'It's time to return': Syrian refugees in US ready to rebuild their country

New York: Immediately after toppling the brutal regime of Bashar al Assad, Syria's transitional government led by Mohammed al Bashir and leader of the rebel coalition forces Mohammed al Jolani, who also goes by Ahmad al Sharaa, made an urgent appeal to millions of Syrian refugees spread across the world.

"Syria is now a free country... Come back. We need to rebuild, to get our country on its feet again, and we need everyone's help," Bashir exhorted Syrian exiles and refugees. Jolani promised to safeguard religious diversity — an assurance widely viewed as critical to stabilising the Arab country where the civil war since 2011 saw more than 500,000 people killed and millions more uprooted.

For many Syrians in the United States dreaming to return to their birthplace, they've finally received the calls they've been longing for.

"My plan is to finish my studies in the US first, go back and contribute to the youth education in Syria," Wael Habbal, 33, who fled Syria in 2012, spent some years in Lebanon, Türkiye, and Greece and later ended up in New York, tells TRT World.

Habbal, who comes from Darayya, a Damascus suburb, says he lost his asylum status in Athens due to his anti-regime activism and ultimately moved to the US in 2022 to attend an educational programme at Columbia University.

Now, buoyed by Assad's ouster, Habbal says, "The fall of Assad feels like we had mountains of fear and anxiety which went away with him. I am hoping to see him in international courts soon, at the same time, I am concerned about how long it's going to take to heal from 50 years of dictatorship."

'I lost more than 100 friends and activists'

Syrians across the country and around the world erupted in joy when Assad, Syria's regime leader for 24 years, fled to Russia after a lightning offensive by anti-regime groups which liberated cities including capital Damascus under just two weeks, ending the rule of the Baath Party, which had been in power in the Arab country since 1963.

The transitional government now faces the huge task of not only running the country torn by nearly 14-year war, but by bringing back refugees and exiles who it sees as key to the rebuilding process.

For the longtime exile Marcelle Shehwaro, Assad's ouster was a turning point she had been longing for since 2011 when anti-Assad uprising began.

"I've been exiled from Aleppo for activism for 10 years now. It's time to return," Shehwaro, who lives in New York, tells TRT World.

A decade of exile, along with the loss of friends and activists, weighs on her vision of a new Syria.

"I lost more than 100 friends and activists. The scenes of liberating the prisoners summarises a lot of the Syrian story. We are there to liberate our prisons, to have a country without prisons, to go back to our houses. It's time for the ability, the choice to go there without being related to trauma."

With the world keenly watching the situation unfolding in Syria, its caretaker government has sought to assure religious minorities while pledging justice for the victims of Assad's harsh rule.

For 18-year-old, Catholic-born John Pierre Alkhoury, who arrived in the US as an eight-year-old child in 2014, Syria's future shouldn't be "at the mercy of other nations." Alkhoury tells TRT World that as a boy in Syria, it was the fear and instability that shaped his family's decisions.

"I'm originally from Saydnaya. We were afraid of the prosecution we'd face about being Catholic and my father's business suffered because of the war. So, we lost most of the reasons to stay there. However, many of my relatives stayed back," he says.

Alkhoury doubts Assad's departure alone ensures a better future but hopes the new era does not keep Syria's future tied to the decisions of other countries.

'I celebrated by bringing baklava to my class'

Ahmad Araman, who fled Syria in 2014 and found refuge in Türkiye, then UAE, and finally the US, the opportunity to help restore his homeland is an ultimate goal.

"I will return to Syria. I want to help rebuild my country. While it won't be immediate, I hope to return after completing my education," he tells TRT World.

Araman, 32, who moved to the US in February 2024 after marrying his Syrian American wife, was in a cafe, working on an assignment when he saw the news that opposition forces were nearing Damascus.

On the bus ride back to his apartment, he watched a video from Umayyad Square — women celebrating next to a rebel fighter near a tank.

"I broke into tears. That night, I couldn't sleep. My country was finally being liberated after 14 years of war and over five decades of oppression."

He says his joy came with a desire for justice.

"I wished Assad hadn't fled to Moscow. I wished the rebels had captured him to face accountability."

Araman remembers how the Assad regime sowed the seeds of ethnic divisions in Syria.

"I lived in a place where I had friends who were Druze, Christians, Sunnis, Alawis, and Shia, and I never thought we were different. But the regime’s ideologies enforced that separation," he tells TRT World.

But now, with Assad gone and the new government pledging a new beginning, Araman says he is eager to participate in Syria's rebuilding.

"We need unity. We need to build a new Syria that embraces diversity and rejects discrimination. I celebrated by bringing baklava to my class and speaking about what this moment means for Syrians."