Syrian Canadians waited years to return. For a lot of, coming house has been more durable than leaving

[ad_1] It has been just a little greater than a 12 months for the reason that fall of Bashar al-Assad in Syria ended a 14-year civil conflict that claimed a whole lot of 1000's of lives and decimated the nation.

Greater than 1.3 million Syrians have returned house since then, based on the UN refugee company, primarily from neighbouring nations equivalent to Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt — but in addition from as far-off as Canada.

For a lot of, the autumn of Assad opened what felt like a slender window — an opportunity to stroll acquainted streets, revisit the locations of their recollections and check whether or not returning house was nonetheless attainable.

We talked to 4 Syrian Canadians who made the journey.

Going again for good Muzna Dureid, 36, and Mustafa Alio, 42, crossed from Jordan into Nasib, Syria, with their one-year-old son on the finish of December 2024, a part of a convoy of automobiles that made its approach by means of deserted checkpoints that when impressed concern.

"It was like a dream — very emotional," Alio stated. "All of us have been simply mainly crying, [amazed] we are able to go in and we're free."

Alio first got here to Canada as a scholar in 2007. He final returned to Syria in 2010, earlier than a weblog put up he wrote supporting the early protest motion drew backlash from former pals who supported the Assad regime. As a result of Alio is from Latakia, a coastal metropolis with shut ties to the regime, the state of affairs felt dangerous on the time. He stayed away.

His first cease upon returning to Latakia 14 years later was the grave of his father, who died in 2017, shortly earlier than the visa paperwork that might have allowed him to hitch Alio, Alio's mom, two sisters and nephew in Canada got here by means of.

"It was the primary time I bought the possibility to sit down down and be with him for like half an hour," Alio stated of visiting the grave. "I simply tried to say no matter I wished to say."

As Alio walked the streets of Latakia, attempting to reconcile reminiscence with actuality, what struck him most was how little had modified.

<img loading="lazy" alt="A man stands outside a blue building." srcset="https://i.cbc.ca/ais/b55a0e4e-4342-4184-a2b7-1a1a9ea37837,1771442123424/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C1549%2C987%29%3BResize%3D796 796w,https://i.cbc.ca/ais/b55a0e4e-4342-4184-a2b7-1a1a9ea37837,1771442123424/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C1549%2C987%29%3BResize%3D1083 1083w,https://i.cbc.ca/ais/b55a0e4e-4342-4184-a2b7-1a1a9ea37837,1771442123424/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C1549%2C987%29%3BResize%3D1280 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 762px) calc(100vw - 32px),730px" src="https://i.cbc.ca/ais/b55a0e4e-4342-4184-a2b7-1a1a9ea37837,1771442123424/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C1549%2C987%29%3B" style="aspect-ratio:1.5694022289766971" data-cy="image-img"/> The Hutteen Sporting Membership in Latakia, Syria, the place Mustafa Alio performed basketball in his youth, is seen throughout his first return go to to the nation in December 2024. (Submitted by Mustafa Alio) Latakia wasn't destroyed like different main Syrian cities, because it was protected by elite navy forces. However years of conflict and neglect had taken a special toll. The athletic membership the place Alio had performed basketball felt frozen in time, he stated.

"The bottom, the hampers, the construction, it was precisely the identical as I left it nearly 20 years in the past, with none upkeep. It was fairly unhappy to see."

'Actually gone' For Dureid, the fact of returning house additionally took time to sink in.

"It was so onerous to imagine that Assad is gone," she stated. "And now, I've the chance to enter the nation with out jeopardizing my security."

She hadn't returned since arriving in Canada in 2016.

Dureid was a part of the opposition motion in Syria and misplaced an uncle, who was shot useless by Assad forces throughout a avenue demonstration within the early months of the 2011 rebellion. The evening earlier than, he and Dureid had been making ready protest posters collectively, she stated.

<img loading="lazy" alt="A composite image of two photos of a woman walking through building rubble." srcset="https://i.cbc.ca/ais/71e37e8b-94af-434d-b5a4-663ad8c9857a,1771442240827/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C1820%2C1600%29%3BResize%3D796 796w,https://i.cbc.ca/ais/71e37e8b-94af-434d-b5a4-663ad8c9857a,1771442240827/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C1820%2C1600%29%3BResize%3D1083 1083w,https://i.cbc.ca/ais/71e37e8b-94af-434d-b5a4-663ad8c9857a,1771442240827/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C1820%2C1600%29%3BResize%3D1280 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 762px) calc(100vw - 32px),730px" src="https://i.cbc.ca/ais/71e37e8b-94af-434d-b5a4-663ad8c9857a,1771442240827/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C1820%2C1600%29%3B" style="aspect-ratio:1.1375" data-cy="image-img"/> On this composite picture, Muzna Dureid will be seen standing within the rubble of Al-Qadam, a neighbourhood in southern Damascus, in December 2024, attempting to establish the placement of her destroyed childhood house. (Submitted by Muzna Dureid) Whereas many Syrians hesitated to return, Dureid feared lacking the possibility altogether.

