Sunday 29 December 2024
Islamabad (UrduPoint News International/ Pakistan Point News - 11th Dec, 2024 ) After the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria, Ahmed al-Qasim has returned home with his family from Turkey. His old house in the city of Aleppo has been destroyed and is uninhabitable. The house he has moved into with his wife and children has no electricity or running water.
Speaking to the AP news agency, 38-year-old Ahmed al-Qasim said, "If I had known about this situation before, I don't know if I would have come here.
Although our life in Turkey was not very good, what we are seeing here is destruction."
Al-Qasim and his family are among more than 7,600 Syrian refugees who decided to return to Syria from Turkey after the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime.
Al-Qasim and his family spent 11 years in Turkey, where four of his five children were born.
They have three sons and two daughters, aged between seven and 14. Now Al-Qasim and his wife have the opportunity to start a new life, meet their family, and introduce their children to their cultural heritage.
However, Al-Qasim is now wondering whether the decision to bring his family back to Syria so soon was the right one. “When I saw my country free, I immediately decided to come here with my children to show them my homeland,” he says.
But when my children saw these conditions, they were shocked. They did not expect this.”
“In Turkey, we had all the necessities of life, but here, as you can see, we have been without water for days. I do not know where I will go with my children now.”
Al-Qasim’s daughter Rawia was only four years old when she left Syria for Turkey.
Rawia, now 14, is happy to be reunited with her relatives, but she is also worried about starting school in Aleppo because she can speak Arabic but cannot read or write.
The Syrian revolutionary flag has now been hoisted over the Citadel of Aleppo, where people are celebrating the fall of Bashar al-Assad. The streets are also crowded with locals and visitors.
“We have come to share our joy with others on this important occasion,” says one woman who is attending the celebration with her family. She says she is delighted to be freed from a tyrannical ruler who oppressed his people, killed them and imprisoned them.
On the other hand, the long lines of people waiting for bread outside bakeries on Aleppo’s Kostaki Homsi Street paint a contrasting picture of the country’s economy.
When al-Qasim returned to Aleppo, he immediately headed to his old home. When they arrived there, they found that the windows of the house were broken and all the household goods were missing.
Al-Qasim recalled his days in Turkey, where he faced many difficulties after the Covid pandemic and the devastating earthquake of 2023. Now he will have to face new difficulties even after returning to his homeland.
“But I have to adapt to the circumstances,” he says. Why? Because this is still my homeland, my home, and our people are here.”
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