Return or stay? The dilemma facing Syrians living in Europe

Ahmad Alhamada welcomed Euronews successful his level successful Ghent, Belgium. Upon our arrival, we were presented with a steaming cookware of tea, sliced watermelon and cashew nuts, each laid retired connected a java array successful his apartment's surviving room.

Originally from Idlib successful northwestern Syria, Ahmad fled the state successful 2012 pursuing the crackdown connected anti-regime protests, during the reign of the country's strongman President Bashar al-Assad.

The melodramatic autumn of al-Assad connected 8 December 2024 astatine the hands of a astonishment rebellion led by Ahmed al-Sharaa's militant radical - Hayat Tahrir al Sham - has brought considerations, erstwhile perceived arsenic distant dreams to the forefront of reality.

The 30-year-old, who fled his state aged conscionable 18 unaware his displacement was to past much than a decade, present plans to instrumentality to Syria successful the adjacent aboriginal to assistance with the rebuilding of his country.

Others person already embarked connected akin journeys. According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), astir 720,000 Syrians were repatriated betwixt 8 December 2024 and 24 July 2025.

Of these, 40% returned from Lebanon, 37% from Turkey, 15% from Jordan and 5% were from Iraq. The willingness to instrumentality is considerably little for those successful Europe, however.

81% of Syrian refugees and asylum seekers surviving successful the continent, who were surveyed by the UNHCR successful May, declared that they had nary volition of returning to Syria wrong the adjacent 12 months.

159 Syrians person returned to their state voluntarily from Belgium since 1 January 2025, according to the Belgian Federal Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (Fedasil).

The bureau manages voluntary instrumentality programmes from Belgium to the countries of root for each migrants, whether asylum seekers, rejected asylum seekers oregon those without a valid residence permit.

These programmes see transport costs and question assistance. For immoderate migrants, they whitethorn besides see a departure assistance and enactment for re-integration successful their state of origin, which tin beryllium utilized to motorboat a tiny business, assistance with rent payments and location renovations oregon screen aesculapian expenses.

And portion these re-integration projects bash not yet beryllium for Syrians, Fedasil is presently moving connected making these grants disposable to Syrians looking to reunite with their homeland, present escaped aft 14 years of brutal civilian war.

Rebuilding the country

Ahmad plans to instrumentality to Syria successful 2 oregon 3 years' clip to assistance rebuild his country, if the concern permits.

"There are a batch of things to beryllium done. The state has galore needs. I person a bully beingness here, but I deliberation the state truly needs support," helium says.

In his view, the precedence is to disarm the militias and unite the country. Once these conditions person been met, Ahmad believes astir Syrians volition beryllium "able to return" and spot their beloved homeland backmost connected the satellite map.

Although his task has not yet materialised, helium would similar to beforehand ideology successful Syria done his association, the Democratic Centre for Human Rights (DCHR). He adds that Syrians surviving successful Europe besides person an intermediary relation to play successful the reconstruction of their country: "We tin assistance European companies to find opportunities successful Syria. And we tin besides assistance the Syrian authorities to pull companies to put there," helium asserts.

Ahmad was studying to go an technologist astatine Damascus University erstwhile the anti-regime protests began successful 2011. He co-founded a wide pupil question and took portion successful demonstrations against al-Assad, whom helium does not hesitate to slam arsenic a "dictator".

"The state was similar a prison, you couldn't speak, you couldn't person an sentiment and if you did, you were killed," helium explained.

Expelled from university, helium was arrested and past imprisoned for 3 months successful the notorious Sednayah prison, northbound of the superior Damascus, wherever helium was subjected to mock executions and torture utilizing electrical shocks.

He was aboriginal acquitted by a tribunal and released with the sole intent being "to marque country for different prisoners," according to him.

With his recently recovered freedom, Ahmed elected to fly Syria with his parents and siblings and opted to settee successful Lebanon, to stay successful adjacent geographic proximity to his country.

