Reunited in UAE, family has to go back to war-torn Syria
dubai — A Syrian man in the UAE, who was reunited with his family after they fled the war, is devastated at the thought of having to send them back as he has lost his job and is unable to cover their expenses.
Hassan Ibrahim’s wife and four children were left homeless in Syria due to the war before finally arriving in Ajman in 2016. One of his sons, however, was sent off to a refugee camp in Germany and didn’t make it to the UAE till late 2018.
Ibrahim’s house, located in a village near Jarabulus, was destroyed by Daesh, and his family currently has no home to return to. He will be sending them to Jarabulus, even though the battle between Daesh and the Kurdish fighters is ongoing near the Euphrates River — close to Ibrahim’s hometown.
He’s been unemployed in the UAE for several months, with bills going through the roof, including house rent, utility bills and expenses of his wife, four children and a newborn. “It has become really difficult to pay the rent, buy food, cover our bills and buy my wife and children what they need since I lost my job,” Ibrahim told Khaleej Times.
“If I keep them here, where will
we live? If I don’t pay the rent soon, we can be evicted. Our visas will expire soon, and I can’t legally keep them here much longer. I plan to stay on a visit visa and keep looking for a job, so I can bring them back — but no one is giving me a job.”
Ibrahim had worked as a construction site manager in Dubai for the past eight years and was earning Dh14,000 monthly. Luckily, his children were offered free education by a Dubai school when they
first arrived in the country, so tuition fee is not a worry.
“We were so lucky to get free schooling, my family was together again — everything was great. But, now, we are facing a very difficult time. I will stay here and look for a job, so I can bring my family back one day,” he said.
Ibrahim will be sending his family back this summer when the school year ends. They will be staying in a relative’s home until he can arrange
their own accommodation.
It hasn’t been an easy journey for Ibrahim to bring his family to the UAE. When their home was destroyed, they lost all their belongings, including passports. They were displaced in Syria for over a year, until they finally made it to Turkey where they lived for eight months. Ibrahim fears that his family’s life will be in danger once he sends them back.