On Monday morning, as they watched German Chancellor Angela Merkel announce her failure to form a new government, the Alsaho family of Syrian refugees understood their small role in the Chancellor’s troubles. They sympathized with her – the leader whose openness toward refugees they have always admired. But they feared what her predicament would mean for their chances of making Germany their home. One of the main issues that blocked Merkel’s efforts to form a coalition government was the treatment of families like the Alsahos, who have been split and scattered across two continents by the Syrian civil war.