Syrians living abroad finally have the option to return home and will no longer be labelled as refugees, members of Ireland’s Syrian community have said.
Syrians in Ireland, many of whom came here seeking protection from their country’s civil war, have expressed their disbelief, joy and optimism for the future following the news that president Bashar al-Assad has been ousted from power.
All of those who spoke with The Irish Times on Sunday said they had remained glued to their phones and laptops for days, watching the news unfold and corresponding with loved ones as rebel forces gained ground across the country.
“I haven’t slept in three days,” Zuhair Al-Fakir said breathlessly over the phone, speaking from his home in Dunshaughlin, Co Meath. “No article can express the feelings we’re living through right now. I was dancing, jumping, screaming all of yesterday night.”
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The former television production manager, who was detained by Assad forces for a fortnight in 2012 and came to Ireland in 2018 with his wife and daughter through a UN resettlement programme, said he could not stop watching the videos of detainees being released from jails. “I want to know what happened to the men who were sleeping beside me when I was arrested. I just hope they are safe and can get back to their families. Those two weeks I spend in jail were more like two years. Leaving was like coming back to life for me.”
Mr Al-Fakir admitted there will be “hard weeks and months ahead”, and is realistic about the challenge facing those seeking to rebuild the country. “I know Syria won’t be paradise, but for the first time in 50 years we exist without the name Assad. The fear and nightmares will disappear now, we can speak out and have our voices heard.”
Mustafa Keshkeia, an interpreter and translator who came to Ireland in 2022 to study for a PhD at Dublin City University, said he was “cautiously optimistic” about the future. “Nothing’s going to be perfect, this vacuum of power is not easy to control. And Syria is a mosaic of different ethnicities, religions and people. After initial celebration we should think seriously about what we want to do. We should open a new chapter with the international community.
“Maybe the greatest thing that will happen is we will no longer be labelled as refugees,” said Mr Keshkeia. “Since 2015 we have been refugees, people fleeing our country. Now we know we can go back, there’s something there for us. We can rebuild. We are no longer refugees, we are free Syrians.”
Mr Keshkeia also believes his three young children, who still live in Syria with their mother, now have a future in their home country. “I see them growing up in Syria and having a decent life there. My dream was to go back and because of this change I feel now I will be able to go back. I see my future there.”
Journalist Razan Ibraheem, who moved to Ireland before the war but subsequently brought her sister, brother and finally parents to join her here, described the events of recent days as “totally surreal”.
“We thought we’d never be able to free Syria from the regime, we didn’t think it would happen in our lifetime,” said Ms Ibraheem, who is now an Irish citizen. “After 50 years of the regime, after all that oppression, injustice, killing, air strikes, refugees, people disappeared in the most brutal prisons in the world, it’s a new era. It’s a new Syria.”
Ms Ibraheem agreed that the next steps would be “very challenging” and that Syrians are now “learning to be free”.*
“Suddenly Syrians are free. Friends who were born and lived under dictatorship and have never left Syria, never voted freely or expressed their opinion, they are now free.”
She continued: “The first step was getting rid of the regime, the next step is building a civil Syria with all religions because Syria is very diverse. Change is not easy but there is a huge responsibility on Syrians to organise, regroup and build the foundations of the Syria that we want. A Syria with freedom, justice, democracy.”
* This story was edited on December 9th
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