“I am not a case, I’m a person”, this quote is from a young Syrian status holder/refugee in our research, expressing his disappointment on his stay in the Netherlands. He acknowledges that he is now happy to live in a safe place and to possess a residence permit to stay temporarily in the country. After his long fled from Syria to the Netherlands he is willing to start a normal life by studying and by meeting Dutch people. However, as he experienced daily, this goal seems to be too ambitious, as he is confronted with numerous obstacles (e.g. language and discrimination). He is one of the thousands asylum seekers who asked recently for asylum in the Netherlands and who finally received a temporary residence permit, meaning they are allowed to study and work. This article is a report of a qualitative research among status holders/refugees who recently settled down in the Netherlands and who are trying to build a sense of belonging in their new country. We will discuss various perspectives on home and ... : Ikhtilaf Journal of Critical Humanities and Social Studies, Vol. 1 No. 3-4 (2020): Routes and Roots: Migration across Africa and the Mediterranean ...