David Lesch, Ph.D., Ewing Halsell Distinguished Professor of History at Trinity University recently offered perspective on immigration following the Syrian Kurdish refugee crisis in a story about an Austin-based coffee entrepreneur. Featured on “Texas Standard,” a show produced by KUT public radio in Austin, the story centers around Syrian Kurdish refugee Youssef Shabo, who fled his country after war broke out in 2011. “More than half of the country became refugees during the civil war,” Lesch said. At the time, under Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Kurds were an “always discriminated-against minority in the country,” Lesch added, leading many to leave when they had opportunity, sometimes suddenly, as in Shabo’s case.
Shabo and his family ultimately applied for asylum and in 2019, they were all granted American citizenship. After graduating from UT Austin, Shabo and his brother opened a laundromat coffee shop and they’ve been brewing ever since. Read the full transcript here.