She visited Al-Qadam, the southern Damascus neighbourhood the place she grew up, despite the fact that her surviving family warned her in opposition to it. There have been no buildings left standing, no companies, not even cellphone reception, they instructed her.

She went anyway.

"I used to be attempting to acknowledge the world — the placement of our house — but it surely wasn’t straightforward," she stated. "I saved crying on a regular basis."

She noticed a chunk of marble among the many particles from what had as soon as been her kitchen counter and a few empty containers of Costco multivitamins — provides she had despatched to family throughout the conflict when meals was scarce.

"It was so troublesome for me to imagine that individuals who had been there are gone," she stated.

Al-Qadam was certainly one of a number of Damascus neighbourhoods besieged by Assad forces between 2013 and 2018, which lower off opposition-held areas from meals and medical provides.

WATCH | Trump meets with interim Syrian chief: Trump meets with Syria's interim chief after lifting U.S. sanctions

U.S. President Donald Trump met with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who as soon as pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda and swept to energy on the head of a gaggle that Washington has known as a terrorist group, earlier than a summit between the U.S. and Gulf Arab nations. After a number of journeys again, Dureid and Alio determined to depart the life that they had in-built Montreal and settle in Syria. Alio managed to maintain his job within the refugee advocacy sector and works remotely, whereas Dureid is searching for work in Syria.

"The autumn of the regime doesn’t imply that every one the options simply occurred," Dureid stated. "It is really fairly the other — now, it is the time of rebuilding Syria."

Their son speaks English and Arabic at his new daycare, however Dureid talks to him in French at house, a small strategy to preserve ties to Canada.

'The horizon is open' When Gamal Mansour, 53, and primarily based in Toronto, left Syria greater than a decade in the past, he vowed by no means to return so long as the Assads remained in energy.

He grew up first underneath the rule of Hafez al-Assad, then his son Bashar. His resolution to depart wasn't pushed by a single occasion however by "the buildup of 1,000,000 paper cuts" of repression, concern and restrictions.

The ultimate straw got here when a former good friend reported him to the safety companies after he mentioned organizing humanitarian support for opposition-held areas underneath siege.

As soon as Assad fell, Mansour — who by then was a PhD candidate in political science on the College of Toronto — was on his approach again to his house metropolis of Damascus inside days.

<img loading="lazy" alt="A man stands at a grave." srcset="https://i.cbc.ca/ais/ed0f8613-83e5-430a-8afc-1b9f1651130f,1771360789932/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C1440%2C1440%29%3BResize%3D796 796w,https://i.cbc.ca/ais/ed0f8613-83e5-430a-8afc-1b9f1651130f,1771360789932/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C1440%2C1440%29%3BResize%3D1083 1083w,https://i.cbc.ca/ais/ed0f8613-83e5-430a-8afc-1b9f1651130f,1771360789932/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C1440%2C1440%29%3BResize%3D1280 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 762px) calc(100vw - 32px),730px" src="https://i.cbc.ca/ais/ed0f8613-83e5-430a-8afc-1b9f1651130f,1771360789932/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C1440%2C1440%29%3B" style="aspect-ratio:1" data-cy="image-img"/> Gamal Mansour stands at his father’s grave in Damascus, Syria, reciting part of the Qur'an in early January 2025. (Submitted by Gamal Mansour) He witnessed scenes of celebration and noticed posters of Hafez and Bashar al-Assad that when loomed giant ripped down and trampled underfoot.

"To have the ability to stroll into the streets of Damascus and never need to contend along with his [Assad’s] presence … was only a breath of contemporary air. It was reinvigorating. It was empowering."

However he was additionally confronted by the size of destruction.

"Complete neighborhoods levelled to the bottom, not a constructing standing," Mansour stated. "The extent of destruction in bodily capability, but in addition in lives, in households, in social materials, in economics, is devastating. You begin feeling the burden of that."

