, have shown great interest in his story.

Alshebl has also expressed mixed feelings about current refugee policies. As a former refugee himself, he criticizes large reception centres because they feel isolating, but as a politician he also understands the challenges local communities face when accommodating refugees.

Overall, Ryyan Alshebl’s story is often seen as an example of successful integration, political participation and social mobility in Germany.

I hope this example is helpful for your webinar. It was really interesting for me to learn more about his story, and I hope we’ll see each other again sometime soon!

Best wishes,

Curtis