Ten years ago, I crossed the Aegean Sea in an overcrowded inflatable boat, hoping only to survive.

I did not leave Syria because I wanted a different life. I left because the life I knew had disappeared. War had taken away my home, interrupted my education and replaced every certainty I had with fear, loss and uncertainty.

Like millions of others before me, I suddenly became something I had never imagined I could become.

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Convention, the international agreement created after one of history’s darkest chapters to ensure that people forced to flee persecution would never again be left without protection.

For many people, it is simply a legal document. For me, it represented protection, hope and a new start.

Without the right to seek asylum, I would never have had the opportunity to rebuild my life in Germany. I would never have competed at two Olympic Games or become a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador, using my voice to stand alongside people who, like me, were forced to flee.

The Convention did not give me success. It gave me a chance. That distinction matters.

Today, more than 120 million people around the world have........

© Al Jazeera