Syrian Refugees: Leaving The Motherland For An Uncharted Future

By Ismail Amsyar Mohd Said This is a two part series on the Syrian refugees who arrived in Malaysia in late May. The first part focuses on the journey taken by a Syrian family to Malaysia. KUALA LUMPUR, July 14 (Bernama) -- For Z.Halabi, it never crossed his mind that one day he would wake up as a refugee in a foreign land. His dreams of having a good job, good food and a good life with his wife and his two adorable daughters in his own land was shattered after a deadly civil war broke out in Syria in 2011. The violence were exacerbated by the involvement of Daesh and foreign forces. Halabi is among 68 Syrians from Bekaa Valley Camp in Beirut, Lebanon, who arrived in Malaysia on May 28 as part of Malaysia's voluntary commitment to accept 3,000 Syrian immigrants on humanitarian grounds. The graduate of Damascus Institute had worked as a Finance Manager in a hotel in Damascus for three years. When the war broke out, life became unbearable, even walking to work proved to be a gamble for Halabi. He had a tough time dealing with the Syrian Army and the Shi'ah militia who will stop him every now and then. They would stop him and ask: "What is your name? Give me your ID or passport". "They will look up your name in the computer and if they find out that you go to the mosque often, you will be a very important person to them because the second revolution started in a mosque. "They will kill you if they get to know you have been going to the mosque. And since everybody in the city go to the mosque, we all live in danger and fear everyday," said Halabi who hailed from a Syrian city of Daraya, a Sunni majority city. SYRIA, BEFORE AND AFTER Halabi continued sharing his experience living in the war zone saying the rest of the Daraya’s community also suffered. “You won't believe how Syria was before the war started. Everything was cheap and everywhere was a safe place for all of us. Now, the people are very poor. We have to work three different jobs to make the ends meet,” he said. Imagine living your life in constant fear, wondering if it is safe to walk on the street to go to the mosque or just to buy groceries from the market. Even worse we feared for the safety of the innocent children walking to school. “I’m not worried about my life. I am worried about my wife and my two daughters. I want my family to live a good life and I hope to see my children grow up to be a doctor or a scholar. The kids in Syria still go to school during the war,” he said, while his eyes gazing out beyond the window. WORK TOGETHER PROTECTING EACH OTHER The everyday struggle faced by Halabi and the rest of Daraya community worsened with the attacks by the Syrian army. Halabi and his family lived on the fourth floor of an apartment building. With the fighter jets raining bombs from above, and tanks and snipers on the ground firing relentlessly on the buildings and his apartment, he had to take his wife and daughters down to the basement for safety. Besides that, he also teamed up with his neighbours to look after each other’s back. “Sometimes the kids back from school were your informants. They will tell you not to walk in certain areas or streets because there are snipers hiding between the buildings. The snipers will take an aim at you if they see you walking on the street. “What we do sometimes, if we still need to walk pass them, we will look for a burnt car wreckage. We will pick it up and flip it on the side to make it as a shield, protecting us from the bullets. If you work together, you can walk pass through the place,” he said. THE LONG ROAD INTO LEBANON Fearing for the family's safety, his parents asked Halabi and his family, his brother and sister to flee the war torn country and head to Lebanon for a better life. Honouring his father’s request Halabi drove his wive and daughters to Lebanon, which was about 35 kilometres from Syria. “It used to be a 45 minute drive but after the war started the journey became five hours because there were six checkpoints along the road to the Lebanese border". The first checkpoint was guarded by the Syrian Army. “They asked what do you have? Money? Food? Jewellery? They will run through your body and if you have a baby, they will check their diapers to see if you hide the money there. “In my case, I gave money at the first checkpoint and at the second checkpoint I gave them my wife's golden bracelet. At the third checkpoint, the soldiers called the earlier checkpoint and asked if I have paid. Once they got the confirmation, they let me drive through. “As long as you pay, you will be safe. But if the money you pay was not enough, they will kill you. If the soldier is a good man, he will tell you to go back. But most of the time, they will shoot you right there,” he claimed. According to Halabi, the militia and the Syrian Army will always be at the checkpoints. Anyone wants to get past them have to pay between US$200 to US$300. The price would go as high as US$600 (25,000 Lira) in the evening. “However not all of the Syrian Army soldiers are Shi'ah. If you're lucky, you would meet with Sunni soldiers. They will say 'go... you can walk pass',” he added. LEBANON IS NOT THE PLACE TO BE Halabi initially thought once they crossed into Lebanon, he and his family’s misery would be put to rest at least until the war is over. However, it was not to be. "There is no future in Lebanon. You can't find any good job and enjoy good food. Lebanese people hate us because the Syrian Army once occupied Lebanon 25 years ago. The army took their houses and killed them," says 32 year old Halabi to Bernama. "I can understand that and I have no problem with them hating us. So I just kept silent about it. However, both my sister and brother managed to cross the sea to seek refuge in Europe," said Halabi. THE HEART IS STILL IN SYRIA Though now in Malaysia, Syria is still in his heart as his parents are still in Daraya. Halabi recalled his father saying; "I will die in this city... Don't stop me. But you, your brother and sister, must leave this city and go to Lebanon”. As he was sharing his memories about his parents, Halabi took out his android phone from the pocket of his black khakis to show a video of his mother. He played the video and there she was, standing in a long blue dress, with a blue hijab, smiling and laughing showing a plate of apples she plucked from her backyard. “See how beautiful and happy she is? I miss that smile… I’m longing for that laugh... I love them so much. Look how beautiful my parent’s house is,” he said with an emotion choked voice, prompting the writer to change the subject to how he felt being in Malaysia. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ SIDE BAR BRIGHTER FUTURE IN MALAYSIA Alhamdulillah... Now I’m so happy to be in Malaysia. I can speak or talk about anything. “We are comfortable here. There are a lot of place to walk and the fact that me and my wife can speak in English make it easier for us. My daughters don't know anything about Syria. “I do not want to tell them about it because I'm worried they will be scared. I will try to make them happy by giving toys. Whenever they asked, I would change the topic and take them outside to play. I hope to find a good school for my daughters in Malaysia,” he said. Commenting about observing Ramadan in Malaysia, Halabi said it is rather easy for him because he had to fast 17 hours in Syria compared to about 13 hours here and the weather was a lot hotter over there, reaching 45 degree Celcius. “I’m now teaching my daughters the alphabets and practice speaking in English with them. I'm trying to find a job in a hotel as I have worked in hotel before, while my wife is looking for a job as an Arabic teacher,” he added. -- BERNAMA