Muamer Sultić

I have taken the best from both cultures, and I feel comfortable in both Danish and Bosnian environments. The current refugee debate does concern me. The policy makers seem to forget that many refugees suffer from posttraumatic stress and find it difficult to cope with normal everyday life and a job, however much they would like to. This a problem which is not solved by cutting their benefits or constantly portraying them negatively in the media.

When I was 10 years old, I lived in an asylum centre. They got me started on sport for disabled, and I have done that ever since. I have travelled the world with the national table tennis team and felt part of a great community. Through the sports I have found out what is possible for me physically, and I have learned how to fight on and outside the ping pong table.

During the war in Bosnia, I was hit in the back by a piece of shrapnel, which is the reason I am now confined to a wheelchair. When I was a teenager, it dawned on me that I might never walk again.
I feared that I would never get a girlfriend, a family, or a job. But the worries gradually stopped as I coped with the first party, the first date, etc. Today I have a job and a family, so even though the wheelchair limits me in some respects, it doesn’t stop me from achieving and experiencing what I consider the most important things in life.

32 years / male / in a relationship / child / wage consultant / Copenhagen N / from Bosnia and Herzegovina / came to Denmark in 1994 / residence permit 1997