‘I think we’ll bring back what life was like before the war,’ says Mustafa Alzahran
Mustafa Alzahran’s family arrived in Capreol, Ont., in 2016 after years of fleeing from civil war in their home country of Syria
Alzahran, now a public health master’s student at the University of Toronto, was a teenager at the time. He said adjusting to life in northern Ontario without his aunts, uncles and cousins was difficult
For the first time in his life, members of his tight-knit extended family were continents away from each other
We grew up in a very small community, you know, my uncle … he literally lived like five seconds away from our house, so we were house to house neighbours
he said
After three years of hard work by Syrian immigrant advocate Barb Roy, Alzahran’s aunt, uncle and eight cousins are preparing to make the move from Lebanon to Sudbury
It started long before the recent devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, but a new Syrian refugee family will soon arrive in Sudbury. Barb Roy heads up a group called Sudbury Welcomes Immigrants. She joined us in studio to talk about the family they are preparing to welcome to Sudbury
Roy works with Sudbury Welcomes Immigrants, a group that helps Syrian refugees immigrate to the region and assists them in their first year in Canada – though the cost for helping refugees is rising
Roy said that three years ago, when Sudbury Welcomes Immigrants began raising money for Alzahran’s extended family, she needed $55,000 — now, she needs an additional $12,000 for the move
Prices of rents have doubled, cost of food, and they’re all older now … That’s the money that they use just to get settled
she said
We have to provide absolutely everything. They’re not allowed to get resources from the city, the government
Syria, Lebanon called unsafe for family
Alzahran said he was too young to realize the danger his family was in when the civil war began in Syria, but he remembers when the fighting started in 2011
Just imagine you and your cousins are playing and then you look up, and you think that if you get on the roof, you could touch the fighter jet. That’s how close it was to us
he saidAnd then it shot a missile and it hit the other end of town and a bunch of people died
Alzahran and his family were able to escape to Lebanon, but it brought its own struggles
Me and my family lived there for four years, but then you couldn’t go to school, you couldn’t get a good job, you couldn’t really get a good education and you couldn’t get health care because you’re Syrian
he said
Hi aunt, uncle and cousins are still in that situation. Roy said Alzahran’s extended family are in dire conditions
in Lebanon
The [Lebanese] government doesn’t want them. They’re there illegally at this point
she said
In Lebanon, there are roaming checkpointslike we’d have a R.I.D.E. program
She said if Alzahran’s uncle is considered a deserter and picked up by the patrols, they will immediately drive him over the border, at which point he will go back to Syria either to be shot or put in jail
Alzahran family will arrive to good support system
Despite the hardship Alzahran’s family is coming from, he said he knows living in Canada will be an adjustment for his aunt, uncle and cousins
Of course it’s gonna be stressful and they’re gonna go through their own challenges
Alzahran said
Parents have a harder time
Roy said
Any of them would probably really say, ‘I’d like to go back to the old Syria,’ but they all appreciate that it’s gone. And now, especially with that earthquake, it’s just, you know, these people have been through so much
But Alzahran said he believes the move will go smoother for his aunt, uncle and cousins, because his immediate family is acclimated and there for support
He said he is excited for his family to be reunited after years torn apart by war, conflict and distance
For the first 12 years of my life, that’s how I lived
he said
We will – all be living in the same city, and I think we’ll bring back what life was like before the war
Cara Nickerson · CBC News
