Syrians in GTA hopeful for country's future as Assad's rule comes to an end
CBC
In the last 10 days, Amir Fattal says he's been glued to the TV at his home in Oakville each night, watching for any updates out of Syria.
When news broke that Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad had fled the country, Fattal said he felt like he was dreaming.
"Today I woke up and as a Syrian, I feel like I'm free."
Fattal, who came to Canada in 2016 after fleeing his home country four years earlier, is among Syrians across Ontario who are celebrating the end of the Assad family's 50-year iron rule after a rapid offensive by armed factions seized control of the country — a day many say they thought might never come.
In Mississauga, a group of people came together overnight Saturday to rejoice. By Sunday afternoon, hundreds of people gathered in the city's Celebration Square to mark the fall of their home country's former president.
Among the crowd was Houssam Harwash, who came to Canada from Syria in 2018 after being arrested and thrown in a Syrian jail for 43 days. He said several of his close friends were killed during protests against the Assad regime.
"I've been dreaming for this for the last 13, 14 years since the start of the revolution," he said Sunday.
After witnessing so much violence, Harwash said he feels hopeful for the future of his country.
"Right now, there's a good change and a good opportunity for us and to live free."
Marwah Kobieh, executive director of the Syrian Canadian Foundation said many Syrians had lost hope that they would ever see this day come.
"We kind of just accepted the fact that we're just going to support Syrian refugees here in Canada or who have been scattered across the countries across the world," she said.
Now, Kobieh said she hopes Syrian's new leadership will live up to its promises of a free state.
"And we're hoping that all the Syrians who are scattered across the world can come back to Syria and just hold each other's hand and rebuild the country that have been really facing so much for half a century."
The leader of Syria's biggest rebel faction, Abu Mohammed al-Golani, is poised to chart the country's future.
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