Islamic State Attacks, Rising Xenophobia: Some Dominicans in Europe Pack their Bags

Like many of his compatriots back in the Dominican Republic during the 1990s, Juan left a country where he only knew crippling poverty. "I grew up on a dirt road, we had no indoor plumbing, electricity was rare. We were happy, but there was also a lot of scarcity," Juan told Abreu Report.

"This continent opened a lot of doors for me, I won't deny that, but I feel more like a stranger now after these terrorist attacks than when I first arrived 20 years ago here in Eindhoven. I sense that people are afraid to make eye contact with me," he added.

"When I first came here, you could walk into a random bar and start chatting with any stranger, people were less guarded. Now it's not the same, and I don't like making people nervous, so it makes me uncomfortable to even leave the house at times," he explained.

"I wanted to move back a few years ago, I've saved enough and have a house that I rent, but news reports of the incessant crime wave kept me away. Now though, I'm more afraid of the crime here in the Low Countries. I was going to a Latin concert in Rotterdam this weekend, but I panicked at the last minute and turned back from the train station. Crowds make me nervous now. I feel that I'm being targeted not just by the Islamic State, but also by the European natives who think I'm a shifty Moroccan," Juan explained.

"I'm no longer convinced it's going to get better. I think there will be more terror attacks and that people will get even more xenophobic. I no longer open my curtains, like most Dutch people do, because I'm afraid someone will throw a brick through my window," he fears.

Juan thought he'd retire in Europe and go back to the Dominican Republic on vacation, but he bought a one-way plane ticket last night, and doesn't think he'll return to Europe until the war against the Islamic State is concluded and he no longer feels like a target.