Winnipeggers who fled Syria say toppling of Assad regime brings feelings ‘beyond happiness’
News of the Assad regime’s fall in Syria brought Winnipeggers to tears and reignited their hopes for the country.
Tens of thousands of Syrians are celebrating the fall of President Bashar al-Assad, after rebels said they entered the city and toppled the longtime ruler. The rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and allied factions launched a lightning offensive on Nov. 27.
In Winnipeg, dozens gathered at the steps of the Manitoba Legislature on Sunday, braving the blowing snow to celebrate what they are framing as a turning point in Syria’s history, and� looking toward the possibility of building a country based on democracy, peace and freedom.
“I am a Syrian-Canadian who waited for this moment all her life,” Maysoun Darweesh said at the rally. “Here we are, the liberation day, unbelievable, look at us.”
Syrian opposition flags were waved while people chanted slogans framing the country’s unity that some say were sung as a sign of opposition to the ruling of the al-Assad family.
“The regime that never allowed us to breathe is now gone,” Darweesh said.
Darweesh, who is the executive director of the Kurdish Initiative for Refugees in Winnipeg, grew up in Latakia, a city on Syria’s west coast that lies along the Mediterranean Sea. She fled her home country in 2008 and spent a few years in China before arriving in Canada in December 2012.
“We want the world to know it’s finally the time to see a free Syria, and to say we are willing to open our hearts, our minds, everything to all neighbours, to the world to build a new country. It’s so exciting,” Darweesh told CBC News in an interview before the rally.
She still has family in Latakia, including a brother, aunts and uncles. Darweesh, 46, says she knows more about the political change in Syria than they do.
“When I contact them it’s a mix of fear, excitement.… They know for sure it’s a new era but they are waiting,” she said.
After enduring 13 years of civil war, Syrians stormed the presidential palace in Damascus, tearing up portraits of the toppled president on Sunday. Assad has fled to Moscow, according to Russian state media.
Kerim Abed, a Syrian filmmaker who fled to Canada last year, brought her daughter to Sunday’s rally. He said the country has work to do ahead to restore freedom for all and is hoping international partners can join the cause.
“We escape from war and we will get back to Syria to rebuild it and to raise our flag very high,” he said.
Darweesh understands change will not happen overnight, and it might take several years.
She wants to remind people of the importance of her homeland, and hopes the Canadian government — and governments of other nations — will provide support to Syria and invest in rebuilding it for the future.
“The whole world should really invest in Syria. We cannot deny the importance of Syria as a country geographically, politically. Syria is an important geopolitical country,” she said.
She would like to see a government that represents all Syrians, one that will form a new constitution that secures justice and equality for all of its citizens.
“We don’t want to see a dictatorship again. We don’t want to see atrocities again,” Darweesh said.
‘Many times we lost that hope’
Like Darweesh, Shler Ali fled Syria more than a decade ago.
The co-owner of Daanook, a restaurant in the Exchange District that serves Syrian-inspired cuisine, grew up in the northeastern city of Qamishli, which borders neighbouring Turkey, but spent the last 11 years of her time in Syria in Damascus.
Ali left her home in June 2012 and was out of the country the following month, eventually arriving in Canada in June 2016. She never thought she’d have the chance to return to Syria.
“Sometimes we had hope. Many times also we lost that hope. I never felt that I can go back to Damascus and walk there. I was so worried that this dream won’t happen, but now it will happen, and for sure I will be able to back and walk.
“I know it won’t be perfect and heaven from the first moment. We all know that but we’re all going to work to build our communities to re-integrate people,” Ali said.
She has been in contact with several friends throughout Syria, and says some of them also have a difficult time believing that the Assad regime is over.
“I called people after Assad was gone and they couldn’t believe it. They were scared that I was telling them over the phone. I said, ‘wake up, he’s gone, we’re free. You can say it,'” Ali said.
She too knows that change is not imminent and that the rebuilding of Syrian society will require joint contributions over time from inside and outside the country. But Ali wants her Syrian friends to soak in this moment of an Assad-free country.
“There are a lot of reforms that are needed. There should be a lot of things to be done in Syria. We will need lots of help, but also we give ourselves permission to just be happy for a few days,” she said.
“I think we’re all happy. I don’t think there is any Syrian who is not happy with what is going on now.”
WATCH | Syrians in Winnipeg celebrate end of Assad family’s rule:
Dozens of Syrian Canadians gathered on the steps of the Manitoba Legislative Building Sunday afternoon to share their jubilation, wave flags and come together in hope for a free and peaceful Syria following the end of Bashar al-Assad’s rule.
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