<img loading="lazy" alt="A white shoe is seen standing on a poster for a smiling man with grey hair." srcset="https://i.cbc.ca/ais/1c3d7916-13c1-4d78-9896-73593b237544,1771360627852/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C1440%2C1440%29%3BResize%3D796 796w,https://i.cbc.ca/ais/1c3d7916-13c1-4d78-9896-73593b237544,1771360627852/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C1440%2C1440%29%3BResize%3D1083 1083w,https://i.cbc.ca/ais/1c3d7916-13c1-4d78-9896-73593b237544,1771360627852/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C1440%2C1440%29%3BResize%3D1280 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 762px) calc(100vw - 32px),730px" src="https://i.cbc.ca/ais/1c3d7916-13c1-4d78-9896-73593b237544,1771360627852/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C1440%2C1440%29%3B" style="aspect-ratio:1" data-cy="image-img"/> Gamal Mansour stepped over a poster of the late Syrian president Hafez al-Assad on the entrance of the previous Officers’ Membership in central Damascus in early January 2025. (Submitted by Gamal Mansour) When he first returned, the temper was euphoric, however when he got here again months later, that had begun to fade.

"An extremely destroyed infrastructure has now began to weigh on individuals's minds, and so they're turning into nervous and agitated and wish, you recognize, some enchancment of their lives," Mansour stated.

Even when items can be found, he says, costs are exorbitant and salaries stay low, forcing many households to depend on cash despatched from family overseas.

One of the sobering realizations, he stated, was how troublesome it might be to rebuild political life after generations of autocratic rule.

"We grew up in a stifled place, not even daring to dream," he stated. "After which for that to alter — you understand the challenges."

Mansour hasn't resettled in Syria however returns often to show and preserve ties inside Syria’s coverage, educational and governmental circles.

"I’m nonetheless hopeful," he stated. "The horizon is open."

A tough resolution Amrou Nayal, 39, left Syria in 2009 and was unable to return for 16 years. His participation in anti-Assad protests on the Syrian embassy in Ottawa and fundraising to help susceptible civilians in Syria put him on the federal government’s wished listing, he stated.

He went again final 12 months and seen the change as quickly as he landed in Damascus.

"What was identified earlier than as a spot to get hassled by safety forces, right now, it's a place the place you are welcomed again house with open arms, smiles, people who find themselves completely happy to see you come again."

Elsewhere, the distinction was starker.

“After I left, it was a affluent nation. Folks had companies; development was thriving; manufacturing was thriving. Right now, you go, there may be nothing left to thrive. … every thing remains to be in shambles."

Nayal took a 360-killometre highway journey from Damascus to Aleppo, stopping in Hama, Homs and Idlib to see the size of the conflict's influence.

<img loading="lazy" alt="A man in sunglasses and a winter jacket." srcset="https://i.cbc.ca/ais/d6d37285-d08f-4e2f-accb-d3a4a01647b0,1771617359629/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C1348%2C892%29%3BResize%3D796 796w,https://i.cbc.ca/ais/d6d37285-d08f-4e2f-accb-d3a4a01647b0,1771617359629/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C1348%2C892%29%3BResize%3D1083 1083w,https://i.cbc.ca/ais/d6d37285-d08f-4e2f-accb-d3a4a01647b0,1771617359629/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C1348%2C892%29%3BResize%3D1280 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 762px) calc(100vw - 32px),730px" src="https://i.cbc.ca/ais/d6d37285-d08f-4e2f-accb-d3a4a01647b0,1771617359629/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C1348%2C892%29%3B" style="aspect-ratio:1.5112107623318385" data-cy="image-img"/> Amrou Nayal took a highway journey from Damascus to Aleppo, stopping in cities in between, to see the size of the conflict's influence for himself. (Submitted by Amrou Nayal) "While you see the quantity of destruction, you stand earlier than it with respect to the lives which were offered for the value of this freedom, and also you're crammed with hope nonetheless."

In Aleppo, he discovered little proof of town he remembered.

“You'll stroll into an space that you just supposedly know — you may nonetheless see photos of it in your mind, however strolling there with zero landmarks left, it might be inconceivable to acknowledge the place you might be,” he stated.

Most of his family and pals have been lengthy gone — useless or dispersed by conflict. In Aleppo, Nayal returned to his childhood house, which had been raided by Assad safety forces and partially burned in 2016, as a neighbour watched.

"You continue to had glimpses of recollections right here and there — a spot the place you sat to check, a spot the place household gathered," he stated.

The larger shock, he stated, was when he visited the countryside exterior Aleppo the place his household had a cottage. "It was only a hint of reminiscence, nothing extra."

Nayal says he hopes to in the future return and use his experience in statistics and economics to contribute to rebuilding Syria. However for now, his spouse's secure job and the wants of their five-year-old daughter hold him in Mississauga, Ont.

It is a dilemma that is acquainted to immigrants all over the place: the will to cross on a way of belonging to the youthful era weighed in opposition to the issue of coming again to a rustic that is nonetheless rebuilding.

"The disappointment is the quantity of destruction and the lack of alternative to return," Nayal stated, in addition to "the lack of life, the lack of recollections or the chance to create extra recollections together with your children now."