Syria is very far from Vankleek Hill and Eastern Ontario, but the recent overthrow of the Bashar al-Assad dictatorship in the Middle Eastern country has had effects on refugee resettlement organizations locally, and on the Syrian community in Eastern Ontario.
Assad had led Syria since 2000 when he succeeded his father Hafez, who had ruled since 1971. The repressive regime was the reason many Syrians had left the country, particularly during the past 10 years of civil war. Since 2015, 44,620 refugees from Syria have arrived in Canada. On December 8 2024, Bashar al-Assad fled to Russia and his government was overthrown by a series of rebel groups.
In Vankleek Hill, Opportunity Knox, which was initially organized in 2018 by Knox Presbyterian Church and other volunteers, has sponsored two families and one individual from Syria. Lisa Jennings of Opportunity Knox said reactions to the overthrow of the Assad government by a series of disparate rebel factions have ranged from optimism to grave concern.
“Of course, everyone feels for all those who suffered so terribly under the regime. However, on behalf of all our newcomers, we are concerned,” Jennings said.
All of the Syrian families and individuals sponsored by Opportunity Knox are from various minority groups in the country. The rebels which have taken control are strongly allied with Islamic teaching and want to establish a new government based upon those teachings.
All currently have family in Syria and are afraid of what may happen under an Islamic (potentially) extremist regime,” Jennings said.
She said other refugee sponsoring groups in Ottawa, Brockville and Toronto that Opportunity Knox works with are reporting that their newcomers are fearful and tell of relatives fearing to leave their houses and of chaos in the streets.
We are told that the vast majority of the population did not support the dictatorship but are also afraid of the threat of further violence under new governments,” Jennings remarked.
Opportunity Knox is currently sponsoring a family and does not currently have any future sponsorship plans. Jennings does not believe the current situation in Syria will affect whatever those plans may be.
“The world is overflowing with need in this area. Should we decide to sponsor again, there will be no shortage of refugees looking for sponsors, regardless of the Syrian situation,” she commented.
