Syria

[mids2019]

Has Syria been forgotten and who is to blame for civilian deaths in this region. It is Assad or rebel groups?

(Its a conflict in the middle East with huge civilian casualties but doesn't involve Israel so I guess this thread will for a death)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syrian_civil_war#:~:text=The%20Syrian%20civil%20war%20(Arabic,sponsored%20and%20non%2Dstate%20actors.

Interesting that France, Germany and Austria (so far) have suspended considering Syrian asylum claims, and the UK is rumoured to be about to follow.

To those more knowledgeable than me, will the Syrian diaspora want to return now the Assad regime has gone?

A lot of mixed feelings about going back among people I know. On one hand, many people miss their homeland and would want to help try to rebuild it if possible. On the other hand, many people experienced a lot of trauma and have built lives here - families, careers, homes... - and there's still so much uncertainty about how this is going to go.

I am hoping the 28,000 Syrians in the Uk can be encouraged to take their considerable talents back to their homeland for the good of the new Syria rather than the UK in effect stealing their skills and hard work for he benefit of the UK. Now Syria is free of Assad would be a good time for Syrians to return.

Don't think we can't see right through that 🙄
Assad is gone but there is still so much instability and uncertainty.

How is the U.K. “ stealing” Syrian hard work? I doubt even Syrian refugees see it like that. If they have work and safety isn’t that a good thing? They’re not being kept as slaves in peoples basements, their kids aren’t being kept in a state of illiteracy, or am I missing something?

Agreed. I've never met a refugee who wasn't proud of the contribution they made here & grateful for the opportunity.

Listening to various people speak some are very keen to go back, others are more reticent

There are many different groups so it probably depends on what type of power evolves

Not sure what the deleted message was below

I was talking about the situation to a Syrian woman on our road. They have already claimed asylum here and it was a long hard road, they came via turkey and they have a disabled child. She said they were hopeful of the situation and very hopeful of a visit. I didn't even ask if they would consider going home.

I'm sure it depends on your situation. If you are stuck in a camp in the Lebanon, you'd go home because you have nothing to lose. But if you are set up somewhere and life is good I can't imagine going back to uncertainty.

Far right politicians are already calling for deportations. There’ll be an election in Germany next year and immigration will be a key issue, Germany took in almost a million Syrian refugees. Is there a risk that decisions will be made not based on what’s in the best interests of the refugees but based on winning political points and an election?

Or in the best interests of the population of Germany as a whole. Do refugees assimilate, work with existing population in terms if shared beliefs and culture. There's more to it than political points, people have genuine concerns.

Indeed, benefit their own country and rebuild better for all.

@ThatWaryHedgehog

Well yes definitely. I'd imagine Germany will be keen to encourage people to go home and take the heat out of the immigration topic there.

It really is a turning point for Syria but we can't discount the rebels'" links with ISIS and am quaeda. Hoping for a fruitful democracy may be misplaced optimism and we could have a failed state in our hands.

already the US and Israel are trying to dismantle significant loose weapons to reduce the threat from an unpredictable Syria.

one thing that is quite clear is that Iran and its proxies have been dealt a massive blow with Hezbollah eviscerated and now Assad falling. With a reduced sphere of influence could Iran be in danger of some regime change? Certainly the pursuit of nuclear weapons must be high on its agenda?

I think if the new Syrian leadership wants international support then they will have to show that they are mature enough to have peaceable relationships with all of its neighbours.

Dh thinks Iran is wanting to concentrate on themselves now. That the change is already happening within. 3rd of population is in poverty, and poverty there is... Well poverty. That's embarrassing for them.
I think he is being bit optimistic, but it's posaible that losing proxies made them change course? Who knows.

His family are very much aware of who the rebels are but hope it will workout. Bit of "selfish" reasons in it too as the number of refugees affected locals significantly, not just economy in their country. The syrian refugees around have fucking tough lives (I could not get over some of what I saw for a while), but the amount of people made all prices jump so even locals have issues renting and affording food and now hope thay if Syrians can go back, prices will fall. Bad for the shitty landlords offering garages as rooms to families.... They are also now scrambilng around trying to find out whose lost, presumed dead, cousin was in Assad's prison for last 40+ years and was just released... Interesting times.

While Syrians in Lebanon's camps are reported to start moving back to Syria, his are not saying anything yet about it. They have massive camps near so will probably see movement when, if, it starts.

Re West and we shouldn't think everything is "the west". In laws all very much believe that meddling by the west caused lots of the regional issues incl ISIS etc (Irak war specifically). Unintended consequences.

Please note, this is not some political official opinion. This is what the in laws are telling us.

Yeah people who build lives in last 10+ years might really not want to pluck their kids out of everything they knew for decade and move to still broken country. I think that's actually quite understand

There are asylum seekers who have spent almost 14 years in Places like Germany ,Turkey, they’ve worked so hard to assimilate , learn the language , set up their own businesses , it would be so hard to get back and start from zero , but there are loads going back from places like Turkey and Jordan , the Turkish Syrian boarders has recorded 15-20 thousand entry per day since the fall of the Assad government.
it’s still too soon , too unstable , too dangerous.
they’ve just appointed a provisional government to stabilize the situation , hope it works , the aftermath is catastrophic , have never seen conditions like the ones coming from all the military prisons.

I was listening to this Syrian author speaking on Irish radio yesterday. She was saying she cannot wait to visit and really misses Syria but does not see herself returning for good yet until she knows how things will go

https://www.hotpress.com/culture/syrian-irish-author-suad-aldarra-awarded-rooney-prize-for-irish-literature-23057699

Or maybe they can go back to contribute to their broken country being fixed?

In 10+ years you do build usually solid life in a place you live. My native country is not even broken and if someone told me to go back I would be like "erm, no". People have jobs, social lives, kids are settled, houses and so on. If it works, it's hard to consider letting all that just go

Many people will hope that they can do just that. It's not straightforward though. People have lives, families, schools, businesses, careers, healthcare needs, etc. If you'd escaped torture/war/trauma, would you rush to go back to the site of it without knowing you'd be safe? If you'd relocated and married someone in your new country of residence, would you rush to a long-distance relationship or make them move to an unstable country? If you had children in school, studying for exams or just settled and doing well in class, would you be in a hurry to move them to an entirely new life and education system where they probably wouldn't have the same exam/qualification options? Or would you want to be more cautious about your children's safety and wellbeing - maybe wait and see what happens next before booking flights?

Well, it appears there is no appetite to rebuild a safe future in a native country then.

There is an appetite by MANY. Many will move back. But it's very much understandable why some would not want to anymore.
Plus some people have suffered trauma in there they will just not want to go back to. This has happened after wars/dictatorships everywhere, even Europe. Again. Understandable.

Yes, but no.

Well they're all individuals with agency over their own lives and should have the freedom to decide their own future as we all do. I don't think anyone should be telling anyone else what they should and shouldn't be doing. Some may already have citizenship in their country of asylum.