cnn
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A Syrian who came to Germany as a refugee in 2015 has won the mayoral election in the southwestern German state of Baden-Württemberg.
Ryyan Alshebl, who left his hometown of As Suwayda in Syria eight years ago, ran as an independent in the municipality of Ostelsheim. On Sunday he obtained 55.41% of the vote, beating two German candidates, Marco Strauss and Mathias Fey.
Locals applauded the 29-year-old as he celebrated his victory, a victory he described as “sensational,” local German broadcaster SWR reported on Monday.
“Today Ostelsheim has set an example of open-mindedness and cosmopolitanism for all of Germany,” he said, according to German public broadcaster ZDF. “That’s not something that can be taken for granted in a conservative rural area.”
Alshebl’s first call after his victory was to his mother in Syria, who was delighted with the news, SWR reported.
The Association of Baden-Württemberg Municipalities said Alshebl is the first man of Syrian roots to run and win the mayoralty. He will begin his role in June.
The residents of Ostelsheim welcome the new mayor. “The fairy tale has come true and the right man has become our mayor,” Annette Keck, who lives in the town, told SWR.
Strauss, one of his opponents, congratulated 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.
Federal Integration Minister Manne Lucha said that Alshebl’s victory shows that diversity is a natural part of Baden-Württemberg. “I would be very happy if the election of Ryyan Alshebl encouraged more people with a migration background to run for political office,” he said.
Not everyone has been so warm towards the 29-year-old. ZDF reported that the Syrian received hateful comments during the election campaign.
The young politician went from house to house promoting his election program and “the experiences were predominantly positive”, but there was also a minority of fringe far-right voters in Ostelsheim who did not want to accept him because of his Syrian roots, Alshebl told ZDF.
Born to a schoolteacher and agricultural engineer in Syria, Alshebl described his life as carefree until he was 20, according to his campaign website.
At the time, protests against the Syrian government that began in 2011 soon degenerated into a chaotic war. The fighting and subsequent rise of ISIS forced 10.6 million people from their homes by the end of 2015, about half of Syria’s pre-war population.
Alshebl faced the dilemma of being drafted for military service in the Syrian army or leaving the country, according to his website.
While many Syrians were internally displaced or fled to countries in the region, others like Alshebl undertook the dangerous journey to Europe. He was 21 at the time and said he crossed from Türkiye to the Greek island of Lesbos in an inflatable boat.
Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel had implemented a brief open-door policy in 2015 that saw the country take in around 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 party Alternative for Germany (AfD) in the wake of the summer of 2015.
Once in Germany, Alshebl lived near Ostelsheim and said at the time that he felt “there is only one thing you can do: recover quickly and start investing in your own future quickly.”
For the last seven years he worked in the administration of the town hall of Althengstett, in a neighboring town. He drew on his experience, he said in his campaign, and made digital access to public administration services one of his priorities. Flexible childcare and climate protection are also on their agenda.
Alshebl, who is a member of the Green Party and now has German citizenship, promised during his campaign that once elected mayor he would move to Ostelsheim.
