Most Syrian refugees fight for sanctuary at Europe’s borders – but Reem Doukmak found it on Google. So is the story of the PhD student who swapped Homs for Warwick an example of elitism, or a model that could help build a better future?
Walking though the calm, leafy campus at Warwick university, which is currently showing off its stunning autumn colours, Reem Doukmak says: “I think I’ve maybe even started to take things for granted, just like the people here. For instance, taking the bus – you never think that it’s not going to come – or that there is food, electricity, heating. At some point, you start to think that life is easy.”
None of these things are a given for this 33-year-old Syrian academic who, not so long ago, was teaching English as a foreign language at the al-Baath university in Homs. There, one of the most embattled cities in Syria’s terrible war, the buses to work often didn’t come, because of fighting on the roads, or checkpoints that blocked and lengthened journeys. Classes were routinely curtailed because students could hear shooting and couldn’t concentrate – they could only think of getting back home before things got worse.
Related: 'We want to be part of the solution': universities reach out to refugees
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