Syrian refugee Anas Modamani snapped a selfie with then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel outside a refugee camp near the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees in Berlin's Spandau district on September 10, 2015. The image quickly became iconic. Nearly a decade later, Modamani has built a life in Germany, complete with a job, a German passport, and a fiancée, with no intention of returning to his war-torn homeland.

While right-wing politicians in Europe often call for Syrians to 'go home' following the fall of President Bashar al-Assad, Modamani's journey reflects how many refugees have established roots in their host countries. 'I am a Berliner, I have my life here,' said the 27-year-old cameraman, who arrived in Berlin in 2015 at the age of 18 and is now part of Europe's largest Syrian refugee community. Modamani funded his studies in communication with a part-time job at a supermarket and now works as a freelance video journalist for Deutsche Welle. He shares an apartment with his Ukrainian fiancée, a mechanical engineer who came to Germany just before Russia's invasion of her country in February 2022.

'I have a wonderful apartment and a very beautiful woman, I have everything I need here,' Modamani told AFP. He fled Syria initially to avoid military service under Assad's regime and has no desire to return after witnessing the horrors of the conflict. 'I lost friends. Members of my family died because of the regime,' he said.

With early elections looming in Germany on February 23, far-right and conservative politicians have made the repatriation of Syrians a key campaign issue. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock of the Greens criticized these calls, arguing they showed a 'lack of realism about the situation in the Middle East.' Modamani expressed concern for friends without German passports, noting that while the war is over, the situation remains uncertain. Despite having more friends in Berlin than in Syria, his parents and siblings still live near Damascus.

Modamani also worries about the ongoing Israeli airstrikes targeting Assad's military assets. 'It could affect anyone,' he said, recalling how his mother recently hid in a cellar during an attack. While Modamani is settled, the fate of others remains uncertain after German authorities announced a freeze on decisions for pending Syrian asylum applications.

Since his famous selfie with Merkel, Modamani has become a prominent figure in the Syrian community and aims to use his TikTok platform, with over 50,000 followers, to advocate for refugees. The selfie initially symbolized Germany's open-door policy but later became entangled in disinformation linking him to terror attacks. In 2017, he sued Facebook to remove such content but lost the case. Although he hasn't met Merkel since, the former chancellor acknowledged the photo's significance in her memoirs, expressing surprise at how it became a symbol of Germany's migrant policy.

Modamani views the inclusion of his photo in Merkel's book as a historic moment. 'My picture is going to be part of history forever,' he said.

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