Ten Years of Living in Damascus — A Refugee’s Dream to Come Back to a Family in Syria, Revisited
Like many of the tens of thousands of Syrians who have settled in Berlin since the war began, Rashidi celebrated in the streets late the night before. “For me it was an amazing feeling just to be able to hug complete strangers and tell them, ‘Congratulations, Syria is ours and it does not belong to the Assad family!’”
Customer Razan Rashidi orders her tea with a celebratory phrase in Arabic, and the men manning the counter beam, telling her that on this day of liberation, tea for a fellow Syrian is free.
For Rashidi, the liberation is personal. Up until this week, she undertook her human rights work as Laila Kiki, a pseudonym to protect herself from Syrian security officials. Today she uses her real name again for the first time in 17 years, and the regime that interrogated and harassed her before she fled Syria is no longer around. She feels a lot of Syrians are doing the same this week.
She thinks about returning to see family in Syria as she cries almost in tears. I want to go visit for a while so that my life can be rearranged. But for sure, that’s my dream.”
The Assad family ruled Damascus for almost 50 years until they were overthrown by the rebels over the weekend. Assad’s reign, and the brutal civil war that began in 2011, sent more than 6 million people to seek refuge in other countries, in one of the world’s largest displacement crises, according to United Nations figures. Statistics show that almost one million people live in Germany, where politicians are in a political debate ahead of elections next year. With the change in Syria, many exiles are considering returning to Syria, while others are still in Europe.
Ten years ago, Hafez was on a crowded boat in the Mediterranean Sea, fleeing his home country. He ended up in Berlin, a refugee, speaking no German, with no job and with barely any money in his pocket. “When I arrived to Germany, I had a to-do list,” Hafez remembers. “Year by year, I crossed off everything I needed to do to settle here and make this place my home: I started learning German and after three months, I had my first job. The woman I met is now my wife. We had children. Then I opened my first restaurant. Then the second. And now the 2nd. I got my German passport and it was the first time in my life that I felt safe.
Aleppo Supper Club now has three locations in Berlin and serves what some call the best hummus in town. Since making it to Germany, Hafez has been able to bring his mother and siblings over, too. His sister just graduated with a mechanical engineering degree and another sister is studying to become a doctor in Munich. Like many Syrians who arrived a decade ago, Hafez’s life is here.
Several countries have suspended approval of Syrian asylum claims. The Syrians who have settled in Germany are being called to leave by some politicians.
Jens Spahn, a politician in the Christian Democratic Union party that is on track to win the most votes in the upcoming German election, made an offer to Syrians on national television this week. “The German government could charter flights for Syrians wishing to leave and give them a thousand euros for starter money,” Spahn said on the NTV network. “I’m thinking of all the young Syrian men here in Germany who undoubtedly wish to give their homeland a future and who want to help us make it possible for them to return to Syria voluntarily.”
DAMASCUS, Syria — Jubilant Syrians crowded the streets and mosques at Friday prayers today to mark the downfall of the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.
A Prayer for the Unjust and for the Phenomenology of a High-Fortunate State: In the Umayyad Mosque
He said that he wants them to get down and say they are happy without shooting bullets and scaring people, and that he wants to build this country with help from God.
There were a lot of people in the mosque’s courtyard trying to get in, but most didn’t make it inside. Children waved the new Syrian flag and were in a festival mood.
Syrians have not performed Friday prayers in the Umayyad Mosque since the fall of Assad less than a week ago.
The tomb of Saladin, a Muslim hero from the 12th century, is next to the ancient mosque, and some believe the head of John the Baptist is buried there.
The sound of the sermon was faint outside, but the message was clear: The imam asked God to punish the arrogant and the unjust and to punish Assad and his cronies.
He said he has been waiting for this moment for 70 years and thanked God for the newfound blessing. A moment when he felt safe enough to pray here.