They were members of the Habesha Project - a Mexican NGO that relocates Syrian students to Mexico to continue their academic careers, interrupted by the conflict in Syria."
As a Kurd, my options have always been limited," says Hazem, who is from al-Malikiyah in the mainly Kurdish Hasakah governorate of northern Syria.
"In Syria, we could never get government jobs or study certain majors in school."
Like many Kurds, Hazem describes the institutional discrimination he witnessed while living in Syria, which has led to many Kurds finding themselves torn during the conflict - with rebel forces seeking recruits from backgrounds presumed to have an instinctive animosity towards Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government while, on the other hand, military checkpoints were profiling racial minorities and imprisoning suspected dissidents and deserters. [...]
he Habesha Project is the brainchild of Adrian Melendez, the programme's coordinator. The project arranges for students to arrive in Mexico like any visiting foreign student - not as asylum seekers. Melendez is currently in consultation with European institutions to illustrate how the model is both economic and replicable in other countries.
Students enrol in intensive Spanish classes at Universidad Panamericana, where a volunteer student committee helps them to integrate through cultural activities and informational evenings. When they are ready, students can apply for courses at different universities around Mexico.
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