With the end of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, Syrian refugees and displaced people are gradually returning home. Families separated by war can reunite again, but some have also lost their homes. This is the case of the Kassim family, forced to flee Homs, a rebel city which was devastated then besieged by regime forces. When they return, their house is like the city: a field of ruins.
3 mins
From our special envoys in Homs,
The joy of reunion for the Kassim family. Separated by war, she is reunited to the first time in 10 years in this house in Homs. Amr, 62, sees his niece Sara again for the first time, who had been forced to flee her hometown: “ You were so little », he said, laughing and both moved. “ My uncle has changed, he has agedreplies the young woman, now 26 years old. I tell myself that we have wasted so much time without seeing those we love.”
But the joy of reunion is tinged with sadness, because some family members are missing today. “ I have two brothers one of whom was imprisoned in Seydnaya, continues Amr. He hasn’t been found yet, I can’t express how I feel. »
Sara wants to return to her childhood home. She was 18 when she left Homs for Idlibwith part of his family. It was 2017 when pro-Assad forces took control of the city, after an inhumane two-year siege and fierce fighting with rebels.
Today, Sara barely recognizes his devastated neighborhood. All that remains of his house are tottering walls and rubble. As she enters, she is overcome by the emotion inside. “ This was my roomshe shows, with tears in her eyes. I slept here with my sister and my brother. It’s totally destroyed. »
A huge hole, bare floors: only two frescoes remain painted on the walls of the living room. “ I didn’t expect this, she whispers. I feel like they took the life out of this house, they stole my memories. »
“ They “, it was Bashar al-Assad’s soldiers who fought the rebels and left this neighborhood devastated as if shaken by a serious earthquake. “ My house was not destroyed by bombings, but by pro-regime militias who entered my house, explains Sara. They stole everything, they destroyed the walls, the floors to tear out the electrical wires, took away the furniture, everything that belonged to us. It was for revenge. »
Sara looks at the ground to see if she can recover any trace of her past, something that belonged to my siblings. Some of them still live abroad, in exile. The family home in Homs is uninhabitable, but Sara still dreams of returning there one day, when it is rebuilt. But ” it will take time, to recover from trauma “, she admits.
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