Syrian refugee family creating new life in area

His mother's name helped save the life of a Syrian refugee who is now living with his wife and seven of their children in St. Stephen, as they try to rebuild their lives in the shelter of a new country. The struggles endured by the Maatouk family during Syria's civil war illustrate the sufferings of over four million refugees from the country who are seeking safe haven in other parts of the Middle East, Europe and North America.
The war in Syria is considered the worst humanitarian crisis possibly since World War II, with half of the country's population -- more than 11 million people -- having been killed or forced to flee their homes. While the perilous boat crossings from Turkey to Greece have captured the world's attention, others fleeing the war-torn country, including the Maatouk family, have taken risks just as great to reach safety.
Before the war began in 2011, the family's father, Mohammad, worked as a bus driver, people were kind and life was comfortable in Syria. Relaxing now in the living room of his house in Milltown and speaking in Arabic through an interpreter, Fuat Gumushel of St. Andrews, Mohammad says the family misses their own country, but he stresses of their new home in Canada, "We find here very kind people, and the kindness of the people here has made us forget what we went through."
Mohammad relates that at the beginning of the civil war the family was living in a house in Kafr Sousa, near the capital of Damascus. There were rumors about people being massacred with their heads being chopped off, and families started moving out of the town. In December 2011 suicide car bombs killed 44 people in the neighborhood. The Maatouk family then moved to another house in Darayya, a suburb southwest of Damascus. When Mohammad tried to go back later to their home in Kafr Sousa he learned that the house had been partially bombed and was occupied by soldiers with the Syrian Army, so he didn't dare return. The family stayed about a month in Darayya but knew they had to escape. The area was becoming a war zone, with a great deal of chaos and people being arrested and taken into custody.
By late June, around 10,000 Syrian refugees had fled into neighboring Lebanon. Because of "the killing and slaughtering and fear" in Darayya, on August 12, 2012, the Maatouk family joined those who were fleeing the violence, left the city and crossed the Syrian border. Just over a week later, the Darayya massacre occurred after Syrian troops stormed the city, with reportedly over 200 people killed and many civilians executed.
Mohammad relates that, on the street where they had been living in Darayya, soldiers "picked up 22 people in the street and cut their heads off" and sharpshooters were firing at people in the street. Mohammad told the members of his family that if they saw a child who had been hit they should not stop, as they would be shot, too. He heard that the soldiers would come in the middle of the night and cut off people's heads, although he doesn't know if that story is true. Some of the people near where the family was living broke through a wall in order to escape the violence.
Two months before they left Darayya, son Fares had received a call to be conscripted into the Syrian Army, so when the family was crossing the border Fares stated that he was just visiting in Lebanon. Mohammad's nephew was in the army and was ordered to shoot people, and Mohammad did not want his own son to be forced to indiscriminately kill civilians.
The Maatouk family took nothing with them when they crossed into Lebanon. Four months later, Mohammad returned to Syria to work and send money to his family. When he tried to leave again, he was arrested at the border. He spent two and a half months in a Syrian prison, where he was beaten by the guards. "If they see somebody they don't like, they put them in prison," he says. Mohammad was finally released after the prison authorities discovered he had been arrested by mistake. His father's name was the same as the name of the father of the man the authorities were looking for, but his mother's name was different. If they hadn't discovered the mistake, Mohammad says they would have cut off his head.
In Lebanon, the family at first lived in a school building, where they didn't have much, but later they were able to rent a house. Mohammad assembled and repaired scooters, and Fares also worked but was not paid by his employers. The family was able to live peacefully in Lebanon without any trouble, and they kept thinking that the violence in Syria would soon settle down, but it never did for the almost three and a half years they lived there. The Lebanese "like only the money" and were not too sympathetic, Mohammad says. When he went to the Canadian embassy to seek asylum in that country, he was asked why he wanted to live in Canada, since he didn't have any relatives there. He told those at the embassy that Canada is "a peaceful country, a safe country, with no wars."
The family had no problem emigrating, and they arrived in Toronto on December 18 and in St. Stephen two days later. The new Liberal government had committed to accepting 25,000 Syrian refugees by the end of 2015, with New Brunswick accepting 1,500. Members of the United Church of Canada, St. Croix Presbytery, whose congregations stretch from St. Andrews to McAdam, have been spearheading the group of local sponsors for the family. Support, though, has come from residents from all over Charlotte County. The chair of the St. Croix Presbytery committee, John Allen of Chamcook, and other members of the committee have been helping the family with the necessary paperwork and integration to start their new lives in Canada.
Along with the sponsorship of the Maatouk family, the St. Croix Vineyard Church in St. Stephen plans to apply to sponsor a Syrian refugee family, too.
The St. Croix Presbytery committee needed to raise about $30,000 to be able to sponsor the family of nine. While the federal government pays an allowance to the family for seven months, the committee is responsible financially for the other five months of the first year. The group also is responsible for all of the social aspects of integrating the family into the community, including helping them learn English, how to shop and set up a budget.
"The community itself has really rallied around," says Allen. Some have delivered eggs to the family, and a boy in the neighborhood who had season tickets to the Aces hockey games donated his tickets and the club gave the other six tickets so that the family could watch a game. A local café, Something's Brewing, closed on a Sunday evening and treated the family to a Middle Eastern dinner. "People have been very generous," says Allen, noting that the goodwill has spread over to Calais, too, with donations of money and clothes coming in.
The members of the family are grateful to the people who have been helping them settle in St. Stephen, including the church committee. "We weren't expecting all of this kindness in Canada," says Mohammad.
While Allen notes that some comments have been made that the new arrivals may be competing with local people for jobs, he says the negative comments have been few and he is "really pleased" with the welcome that the family has received.
For the future, Mohammad's wife Rawda says they want to stay in St. Stephen and she wants her children "to learn and go to school." Along with 22-year-old Fares, their children who are with them are Nariman, 19, Bayan, 17, Wael, 15, Nissrine, 11, Cherine, 9, and Hanon, 4. The family still has relatives in Syria and Lebanon, including their eldest daughter with four young children and also Rawda's sister.
Mohammad says that the language is the only real challenge for them in Canada. Five of the children are now attending local schools, and tutors for learning English as a second language come three times a week. The younger children, such as Nissrine, who learned some English in Lebanon, are picking up the language quickly. When welcoming a stranger into their house recently, Fares is eager to be helpful, and the children show they are adapting to their new country, as reflected in their mix of wearing traditional Muslim headscarves and also western-style clothing sporting brand names. All are curious to learn about life in Canada.
Both Mohammad and Fares can drive, but they need to take a Canadian driver's test, which includes a written exam. Mohammad hopes he will be able to drive a bus or a truck or perhaps work in construction, while Fares will try to find a carpentry job. The daughters "want to be hairdressers," but the family also is talking about the possibility of opening a restaurant.
"We want to be normal, law-abiding citizens," says Mohammad. He stresses, "I want the people who helped me here to be proud of me in the future."