Many of Syria’s diaspora are not yet ready to go home

“I will sell all of this gold and move back to Syria by the spring,” Ousama Sabbagh enthused in his jewellery shop in a majority-Syrian district in the Turkish city of Bursa, south of Istanbul. That was five months ago. Today his shop looks little different than it did then. Mr Sabbagh now wants to move in September, cheered by President Donald Trump’s recent pledge to lift America’s sanctions against Syria. That decision has given new hope to Syrians abroad, says Dr Haytham Alhamwi of the Syrian British Consortium, a lobby. Business folk in the diaspora think sanctions relief and international aid are vital for rebuilding the country and making it safe.

More than 6m Syrians were living abroad when Bashar al-Assad was toppled in December. Since then, over half a million have moved back, says the un. Four-fifths of the rest say they want to return one day. But many know that after almost 14 years of devastating civil war the move home will not be easy.

For one thing, essentials like housing, clean water and electricity are patchy; according to a un poll of refugees in the diaspora, 81% of homeowners who fled abroad say their houses are no longer habitable. Many schools and hospitals are in ruins. This puts off families with children or the elderly.

Another deterrent is a shortage of jobs. At least a quarter of Syrians back home lack work. Doctors, teachers and academics doubt they will find employment. Announcements about sanctions relief have been encouraging but a favourable climate for investment is still some way off.

Meanwhile, reports of theft and intimidation by armed groups, especially in Aleppo, once Syria’s commercial hub, are scaring off the diaspora. Until a modicum of law enforcement and justice is established, non-Sunni minorities, especially the Alawites, who were favoured by the Assad ruling family, fear retribution if they return.

Wealthier individuals with foreign passports have been going to and fro to rebuild homes or set up businesses. Lifting sanctions may prompt bigger flows of remittances. But although some Gulf firms might be ready to sweep in, for some Syrians abroad returning is an all-or-nothing decision. By going to Syria they may risk losing their right to stay as refugees in countries such as Britain.■

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