__________
The Syrian people has inherited from their ancestors traditions and values that are firmly connected to their social life in all its aspects whether the happy or sad situations, Eid or other occasions in which the family gathering has an atmosphere of intimacy and love. However, war taking place in Syria has negative effects on the social relations and contributed in breaking the family separating its members. Between displacement and asylum on one hand, and bombardment and insecurity, impacts that can be dangerous on the reality of the Syrian community, emerge.
Due to the substandard living conditions and the expensive costs of the journey to seek asylum in the European countries, many families have worked on providing the amount of money paid for the smuggler so that a member of the family such as the husband, the wife or may be one of the children seek asylum hoping “family reunion” through the embassy the thing does not require costs being on the account of the hosting country. Here and despite that hope, the conditions of thousands families become worse losing their relationships and values on which they are supposed to live.
Om Ismael from Idlib city revealed to us her story where her face features preceded in revealing, she said:” My husband has been to Germany a year ago after he sold our house and rented a small one for us till he finish the procedures of “family reunion”, I did not believe his absence will tire me that much. Because of the stress and psychological suffering that my children are going through, each one of them turns to live a special life and has his/ her needs which in case I do not provided I will probably get in trouble I can not pass it, particularly speaking my elder 13- year son, who threatens me in every time to join rebels battalions. I am extremely exhausted and there is no soon hope of family reunion”.
Not only immigration to outside the country contributes in breaking the social ties, cause there are there cases that are considered catastrophic especially in the besieged cities. Amir from liberated Aleppo city narrated to us his suffering:” I work as a truck driver transporting goods between the liberated areas and Turkey. Few days before the siege on the eastern neighborhoods, I was transporting a cargo where I got shocked to hear that regime forces had completely encircled the area.. my wife and children are there, I do not know what should I do, I wish I were besieged with them in these dire conditions .. My children break my heart when they ask me why I am not with them”.
The absence of the father or the mother creates big gab and leads to break the family in the hellish circumstances that face every Syrian inside and outside Syria, where visits and social ties 90 percent shrinkable than before especially in liberated areas for the doubled suffering caused by warplanes which do not leave the skyline; social media turn to be enough and replacement for those visits and ties after every raid to check on one’s relatives and friends.
By Samah Alkhaled
Translated by Sabah Najem
#syrian_press_center