Photo/Illutration A refugee fleeing the war from neighboring Ukraine walks with children holding toys after crossing the border by ferry at the Isaccea-Orlivka border crossing in Romania on March 24. (AP Photo)

Syrian-born writer Rafik Schami, 75, vividly depicts the hustle and bustle of his native city in his novels.

A backstreet redolent with the aroma of kebabs; a speeding bus overflowing with passengers; the din and energy of a spice market.

A popular author in Europe, Schami is known for his allegorical political satires written in German and translated into more than 30 languages.

His first collection of autobiographical essays was published in Japanese last month under the title of “Boku wa Tada Monogatari wo Kakitakatta,” which translates literally as “all I wanted was to write stories."

The works express his deep feelings for the land of his birth, to which he yearns to return but cannot, because of his stand against President Bashar al-Assad’s oppressive regime.

Schami was a university student in Damascus when a wall news-sheet, of which he was the co-founder and editor, was banned by the authorities.

He exiled himself to Germany, where he earned a doctorate and became a writer. Half a century has elapsed since he left Syria.

Schami is deeply pained now by the war in Ukraine. “Putin is a criminal,” he said in his email response to my virtual interview. “He is dreaming of making Russia as powerful as it was back in the czarist era.”

During the prolonged Syrian civil war, Russia provided armed troops to prop up the Assad regime. An estimated 6.8 million Syrians fled their homeland to live as refugees.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine prompted as many as 3.7 million Ukrainians to flee their land. They include poets and musicians.

A passage from Schami’s latest publication goes: “How humanly degrading it is to be not allowed to return to one’s country.”

According to U.N. statistics released last year, there are 26.6 million refugees around the world. It didn’t really occur to me until now just how many people are suffering, unable to return home no matter how ardently they hope and pray.

The words of this author in exile are especially heavy now.

--The Asahi Shimbun, March 26

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.

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