Syrians in Ottawa react to fall of Assad regime

Aeman Alkadour celebrating the fall of the Assad regime in Syria at his Ottawa bakery. Dec. 9, 2024 (Josh Marano, CTV Ottawa)

It's a monumental turning point in Syria as President Bashar Al-Assad's reign came to an end this past week, along with a 13-year civil war. Families here in Ottawa took to the streets to celebrate the news.

Ottawa is home to thousands of Syrian residents, most of whom had to flee their country to start a new life during President Assad's reign.

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Now there is optimism as many hope it will soon be possible to return home.

Aeman Alkadour, owner of Alkadour Sweets located in Billings Bridge Shopping Centre, arrived in Canada in 2016.

"It is freedom, finally," Alkadour said.

At his bakery, he's handing out free sweets because of the freedom in his home country.

"Now I know I can go to visit Syria. I can bring my children to see grandfather," he added.

The world has learned of Assad's reign coming to an end as rebels have taken control of the capital, Damascus.

The news resonated here in Ottawa — one of the first cities to welcome Syrian refugees back in late 2015 — with people flooding the streets to celebrate, waving flags and calling loved ones back home.

Sedra Alsadi is the president of the Syrian Revolution Club at the University of Ottawa. She moved to Ottawa with her family in 2017.

"We are now able to put our dreams into start. I want this to happen," Alsadi said. "We have a lot of friends that are living in Europe right now, and they're all thinking, oh, I want to do this business now to rebuild Syria."

"Let's say a psychiatric or I'm a physician or an engineer or whatever, we're all thinking of how can our experiences be built in there?" She added.

She says there is certainly more work to be done, but she believes it's the first step towards a free country.

"I'm hoping in the summer I'm able to be on ground finally with them and help families, help finally destroying the tents that many Syrians refugees are living in and moving them back to their actual homes, living their dreams again, and seeing kids, actually seeing their family members for the first time, or seeing their houses for the first time," Alsadi said.

"Many Syrians fear not finding their imprisoned families alive, and the ones who have been freed are irreparably damaged by the immense torture they received," she added. "We need the international humanitarian community to act, as only 3,000 detainees have been found."

While many families are hopeful to go home and help, Yaman Marwah, an immigration lawyer in Ottawa, says there are more questions than answers this early in the process towards freedom.

"First step is done, Syria is liberated. What happens next is all going to depend on how the internal Syrian government starts getting formed. We have a lot of hope that everything is going to be done in a very formed and legal and proper manner," Marwah said.

As it stands, the Canadian government is advising people not to travel to the Middle Eastern country, closing airports and borders as questions remain about what's next.

"We're very optimistic. We're very hopeful. We've heard a lot of foreign presidents and countries, support what's happening in a very positive manner," Marwah added. "We're very optimistic."

"When a new government coming there now, everything good," said Alkadour. "People can walk around, go everywhere, it's a free country, but now, need little time."