It has now been a year since the terrible regime of the dictator Bashar al-Assad was toppled in Syria. For years Syrian resistance groups attempted to make headway against the regime in a civil war. Then Assad was ousted in a matter of days by a faction associated with Al Qaeda. This happened with such speed that Syria's allies, Russia and Iran were caught off guard, as was the rest of the world.
It is estimated that more than 600,000 Syrians died in the conflict. The new government has now disavowed connections to terrorist groups and has established diplomatic relations with many nations. Since December 2024 an estimated one million exiled Syrians have returned to the country while 2 million displaced internally are attempting to rebuild their lives in their former towns and cities. Many citizens who made other countries their homes, including Canada, have been able to visit family members they haven't seen in years.
Public Photos of the Missing in Syria
There is still factional fighting and revenge murders, as well as concerns about human rights violations. The Christian community of Syria, one of the oldest in the world, shrank during the years of the civil war from 2 million to 300,000 and there is justified fear of persecution even though the new government has promised religious freedom.
On December 7, 2015, a decade ago, the first of the Syrian refugees sponsored by our wonderful Belleville coalition of sponsors arrived in the city. They had fled in Lebanon and were living in a refugee camp. The family of five was eventually joined by 18 more family members, including three other families of five and three grandparents. Most of them have thrived here, grateful for peace and the opportunity to be educated and work.
A couple of years ago I drove the grandfather to Kingston for cancer treatment in the same hospital in which I was born. I was surprised that the English he couldn't speak when he arrived in Canada was good enough that we could have a conversation. I asked if he would consider returning if the al-Assad regime fell. He shook his head and said that Canada is his home. I believe he has become a Canadian citizen along with most of the rest of the extended family. Perhaps some of them will choose to return to Syria but Canada has been a refuge.
We were two Canadians travelling together, one born here, the other in his adopted home.
The Belleville sponsorship group welcoming the Al Mansour family, December 7, 2015
Here is the transcript from an interview with the father of the first family, a year after their arrival in Canada:
Ahmad Al Mansour, Maysoun Mansour and their three sons were completing their first year of life in Canada in December 2016.
We fled our native Syria in 2012 to go to Lebanon. As long as we had money, we lived in a barn with animals, near a UN refugee camp, where there were tens of thousands of other Syrians. Then, we received our "Naam," our yes, to go to Canada.
On December 7, 2015, our plane landed in Ottawa. We had only one suitcase and a cardboard box, but a ton of worries and anxieties. Would our three sons be okay? How would we eat? We didn't even know how to say "Hello" or "Thank you."
In Belleville, our "family," whom we didn't know at the time, supported us in learning English, adapting to our new life, and maintaining our faith in the future. In Ontario, we were given a second chance at life in a safe world.
To our family in Ontario and to the Government of Canada, we thank you. Shookran. Maa-sha-Allah.
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