Lebanon was location to Ahmad and his household for 3 years, wherever helium opened a tiny store nether a Lebanese sanction and took portion successful an inaugural to unfastened schools for Syrian children.

Lebanon hosts the highest fig of refugees per capita successful the world. The Lebanese authorities estimates that astir 1.4 cardinal Syrians are displaced successful Lebanon, implicit 700,000 of whom are registered arsenic refugees by theUNHCR.

Faced with the sharply deteriorating surviving conditions, exacerbated by a dire economical situation which Beirut has grappled with for years, arsenic good arsenic threats from Hezbollah, Ahmad decided to depart Lebanon.

"Lebanon had go much unsafe for Syrians, who were anti-Assad, anti-Iran and anti-Hezbollah successful the region. So we were besides a people for Hezbollah, and truthful was my family," says Ahmad.

He boarded a vessel successful Turkey, crossed the Mediterranean to Greece and past reached Germany, passing via North Macedonia, Serbia, Hungary and Austria.

The taxi operator who took him and his 2 friends crossed the borderline betwixt Serbia and Hungary threatened them with a weapon successful a wood successful an effort to extort €2,000 from them, helium claimed.

After a two-week journey, helium yet reached Belgium, arriving astatine Brussels North Station successful 2016.

Ahmad present works successful the IT section of a nationalist medication bureau and has dual Belgian and Syrian citizenship. He besides founded a tiny association, the Democratic Centre for Human Rights (DCHR), and was elected president of an relation representing the Syrian assemblage successful Belgium.

When helium woke up connected 8 December 2024, a half-asleep Ahmad discovered portion looking astatine his telephone that Bashar al-Assad had fled during the erstwhile night.

"It was a large day", helium recalls. He celebrated each time successful the streets of Brussels with the Syrian assemblage and 3 days aboriginal boarded a level for Amman, the Jordanian capital.

From determination helium took a taxi to the Syrian border, which helium crossed connected foot. The photos of the al-Assad family, usually displayed astatine the Syrian border, had disappeared.

"There was lone the Syrian flag, which is much than enough," a arrogant Ahmad says.

The borderline station is present manned by soldiers from the Free Syrian Army, a conjugation of decentralised Syrian rebel groups, present moving to support instrumentality and bid successful the country. He recalls collapsing into their arms and crying alongside them: "it was a precise moving moment", helium said.

Overwhelmed with emotion and unsure what to bash oregon wherever to spell successful his archetypal reunion with his homeland aft 13 years, Ahmad chose to marque his archetypal halt astatine his assemblage successful Damascus.

"I was expelled and present I'm backmost and Bashar al-Assad is gone. So for me, it's a benignant of justness and karma", helium rejoiced.

His reunion circuit was besides marked with notable stops successful Homs, Hama, Aleppo and his hometown of Idlib.

"I had to clasp each municipality and locomotion the streets, talking to the people," helium says.

Though his instrumentality was joyful, Ahmad says it was besides a brazen reminder of the misery that inactive lurks pursuing years of oppression and atrocities.

He says galore of the towns helium visited were near successful ruins, women were looking for their loved ones with photos successful their hands. He joined members of his household successful Idlib, wherever helium discovered that his house, overmuch similar the remainder of the city, was destroyed. He present plans to rebuild it.

Staying successful Europe

27-year-old Aisha Abbas has been surviving successful the Belgian metropolis of Antwerp since 2017. She is primitively from Darkoush, a tiny municipality adjacent Idlib connected the Turkish-Syrian border.

She recovered herself successful disbelief upon proceeding the quality of the toppling of Assad, "I couldn't judge it. It felt similar a dream", recalls Aisha, who shared that she didn't slumber for 2 days aft proceeding the news.

She regrets that her father, who "lived his full beingness for this moment", passed distant earlier getting the accidental to spot it. Her archetypal thought is that she volition yet beryllium capable to spot the state wherever she was born.

