Now that the Syrian civil war is, for all intents and purposes, over, those who fled the conflict and spent years in Libya, Jordan, or Western countries, want to return home, even in spite of the fact that there remains residual domestic political and economic vulnerabilities in the country.
LATAKIA (Syria) (Pakistan Point news / Sputnik - 13th November, 2018) Now that the Syrian civil war is, for all intents and purposes, over, those who fled the conflict and spent years in Libya, Jordan, or Western countries, want to return home, even in spite of the fact that there remains residual domestic political and economic vulnerabilities in the country.A RIA Novosti correspondent in the Syrian port city of Latakia met with some of these people and asked them to explain the reasons behind their decision to come back.
"Only here in Latakia, almost in every house, you can find families who have returned from abroad, because they love Syria and would have never left if the war had not started. We can call my friend Ilyas. He returned from Canada about six months ago," an old friend, who stayed in Syria throughout the conflict, said.
About two years ago, Ilyas, who used to work as an electrician, and his family received an invitation from the Canadian Embassy to move to North America and obtain a refugee status there. As at that moment almost all Syrian provinces were gripped by the civil war, Ilyas and his family departed for Canada in search of a better life.
"There are a lot of reasons behind my decision to return. First, Canadian climate is extremely severe, we could not get used to it. People are absolutely different there, as are rules and laws. They spend their life at work and have no free time," Ilyas said.
In Canada, he and his family were given all the basics for a decent life. Ilyas had a job and was welcomed by the locals. But for ordinary Syrians, accustomed to living in warm climate by the sea, harsh Canadian winter appeared to be worse than economic instability in Syria.
"Yes, the situation [in Syria] is difficult but the Syrians love their country, economy and politics is not a problem ... [the problem] is terrorists," another Latakia resident said.
The accidental meeting with Julie took place in a small local terrace restaurant. She talked about her father, who studied in Moscow in 1980s and married a Russian woman.
"I have just graduated from an architecture school and am now visiting my family in Syria. I would like to stay and work here. But I may get a good job offer in Moscow soon so I am probably going back to Russia by the New Year," she said.
Mohamed is a famous hairdresser in Latakia. He has been doing this job for almost 30 years.
"All men in our family were hairdressers. My brothers work in an expensive hair salon in London and earn good money ... They wanted me to move, too ... but I refused. I could not just leave my salon, which was opened nearly 50 years ago," Mohamed said.
The hair stylist stressed he was happy about his decision to stay in Latakia because, as he said, the Syrian people "have always believed in their army and government ... and will have a good future."
