Refugees from other wars see themselves in fleeing Ukrainians

We are the smartest species but also the dumbest.

PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."Scenes of families pouring across borders have captured the world’s attention. Nidaa Aljabbarin is one of those watching — but unlike many others, she knows what this experience is like. When she was 13, she fled her home in Syria.

“I see myself in these kids,” Aljabbarin said. “I went through this. I exactly feel your pain. I know how that feels. And I really hate to see other families leaving [their] home, maybe leaving part of their hearts in there.”

Aljabbarin also has an idea of what’s next for the children fleeing Ukraine, whose lives have changed forever in an instant.

“This is not an easy experience and this is not fun. But it will definitely shape who you’re gonna be in the future,” she said. “And it will definitely teach you a lot.”

In Syria, Aljabbarin said she enjoyed a simple and peaceful life with her parents and siblings. They lived outside a village, where they were surrounded by olive trees and she was able to walk to school.

That changed as the war in her country got closer to home. Her brothers got sick, one of them died, and her father got shot in the leg, she said. On one trip to the hospital, Aljabbarin said she remembers hearing bombings and shootings happening all around her.

Her family’s decision to flee was abrupt – just as it is for many Ukrainians right now.

“My dad made the decision the night before we left,” Aljabbarin said. “And then I just woke up, like, four in the morning and my mom told me, ‘Yeah, today we have to leave,’ so we just took just a few clothes with us.”

Initially, her family didn’t want to leave, Aljabbarin said, but ultimately, they were forced to for their own safety. They arrived at a refugee camp in Jordan.

“They gave us a tent and some blankets, food. And they told us, ‘Yeah, this is your new home.’ And I was like, ‘No way, this is not where I want to live,'” she said. “But it was – I was thankful that I was able to escape out of the war.”

It’s been nine years since Aljabbarin has been in Syria, and today she is a student at Syracuse University. Looking back, she said she believed her parents did make the right decision, despite how hard it was."...