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INTERVIEWS WITH SYRIAN REFUGEES IN REYHANLI - I<br />
ORSAM<br />
Those who have capital buy food products,<br />
biscuits, wafers, diapers etc. from Turkey and<br />
sell them in Syria. However, I do not have an<br />
opportunity to do so as I do not have a car<br />
and money. The civil war turned my life into<br />
a misery. I will stay here until things settled<br />
down in Syria.<br />
* This interview was made by Feyyat Özyazar<br />
in Reyhanlı district of Hatay on 6 December<br />
2012.<br />
An Interview with Musab Lütfi Haccar abu<br />
Rıdvan, who came from Aleppo to Turkey<br />
and settled in Hatay<br />
Musab Lütfi Haccar, who is a teacher, says:<br />
“Many people around me whose houses were<br />
destroyed and who had to leave their stores<br />
either went to tent cities or rent an apartment<br />
and settled in Reyhanlı”.<br />
Musab Lütfi Haccar abu Rıdvan: I come<br />
from Masharka Neighborhood of Aleppo. I<br />
am 35 years old and I am a teacher. I am father<br />
of 2 children.<br />
ORSAM: Could you tell us about your life<br />
before the civil war in Syria, what you went<br />
through during the civil war and the reasons<br />
why you came to Turkey?<br />
Musab Lütfi Haccar abu Rıdvan: When the<br />
civil war broke out, I remained neutral and<br />
carried on working as a teacher. However,<br />
when the school was closed as a result of<br />
bombardments and the arrival of Jaish al Hur<br />
in our region, I left the school and came to<br />
Turkey along with my family.<br />
I know nothing other than my teaching profession.<br />
Due to the financial problems, I<br />
started to work as tea seller in Reyhanlı for 20<br />
TL a day. I rent an apartment with 2 rooms<br />
and a kitchen for 250 TL, and my family and<br />
I are striving to hold on to life. Many people<br />
around me came to Turkey. Those, whose<br />
houses were destroyed and left their stores<br />
either went to tent city or rent an apartment<br />
and settled in Reyhanlı.<br />
I cannot receive my salary. I need to get back<br />
to work as a teacher to receive my salary, but<br />
I could not return to Syria as I do not have a<br />
life security over there. I would have joined<br />
Jaish al Hur if I did not have my wife and my<br />
children. They give 150 dollar per month. It is<br />
close to my teaching salary, but my children<br />
and my wife would not be safe there. They<br />
cannot live alone here either. Therefore, I did<br />
not join Jaish al Hur. Those who do not have<br />
a job or a profession and some volunteers join<br />
Jaish al Hur. They receive a salary ranging between<br />
150 and 200 dollars. There are not only<br />
Syrians, but also Pakistani, Afghan, Yemeni,<br />
Libyan and Palestinian people in Jaish al Hur.<br />
Some of them joined the group for Jehad, and<br />
some others joined for both Jehad and money.<br />
I have a decent and holy profession, and I cannot<br />
practice my profession. I am far from my<br />
country, friends. I am fed up with serving tea,<br />
washing the dishes, and cleaning the place out<br />
all day long. I am depressed. But, I console<br />
myself with the fact that I am healthy, I saved<br />
my family from the bomb attacks. If I hadn’t<br />
come here, we might have been trapped in the<br />
wreckage. Maybe we would have been killed<br />
by a shrapnel. I wait in patience now. I have<br />
nothing else to do.<br />
* This interview was made by Feyyat Özyazar<br />
in Reyhanlı district of Hatay on 6 December<br />
2012.<br />
An Interview with Mustafa Hatib Abdulgafur<br />
abu Shahabeddin, who came from Idlib<br />
to Turkey and settled in Hatay<br />
ORSAM<br />
Report No: 157, May 2013 53
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