A Syrian refugee withdraws his candidacy for the German parliament, after threatening him

Syrian Tariq Al-Aws, the first refugee to run for a seat in the German parliament, withdrew his candidacy due to an “intense” and “terrifying” racist campaign against him, his Green Party announced today (Tuesday).
The 31-year-old, who arrived in Germany in September 2015, when this country received hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees fleeing the war in their country, said: “The high level of threat against me, especially my relatives, it is the most important reason to withdraw my candidacy ”. As reported by the French press agency.
He added, as stated in the Green Party statement: “My candidacy has shown that in all parties, in politics and society, we need strong structures to combat structural racism and help the people who affect them.” The young man, who announced his candidacy in February in the Oberhausen – Dinslaken district of the Ruhr region, decided to withdraw completely from public life “for some time”.
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas expressed regret for this decision. He wrote on “Twitter”: “It is terrible for our democracy that (this nomination) fails in the face of threats and racism,” expressing his solidarity with Tariq Al-Aws. Through his candidacy, the Syrian wanted to “give a voice to the hundreds of thousands of people who fled” from his country, and to commit himself to the defense of human rights in particular. He was a former law student in Syria and worked in humanitarian aid for the Red Crescent before coming to Europe.