From Syrian refugee to DePaul Law graduate: How he survived torture during revolution before fleeing to Chicago
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On a May afternoon, days before the graduation ceremony, Mahou’s dad was sitting next to him on a couch in one of DePaul’s Loop campus law buildings, wearing a brown suit, white shirt and a prayer hat on his head. DePaul University College of Law graduate Emad Mahou stands with fellow students during the law school's commencement ceremony at the Chicago Theatre.
During a raid toward the second half of 2011, military police came looking for Mahou. At that time, Mahou’s resistance entered a new phase. He was tapped by media outlets, likely because of his strong English skills, and became sort of a “boots on the ground” source, though his face and name were hidden anytime he was on air with reporters.
He shows eight fingers. He then starts counting extended family, but quickly stops. “I’ll get to like 50 people if I keep going,” he said.‘It got to a point where mentally I was broken’ “At that point, I was almost done with college and I had a whole future ahead of me. And I just looked at where I am now. That day was my weakest day mentally. I was shattered. The humiliation went too far — like they’re using you as a toilet ... so I banged my head on the wall.”He felt a breeze. He remembered his cat, Sasha; he visualized the marble tiles of his family’s home, the comforting chaos of his kitchen, his mom cooking a meal. “It was a message that I shouldn’t be dying here today.
Refugees who are in the system can indicate their goals for resettlement, which for Mahou was the United States. Though it could take many months — years even — for an individual to get through the queue. The official documents explaining his refugee status, he later learned, were only to be opened by immigration officials. After what felt like ages, Mahou said his documents were stamped, his fingerprints taken, his picture taken and he was free to pass the checkpoint.
“There was a kitchen, a table, two chairs, a twin bed mattress, one cover, one spoon, one fork, one knife, one shaving blade, one frying pan,” Mahou said. “And that whole night I was looking out the window and watching the airplanes because I couldn’t drown them out. I was so far from home. I think I just sat there crying all night.”
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