Paris 2024: Refugee swimmer sees need for better integration

Olympic refugee swimmer Alaa Maso had never planned to come to Germany. But eight years after first arriving here, it is a country he is now proud to call home.

"I don't believe that home is where you grew up or where you were born," Maso told DW in a recent interview at his training base in Hanover. "I just believe that home is wherever you feel yourself at home. You're given that feeling by the people surrounding you."

Back in 2015, with his native Syria in the full throes of civil war, Maso had little choice but to leave if he wanted to pursue a career in swimming.

Hailing from Aleppo, a major battleground in the war, he was going for months on end without training. "It always had to depend on how safe the situation was and what the priorities were," he said.

And so, together with older brother, Mo, he took the long and arduous journey to Europe via Turkey.

Civil war slowed career

The brothers had originally intended to settle in the Netherlands with some other family members.

But because they had been fingerprinted while transiting through Germany, EU rules meant their asylum applications had to be processed here.

Since then, it has been a case of making up for lost time, even though the 24-year-old Maso prefers not to dwell on the past. But there is no hiding the fact that the civil war held back his budding career.

"It's never possible to replace such damage," he said.

"The four years in which I was not able to train are some of the most important years in the life of a swimmer. It's where you put in the basics, the groundwork for everything that's coming in the future."

Immigrants 'can reach their goals'

Maso was four years old when his father taught him to swim. Later inspired by Michael Phelps and his eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Games, he resolved to one day compete at the Olympics himself.

"From that day on I wanted to be there," Maso said. "I knew that it's a stage that every swimmer would love to be on."

Maso's wish was granted in 2021, when he was picked to represent the Olympic refugee team at the Tokyo Games. The refugee team first appeared at the Rio Games in 2016 after the International Olympic Committee decided to give displaced people an opportunity to compete when they otherwise would have been unable to because of their situation.

In a moment that went viral on social media, Maso embraced his brother at the Tokyo opening ceremony. Despite their journey together to Germany, Mo was competing in the triathlon for Syria.

"It's only because he had better connections with the Syrian federation than I did," Maso said. "I don't see it as a political position or support for any side in Syria."

While Mo has since retired, Alaa Maso will again be part of the refugee team in Paris, although he says he will be treating it as if it is his first Olympics. "Now I'm a more experienced swimmer and not a rookie like I was in Tokyo, which makes me even more excited for it," he said.

Maso, who is set to take part in the 50-meter freestyle event in Paris, is fully aware of his responsibilities as part of the 37-member refugee team, knowing that he will be representing the more than 100 million forcibly displaced people worldwide.

"We try to expose [represent] the refugees in the best way we can and try to show that even people with an immigrant background can reach their goals and integrate into their new society and communities," Maso remarked.

Rising anti-immigrant sentiment

Integration is a topic to which Maso has given much thought, at a time of rising anti-immigrant sentiment in Germany. That sentiment has been stoked by the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which took second place in Germany in June's European Parliament elections.

Maso initially hesitates to wade into the political debate, before eloquently outlining what he thinks needs to happen.

"Some workshops have to be done for new refugees to try to install [in them] the new culture they are trying to enter," he said. "I'm not saying people are supposed to let go of their culture or their background, but [you should] also try to integrate into the new society you are trying to live in.

"That, for me, is a crucial way of helping people with different backgrounds than the German and European backgrounds to adapt and get a glimpse of how it's going to be for the next 10 years. Because nobody comes here to live for one or two years. You're trying to build a new life, and that's going to be a very long process."

In January, a report by the investigative website Correctiv alleged that far-right figures, including from the AfD, had met to discuss a "remigration" plan to deport millions of "non-assimilated" people in Germany. If such a plan were ever to come to fruition, Maso could be forced out of the country. However, he insists he isn't scared.

"I know that no matter how big the party is or how many seats each party has, they cannot decide everything on their own," he said. "That's the good thing about Europe and democracy in Europe. Just because you're the ruling party, you're not able to do anything you want."

Other major German parties have said they will not enter into a government coalition with the AfD, but it is currently polling second ahead of German parliamentary elections in September 2025.

Despite the difficult political climate, Maso is upbeat about his own future. He is planning to apply for German citizenship "to completely integrate into German society." And after that, would he like to compete for Germany, his adopted country?

"I would totally be OK with that," he said.

The Paris Olympics are July 26-August 11.

Edited by Mark Meadows