Syrian refugee 'pays back' German kindness with food for homeless

In August, Germany made a tremendous show of hospitality when it defied European Union rules and continued to welcome Syrian asylum seekers regardless of their entry point into the political bloc.

Now, a Syrian refugee living in Germany has started a project to say thank you to the country that’s given him a safe haven. 

Every Saturday, Alex Assali cooks hot meals, which he distributes free to the homeless outside Berlin’s Alexanderplatz station.

Now an image of Alex’s cooking stand which has a sign saying: ‘Give back to German people’, has been viewed more than 2.7 million times after being posted on social media.

Assali had fled Syria in 2007 after writing critically on Internet about President Bashar al-Assad. He spent a few years in Libya and then moved to Germany in 2014.

Assali’s friend Tabea Bü posted the picture and wrote, “He really has lost everything; he had to leave his family back in Syria because people wanted to kill him. Even though he doesn’t have a lot, he goes on the street and distributes food to the homeless.”

The image has garnered lots of positivity with one social media user commenting that he represented what ‘humanity should look like’. 

“One of those beautiful gestures that outweighs its tangible significance in the physical world and means so much more on a human level. Bravo,” another added. 

Image: Alex Assali cooks for at least 100 people and distributes his free meals outside Berlin’s Alexanderplatz station. Photograph: Tabea Bü/Facebook