580.800 first-time asylum seekers applied for international protection in the Member States of the European Union in 2018, which marked a decrease of 74 thousand first-time applicants across the EU 28 Member States in comparison with the year before, as the number of first-time applicants fell from 655 thousand in 2017 to 581 thousand in 2018. Syria was the main country of citizenship of asylum seekers in the EU Member States in 2018, a position it has held each year since 2013.

Rafat is one of the refugees that came to Europe in hope for a better future, security and protection. Rafat lives in Portugal since 2015. He and his family are among the million Syrians that suffered from the war. A war that destroyed their country, and killed more than 511 thousand people (https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2019/country-chapters/syria). A war that left no hope and forced them to face all difficulties and the risks in order to reach a safer country that would welcome them and enable them to build their future and their lives all over again. A country that they can call it home, which is Portugal for Rafat and his family.