Kenan Trebinčević: I am a Muslim, I was a refugee, and I am proud to be an American

Kenan Trebinčević, author of the book „Bosanska lista: sjećanje na rat, progonstvo i povratak" (Bosnian List: A Memory of War, Exile, and Return), in which he talks about his memories of the war in Brčko, his exile, and everything that happened to him then as a 12-year-old boy and his family, has written an article in the American media in which he emphasizes that he is a refugee and a Muslim, but that he is proud to be an American. In the article, he states that his family is alive only because Austrian and American authorities provided them with refuge, writes the BiH news agency Patria.

The book Bosnian List was published in 2014 and quickly became one of the best-selling books in the USA, where Trebinčević lives today. It was named book of the week by Oprah Winfrey.

- Watching the footage of a Hungarian journalist tripping a Syrian refugee as she carried her son across the border with Serbia reminded me how demoralizing it is to be a refugee. It brought back my own experience: being thrown out, hit, tripped, and by friends who hated me overnight. A Serb who was our first neighbor shamed my mother. The military occupation during which Muslims were killed, raped, expelled, and taken to concentration camps took place on the playground where I spent my childhood.

The life journey of the Trebinčević family was not easy. As refugees, they first ended up in Vienna, where they learned the language and assimilated with an Austrian family.

When he started school, Kenan was well-received by his classmates and teacher. Unfortunately, his memories of the teacher in Brčko still cause trauma because he pointed a rifle at his head.

Kenan's parents applied for permanent asylum in the USA. Life in the USA finally started to move in the right direction.

Unfortunately, his mother fell ill with lung cancer and passed away. They also lost their mother's mother, and his father suffered a stroke due to stress. It took him a year to recover.

- I am sure that the hospitality we received in both Austria and the USA was the reason why my brother and I never went down the wrong path. The praise from our teachers, mentors, coaches, and friends outweighed the feelings of anger and not belonging, writes Trebinčević.

Trebinčević is now 34 years old and lives in Queens, New York, one of the most culturally diverse areas in the USA.

Trebinčević also reflects on the current refugee crisis and tries to explain that it is wrong to call Syrian refugees, whether Muslim or Christian, migrants.

- They are fleeing their homes out of fear of persecution by the same militants who massacred innocent lives in France. They are, like my family once was, victims of violence. Terrorism succeeds because of a twisted and alienated youth. Only when they are accepted and not marginalized because of their faith and origin do they have the opportunity to become loyal and hardworking members of the society in which they live, as my family did.

Trebinčević states that he is not sure when he stopped feeling like an exile.

- Perhaps it was when I received my American citizenship, at the age of 21, and my friends from the University of Hartford told me, "Welcome to America." Since then, I have been a proud American citizen who believes this country is a land of opportunity, writes Trebinčević.