Ayman's story

Ayman was born in the Palestinian refugee camp Khan Al-Sheh near Damascus. When the war broke out in Syria he and his family were forced to flee. Today they live on Bornholm: “We were born as refugees and have been refugees throughout our lives. Bornholm is a safe place and we are very, very happy to live here”.

Meet Ayman (b. 1968) stateless Palestinian from Syria & Bisan (b. 2016), a Danish citizen.

Ayman was born in the Palestinian refugee camp Khan Al-Sheh, established in 1949 near Damascus. His parents fled during the Arab-Israeli war in 1948. Ayman is married to Adala who was also born in the refugee camp. The couple has five children. The youngest, Bisan, was born in Denmark and as a child of two stateless Palestinians she was automatically granted a Danish citizenship. 

Today, Ayman, Adala and their children, Yara, Mostafa, Dima, Hamza and Bisan all live on Bornholm. A situation Ayman is very grateful for: 

“We were born as refugees and have been refugees throughout our lives. Bornholm is a safe place and we are very, very happy to live here”.

The conditions in the Khan Al-Sheh camp worsened when the war broke out in Syria and in 2014, after two weeks of constant bombing, the family was forced to flee. It culminated one evening when the neighbor’s house was completely left in ruins. At first, Ayman, Adala and their children were internally displaced in Syria and then they fled to Egypt.

In Egypt, Ayman left his family and boarded a crowded ship towards Italy’s coast - a trip he shared with 280 other refugees. 

Ayman explains about the following trip: “I drove with a ‘refugee taxi’ from Italy to Denmark. Three months after my arrival in Denmark we got family reunification after three months. My family was with me half a year after I left them in Egypt”.

In Syria, Ayman worked as an electrician. Today he has a permanent job as an electrician at JENSEN Denmark, where he assembles machines. 

Ayman about his future dreams: 

“I hope we can return one day, but it must be safe. Right now my dream is to provide a future for my children”.

Photo by Martin Thaulow, Copyright © Refugee.Today/Good people.