"I privation to spot the streets, I privation to spot people's faces, I privation to spot however they live," she said.

Aisha has nevertheless ruled retired immoderate imperishable instrumentality to her country, chiefly owed to the persistent insecurity.

"How bash you expect a spot that's been astatine warfare for 14 years to beryllium harmless for people, it's a battlefield", she declared. "The autumn of the authorities isn't going to hole everything similar a magic wand".

For a start, she doesn't adjacent cognize wherever to go.

"I don't person a house. I don't cognize if I'll beryllium capable to enactment oregon person a life. I wouldn't person immoderate friends. Half my household is dead. I'm adjacent frightened astatine the thought of visiting Syria and seeing the place, but there's nary 1 left," she explained.

Starting each implicit again for the 3rd clip aft having already mislaid everything is besides discouraging her from returning. She is determined to marque a beingness for herself successful Belgium, whether it beryllium determination "quite international" similar Antwerp, oregon determination "very quiet" similar Ghent.

In 2011, Aisha's begetter took portion successful protests against the Assad regime, which were violently repressed by the fallen president's forces and loyalists.

"We weren't harmless due to the fact that helium was an important idiosyncratic successful the revolution", explains Aisha. In June of that year, 13-year-old Aisha, her 3 younger brothers and her parent fled Syria and took refuge with her aunt connected the different slope of the Orontes River, successful Turkey's Antioch.

"I didn't adjacent battalion a bag", she recalled, "I thought I'd beryllium backmost successful September for the commencement of the schoolhouse year". In the end, she resumed classes astatine a "school" opened by the Syrian assemblage successful a flat.

"I was truly depressed for a year, until I realised that we had a beingness present and that we had to enactment and physique a caller assemblage to marque caller friends", said Aisha.

Her parent opened a tiny store wherever the women could marque and merchantability their designs, specified arsenic dresses, crochet creations and handicrafts. The household stayed successful Turkey for 7 years.

Aisha's begetter yet reached Europe, crossing the Mediterranean by vessel from Mersin successful southeastern Turkey to Greece, earlier reaching Antwerp wherever her household joined her by level acknowledgment to the EU's household reunification.

"Life successful Turkey was truly hard for america and it wasn't getting immoderate better. It was getting worse and worse", explains the student. "He thought that Europe mightiness beryllium amended for schoolhouse and work".

The household of six lived successful a workplace flat earlier managing to rent a level successful the countryside.

"In Belgium, it was precise antithetic due to the fact that I felt antithetic successful the mode I dressed, successful the mode I spoke. I didn't talk Dutch, I spoke English each the time. I felt I was antithetic and that was truly difficult," recalls Aisha.

Already trilingual - she speaks fluent Arabic, Turkish and English - she easy added Dutch to her linguistic arsenal and obtained a grade successful selling and communications. To concern her studies, she worked successful a zero-waste integrated store and gave ceramics lessons.

This autumn, she starts a bachelor's grade successful communications and hopes to enactment successful selling oregon journalism. As she has not been granted exile status, she has to renew her residence licence each twelvemonth and is trying to get Belgian citizenship.

More than 6 cardinal Syrians were registered refugees oregon asylum seekers by the extremity of 2024, chiefly successful Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan. The EU is location to astir 1.3 cardinal Syrian refugees oregon asylum seekers, chiefly distributed crossed Germany, Sweden and Austria.

The time aft Bashar al-Assad fled to Russia, a fig of European countries, including Germany, Denmark and Austria, announced their volition to suspend the appraisal of further assylum applications from Syrians.

This year, Syrians person lodged less asylum applications successful EU countries, according to figures from a study by the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA), published connected 8 September.

Syrians are nary longer the starring nationality among asylum seekers successful the 27-member bloc, a presumption which present belongs to Venezuelan and Afghan nationals. The EUAA warns nevertheless that definite groups of Syrians are inactive astatine hazard of persecution.