A Syrian Refugee in Brazil Shines in the Olympics Despite the Struggles

Hanan Dacka, 12-years-old, arrived at Brazil last year with her family composed of her father Khaled, mother Yusra, brother Mostafa and baby sister Yara. They live in a one-bedroom apartment in São Paolo, the most populated city in Brazil which also receives more Syrian refugees than any other country in Latin America.

It was Khaled who first arrived in Brazil. He worked in a currency exchange office in his hometown Idlib that’s located in Northern Syria. He was arrested by Syrian authorities, accused of people trafficking, after he tried helping friends and neighbors to escape the violence between the rebels and government in their historic city, which is currently ruled by the rebel forces.

After spending his 11-months time in prison, he got freed by a judge without charges. According to the UNHCR, he received warnings that both the authorities and opposition militants planned to kill him. So he had to find a safe harbor, for both himself and his family.

Before reaching Brazil, they passed through Jordan and stayed two years and a half at the Za’atari refugee camp. The father then found his way to Brazil through his brother who had already settled there. He went to arrange the paperwork and shelter before his family followed him. Yusra was expecting baby Yara who was born in the refugee camp in the absence of her father who saw her for the first time in São Paulo.

“You turn back into a human being when you arrive in Brazil,”  Khaled told UNHCR. “I’ve never felt so good.”

In the beginning it was very hard for Hanan to settle in school, especially that she doesn’t know how to speak Portuguese. “I could not follow the pace,” she told the Reuters. “It was a surprise for me to hear a different language here.” Later, Hanan got used to the new conditions and quickly made friends at school.

This year, Hanan was chosen by the Rio 2016 organizing committee to carry the torch after her name was forwarded by the UN refugee agency in Brazil. She took part in the 2016 Olympic Games torch relay last May, carrying the flame down the Esplanade of Ministries shortly after it left the Presidential Palace. The Summer Olympic Games begin on the 5th of August.

“The most important thing in sports is to have fun and make friends,” Hanan said to UNHCR. “By carrying the Olympic Torch, people from all over the world will know that refugees are real people, and that we can do positive things.”

WE SAID THIS: The world needs more people like Hanan.