When she came to Canada five years ago, Syrian refugee Nourma Ghamen arrived in Montreal with little more than the clothes on her back.
She’s built a home for her family and found work, but still thinks about Syria often.
“Every day,” she says, before catching herself. “Every moment.”
This month marks a sombre milestone in the Syrian conflict. It was 10 years ago this month that peaceful protests were met by a violent crackdown and spiralled into civil war.
Ghamen is one of about 80,000 Syrians who came to Canada since fighting broke out in 2011. She was a teacher in Syria but now works for a catering company, Les Filles Fattoush. The company was started by entrepreneur Adelle Tarzibachi in 2017 as a project to create job opportunities for Syrian refugees.
Tarzibachi herself is originally from Aleppo in Syria but emigrated to Canada in 2003 under very different conditions.
“These women didn’t sell their homes to move here. They left their house. They left their car,” Tarzibachi says. “They left everything there and started here with zero.”
Despite the hardships of settling in a new country, almost all of the women at Les Filles Fattoush send part of their paycheques, usually about 25 per cent, back to relatives in Syria.
“Even though they need the money, they are obliged to think of their family,” Tarzibachi says. “Because they feel guilty that they left them there.”
The last several months have seen a calm in the fighting, but the situation for civilians on the ground has worsened.
Arpik Suvalian studied French literature at university in Damascus but now works at Les Filles Fattoush.
Suvalian says the war has been a catastrophe for all Syrians. She tries not to watch the news because it makes her cry.
Even just speaking to friends on the phone is hard.
“There’s no electricity, no water,” she says. “There’s no food, and if they do find food, it’s too expensive.”
Inflation has become a big problem in Syria. When the conflict started 10 years ago, one Canadian dollar was equal to about 50 Syrian pounds. By October of 2019, it cost about 500 Syrian pounds to buy one Canadian dollar. Over the last year, the exchange rate has continued to soar. One Canadian dollar is equal to about 3,500 Syrian pounds.
Syria’s Central Bureau of Statistics reports an inflation rate of about 300 per cent on some goods. The Syrian government raised the price of gas in government-controlled territories by 50 per cent this week.
In some parts of the country, unemployment rates are running as high as 80 and 90 per cent.
Tarzibachi says the money her staff sends back to Syria goes a long way towards helping their families.
“We are talking about rice, cheese, vegetables, meat – essential stuff,” she says. “They can’t afford it.”
Ten years of conflict have taken a serious toll on Syria.
The British-based Syrian Observatory of Human rights estimates that as of this month more than 2.1 million people have been injured, and more than 594,000 killed.
About 5.5 million Syrians are displaced inside the country, while about six million fled the conflict and left.
Many have spent years living in refugee camps in neighbouring countries like Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey.
The United Nations special envoy for Syria briefed the UN Security Council Monday.
Speaking from Geneva in a virtual briefing, Geir Pederson pointed out the conflict in Syria has now lasted about as long as the First and Second World Wars combined.
“The Syrian people are among the greatest victims of this century,” Pederson told the Council. “They have watched their middle-income country dragged back into de-development and destitution on such a scale that it will take generations to rebuild.”
The 10th anniversary of the conflict may be a time for reflection, but Tarzibachi says it’s hard to find optimism.
“Before, we had a bit of hope,” she says. “Right now, even that little bit of hope, we don’t see it.”
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