Seven years ago, Ahmad, Khaldoun, Roland and Ihab fled Syria out of fear of the Assad regime and the war. In 2016, filmmaker Bart Grimbergen made a portrait of these four Syrian refugees in various asylum centers in Brabant. Have they now found a place in society? This question will be answered from Wednesday in the eight-part docu-series ‘The Meeting, 7 years later’ on Omroep Brabant television.
Ahmad Ashram takes his bicycle from the shed to head to work in a library in Den Bosch. When the door of the gate slams, a sign can be seen that reads: Natcho Nivine Khaled’s home, with two hearts. Ahmad lives here with his wife Nivine and son Khaled. It is one of the first scenes from the docu-series: ‘The Meeting, 7 years ago’.
Ahmad left home and hearth in Syria seven years ago at random. Fleeing the war and the Assad regime, he ended up in the asylum center in Overloon. Leaving his wife Nivine Brabando and their then 7-year-old son Khaled in a war situation.
Family reunification
A few years later, the asylum seekers’ center was exchanged for a house in Den Bosch and the family was reunited. “We were always together. It was very difficult emotionally to have to miss my wife and my son. I will never forget the moment we were together again. There are no words for that,” Ahmad says in the series. In addition to his work in the library, he is now also working as a musician.
His wife and son have also found their way. Khaled (15) plays football at a club in Den Bosch and also goes to school in that city. He is happy that his parents have put the situation in Syria behind them. He did suffer trauma. “If fireworks are set off, he becomes restless and stays indoors.” Nivine is an actress and starred in a series about corruption in the Assad regime. “That’s quite brave,” says filmmaker Bart Grimbergen, who made the docu-series together with Roel Wijngaards-de Meij.
Regular discussion
The story of Ahmad and his family is one of the four stories that filmmaker Bart Grimbergen has depicted. “Just like now, the reception of asylum seekers regularly caused discussion in 2016. We then made portraits of asylum seekers and showed them to local residents. With the aim of getting them into conversation with each other. That resulted in great reactions. Seven years later a good moment to see whether these asylum seekers have taken root in our society.”
The lives of Ahmad, Khaldoun, Roland, Ihab and their families are featured in eight episodes. Each episode has a theme, such as: finding work, making Dutch friends, the struggle with the Dutch language, being happy and our directness. “You can talk freely. That is a great thing. We ignore the core too much,” says Khaloud in one of the episodes.
Difficult moments
Difficult moments are also discussed in the series. Missing family even makes Roland’s wife somewhat depressed. “The sky is always gray here instead of blue, like in Syria,” she illustrates her feeling.
One of the women decided to no longer wear a headscarf and wanted to share it with her mother. “My mother is religious. For me it was quite a step to no longer wear a headscarf. My mother found that difficult to accept. At such a moment the distance is great and you miss your family.”
The docu-series also portrays cultural differences and the way in which these differences are bridged. That’s how Ahmad and Ihab came to love the carnival. Ihab chose a surprising outfit: “On the Eleventh of the Eleventh I was dressed as an elf and so was my girlfriend.”
The first episode of ‘The meeting, seven years later’ can be seen on Omroep Brabant television on Wednesday, March 6 at 5 p.m. This episode will be repeated several times in the evening. The program can also be seen via Brabant+.