A defiant teenage refugee from Syria says he wants to raise awareness of suffering in his homeland - through the medium of porn.

Antonio Suleiman has launched a successful career in Germany, where he arrived at the age of 15 following the outbreak of war in 2012.

Now aged 19, one of his films is entitled The Arabian King - but has received death threats because of his line of work.

Pornography is banned in Suleiman's homeland, and he said he likes the freedom he has in Europe.
In an interview with German newspaper Bild, he said his intention is to shape perceptions of asylum seekers.

The porn star said he and his family have been inundated with abusive emails and Twitter messages - including death threats - since his profession became public.

But he called on his critics to refocus their anger, stating: 'I didn't do anything bad.'They should concern themselves with people who bomb and kill in France, not with me.'

And he continued: 'I enjoy the freedom in Germany, where I can do everything I couldn't do at home.
'I want to raise awareness about the suffering of my home country.'

On his Twitter account, which contains a number of images of him in action, Suleiman, who lives in Berlin, describes himself as a 'Syrian Adult Performer/Filmmaker XXX'.

He has previously spoken about his frustrations getting into his chosen field, stating that he was met with discrimination when he tried to launch a career in the adult entertainment industry.

He told The Local Voices: 'Whenever German producers found out I was Syrian, I was met with negativity and refusal yet again.

'There’s a kind of discrimination against refugees within the German community.

'Many Syrians in Germany claim that there’s no racism, and that everything is good. I think they are lying to themselves.'

And he said he has come in for criticism from his own family, and from fellow refugees angry about the way he represents the community.

Suleiman stated: 'My own family have said I brought shame upon them, and other refugees said I was not helping their portrayal. I don’t agree with that though.

'For over five years now, Syrians have mainly been pictured under rubble, massacred, their dead bodies in the

Mediterranean, or humiliated throughout their perilous journey to Europe.

'Surely that’s what degrades and violates the ‘Syrian body’.

'Yes, I used my body. I used it to show that this body can make love, can have sex, and does not only exist in order to die.'