Olympic refugee swimmer Alaa Maso had never planned to come to Germany. But close to 10 years after first arriving along with about 1.2 million other asylum seekers as Germany opened its doors amid a migration crisis, it is a country he is now hoping to make his permanent home.

"I don't believe that home is where you grew up or where you were born," Maso told DW in a recent interview at his training base in Hanover. "I just believe that home is wherever you feel yourself at home. You're given that feeling by the people surrounding you."

Back in 2015, with his native Syria in the full throes of civil war, Maso had little choice but to leave if he wanted to pursue a career in swimming.

Hailing from Aleppo, a major battleground in the war, he was going for months on end without training.

"It always had to depend on how safe the situation was and what the priorities were," he said.

And so, together with older brother, Mo, he took the long and arduous journey to Europe via Turkey.

Civil war slowed career

The brothers had originally intended to settle in the Netherlands with some other family members.

But because they had been fingerprinted while transiting through Germany, European Union rules meant their asylum applications had to be processed here.

Since then, it has been a case of making up for lost time, even though the 25-year-old Maso prefers not to dwell on the past. But there is no hiding the fact that the civil war held back his budding career.

"It's never possible to replace such damage," he said.

"The four years in which I was not able to train are some of the most important years in the life of a swimmer. It's where you put in the basics, the groundwork for everything that's coming in the future."

Immigrants 'can reach their goals'

Maso was four years old when his father taught him to swim. Later inspired by Michael Phelps and his eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Games, he resolved to one day compete at the Olympics himself.

"From that day on I wanted to be there," Maso said. "I knew that it's a stage that every swimmer would love to be on."

Maso's wish was granted in 2021, when he was picked to represent the Olympic refugee team at the Tokyo Games. The refugee team first appeared at the Rio Games in 2016 after the International Olympic Committee decided to give displaced people an opportunity to compete when they otherwise would have been unable to because of their situation.

In a moment that went viral on social media, Maso embraced his brother at the Tokyo opening ceremony. Despite their journey together to Germany, Mo was competing in the triathlon for Syria.

"It's only because he had better connections with the Syrian federation than I did," Maso said. "I don't see it as a political position or support for any side in Syria."

While Mo has since retired, Alaa competed for the refugee team in Paris. But a year on, in 2025, injury forced him to withdraw from the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore.

After the fall of Bashar Assad in late 2024, Maso resumed conversations with the Syrian swimming federation about representing the country, but no decision has been made. Despite the regime change, he doesn’t foresee returning to the country, which is still in some turmoil, to live again.

In fact, Maso has applied to become a German citizen. His application has received strong support, including a letter from former Lower Saxony Premier Stephan Weil, recognizing Alaa’s contributions — particularly his role in supporting the integration of fellow refugees through sport and community work.

Political plan for integration

Integration is a topic to which Maso has given much thought, at a time of simmering anti-immigrant sentiment in Germany.  That sentiment was confirmed by Germany’s federal election in February 2025, when the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party took second place, with 20.8% of the vote.

Maso initially hesitated to wade into the political debate months ahead of that election, before eloquently outlining what he thinks needs to happen.

"Some workshops have to be done for new refugees to try to install [in them] the new culture they are trying to enter," he said.

"I'm not saying people are supposed to let go of their culture or their background, but [you should] also try to integrate into the new society you are trying to live in.

"That, for me, is a crucial way of helping people with different backgrounds than the German and European backgrounds to adapt and get a glimpse of how it's going to be for the next 10 years. Because nobody comes here to live for one or two years. You're trying to build a new life, and that's going to be a very long process."

AfD leader Alice Weidel, has not shied away from calling for "large-scale repatriations" of those who have arrived in Germany from elsewhere. "And I have to be honest with you: if it's going to be called remigration, then that's what it's going to be: remigration," she said at a party conference just before the election.

Though Germany’s other major parties have historically resisted working with the far right since World War Two, that so-called “firewall” has weakened in recent years. If a plan such as Weidel suggested were ever to come to fruition, Maso could be forced out of the country if he hasn’t received citizenship. However, he insists he isn't scared.

"I know that no matter how big the party is or how many seats each party has, they cannot decide everything on their own," he said. "That's the good thing about Europe and democracy in Europe. Just because you're the ruling party, you're not able to do anything you want."

Despite the difficult political climate, Maso is upbeat about his own future. Should he be successful in becoming a citizen, would he like to compete for Germany, his adopted country?

"I would totally be OK with that," he said.

This article was originally published on July 7, 2024. It was updated on August 25, 2025 to reflect political changes in Syria and Alaa Maso’s immigration status. An earlier version of this article referred to Stefan Weil as Lower Saxony premier. This has been updated to reflect the fact that he stepped down as premier in May 2025.
Dana Sumlaji contributed to this report. 

Edited by Chuck Penfold