Amani Shamseddin and her family fled the brutal Syrian civil war in 2016, finding refuge in Edmonton, Canada. Reflecting on their harrowing journey, Shamseddin describes the daily fear and uncertainty they faced in Damascus, contrasting it with the sense of community and safety they've found in their new home.
From left: Selena Moushli, 6, Mila Moushli, 2, Mahmoud Moushli, Ghena Moushli, 14, and Amani Shamseddin are pictured at their home in Edmonton on Jan. 1.
In the fall of 2015, the newly elected Liberal federal government embarked on its pledge to resettle 25,000 Syrians fleeing the country’s brutal civil war in just 100 days.Among them were Shamseddin, her husband Mahmoud and their children Ahmad and Ghena, who were eight and four when the family fled Damascus in April 2016. The family briefly stayed in Lebanon before securing asylum in Canada.
Her family didn’t think much about the future, she says, because they were only trying to survive each day. A mosque and a church in Toronto teamed up to sponsor the family, and by the following April, they were on a plane. Initially, the family struggled to settle in Toronto, she says. They were crammed in a tiny two-bedroom apartment and struggled with the city’s affordability crisis. Shamseddin says they also missed having an Islamic community nearby. A different culture, language and weather were all part of the challenge, too.
The feeling of safety is something she wishes for her family members still in Syria. Last month, the country’s president, Bashar Assad, fled the country after opposition forces seized Damascus. It marked a dramatic end to the Assad family’s 50-year control of the country and his own 24 years of rule defined by the civil war.
SYRIA REFUGEES CANADA IMMIGRATION CIVIL WAR
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