After five years living in Belgium, I am very grateful that I got Belgian nationality. Belgium for me today is not just a country I seek safety at, it is a second home for me, it is a country which is giving me protection which I lost in my own country.
My name is Hisham, I am proudly a Syrian lawyer, in Belgium I am an effective person just like any other one, I work and make my own money, I learn whatever I have to learn in order to be a person who gives, not just take.
In the beginning, when I arrived here, I got help, a place to stay at and money to learn the language, I learned and when I couldn’t work firstly, I volunteered for months. Then I worked for years and paid taxes which made me feel I am giving back, and that exactly how my integration was.
For years now, I live in Antwerpen, I have eaten and drunk on this land, I paid, and I got paid, today, I am a part of this country and believe me I can’t describe my feeling when to say I am Syrian-Belgian