Leaving Homs: a Syrian refugee’s tale
Family left everything behind and narrowly escaped death to find ‘beautiful dream’
Of all Syria’s ravaged war zones, the central city of Homs is notorious for sheer savagery and destruction.
In the Arab Spring protests of May 2011, the army of President Bashar Assad killed a group of demonstrators and the city descended into an inferno of attack and retribution.
There were ground offensives, massive bombings, kidnappings, rapes and torture by government-linked shabiha militias, firefights involving 30 rebel militias, starvation, disease.
For Mohamed Khalil Aldroubi, his wife, Samar Chehab Abdulkarim, and their five children, aged 4 to 17, three years of purgatory in their once-tranquil hometown are now behind them. So is their cherished apartment, their business, their possessions and friends and relatives.
Arriving in Canada in June as refugees, ahead of the 25,000 Syrians expected soon, they were helped by the Thorncliffe Neighbourhood Office, an agency that receives thousands of newcomers a year. “Toronto was like a beautiful dream for us,” says Aldroubi. “We never expected we would ever be in a place where you don’t hear bullets all the time.”
Funded by more than $700,000 a year from the United Way, and over $5 million from the government, the Thorncliffe office counsels, guides, settles, educates and steers a multicultural mélange of new arrivals to the medical, social, financial and psychological help they need to recover from trauma and put down roots.
It’s a visible answer to the question, “Are we ready for the refugees?”
“We’ve been doing this for 25 years,” says executive director Ahmed Hussein, himself a refugee from Somalia. “We receive about 4,000 to 5,000 newcomers every year.”
But he adds: “The Syrians are a special case. They have been through terrible trauma. When people relate them to what happened in Paris and other places, they should remember that these people are running away from those same (terrorists).”
Debra Shime, a United Way senior vice-president, says it’s crucial for the 40 agencies it supports in the GTA to maintain long-term funding. The expanding refugee caseload will put more pressure on fundraising, especially to expand the $4 million dedicated to refugee support.
To Aldroubi, this support was unimaginable during the civil war that destroyed his city. His survival alone is something of a miracle for the 39year-old Syrian craftsman, who suffers from the rare blood disease hemophilia, is in danger from uncontrollable bleeding even in peacetime and must take regular medication.
“I knew we could be killed if we fled from Homs,” he says. “But we would die if we stayed.”
Aldroubi, who needs a wheelchair, had to be carried in and out of his apartment when the elevator was smashed by explosions.
When the family arrived in Lebanon in 2014, he narrowly escaped death in a fire that trapped him in the ramshackle walk-up flat the family initially shared with relatives.
Now their lives have changed dramatically, he says. “When we arrived, we were given everything we needed for daily life,” he said. With the help of the agency, they were promptly issued OHIP cards, social insurance numbers, bank accounts, language training and schooling for the chil- dren, who missed years of education.
“We couldn’t let them go to school, because it was just too dangerous,” says 36-year-old Abdulkarim. Abdulhakim, 4, was born in their besieged apartment as rockets flew. “There were attacks on schools, and people were killed. Taking children to school was dangerous, and mothers were forced into cars and kidnapped in front of their children.”
When their upstairs neighbour was killed by a bullet smashing through her kitchen wall, they knew it was time to leave Homs. They packed food and clothing into a hired taxi that cost a month’s wages and made the perilous three-hour trip across the Lebanese border, evading bombs, arrest and militias.
“I knew how dangerous it was, and I tried to hide it from my wife and children,” Aldroubi said. In Lebanon, they lived precariously, huddled together in a frigid, unheated room in winter. Aldroubi registered as a refugee with the UNHCR and received priority for resettlement because of his health. Their move to Canada before another winter set in was like the answer to a family prayer.
Aldroubi asked to live in the city, rather than suburbs where many Arabic-speaking people have settled. “I want to integrate into the society, speak English and live as a Canadian,” he explained. Thorncliffe Park’s welcome has been overwhelming, with neighbours, local groups and businesses supplying clothing and necessities. Aldroubi and Abdulkarim are studying English diligently and looking forward to starting jobs.
“I want to thank everyone in Canada who has helped us,” he says. “I want my family to share my dream to build Canada in the future and make it even stronger. One day, I will be helping newcomers, too.”