Hazem Rihawi hopes to come to the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health this fall to learn ways to better help his countrymen in war-torn Syria.
An industrial pharmacist turned aid worker, who learned about humanitarian work in the field and wants more formal training, Rihawi has secured a full scholarship to the school. But his dream of coming to the Baltimore school rests on whether he can get a student visa amid restrictions on who can study in the United States.
"Of course I am worried," Rihawi said from Somalia, where he is now doing humanitarian work. "I am happy to be accepted to one of the best schools in the world, but I don't know if I will be able to go."
Under restrictions put in place by the Trump administration, Syrian nationals are prohibited from getting student visas. So are North Koreans. The student visa restrictions are part of broader travel curbs put on several countries – including Chad, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Venezuela and Yemen – last year because of security concerns.
Rihawi spent nine years working as a factory manager for one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the Middle East. After civil war erupted, he began taking medications, baby formula and other supplies to people in need in Aleppo, Syria's largest city and the heart of the fighting. It was risky work that involved crossing a street heavy with snipers that separated the government and opposition-held sections of the city.
He was so drawn to humanitarian work that he quit his job to do it full-time, but the danger forced him to flee his homeland in 2013. As a refugee in Turkey, Rihawi worked for the Syrian American Medical Society, providing aid to hospitals, which had become deliberate targets of bombing.
While working for the relief group, he became involved with the Bloomberg School on a project to document attacks on hospitals, which got him interested in studying at the school.
Rihawi wants to return to Syria after he completes his degree to help rebuild the country. He hopes formal training will better prepare him to help his country.
"There is a vibrant civil society that has risen out of the ashes of this war," Rihawi said. "People are rising up to the occasion ... We want to do it in the right way."
The Association of American Universities has requested meetings with the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office to talk about the benefits of enrolling international students. Pedro Ribeiro, an association spokesman, said international students help the country remain a world leader in education and innovation.
Source: Miami Herald