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INTERVIEWS WITH SYRIAN REFUGEES IN REYHANLI - I<br />
ORSAM<br />
ORSAM: What did you go through during<br />
the civil war in Syria, and how did you come<br />
to Turkey?<br />
Bashir Nazmi al Hamdo: Our town was suddenly<br />
besieged and started to be bombed. 17<br />
people among my neighbors and friends were<br />
killed and I do not know how many people<br />
were wounded. There was no criminal, terrorist<br />
or traitors among us. Our only fault<br />
was the fact that we were not Sunni, and we<br />
were attacked for nothing. My house was partially<br />
destroyed. My family and I escaped unharmed,<br />
but my neighbors were not as luck<br />
as we were. This bombardment took place<br />
on 30 December. The distance between our<br />
town and the border is approximately 60 kilometers.<br />
I suffered a lot until I arrived in the<br />
border. I had some savings, and we loaded our<br />
belongings to pickup truck, and my son took<br />
the pickup truck while I took the car and we<br />
set off to come to Turkey. There were some<br />
search and barricades on the way to Turkey.<br />
When we arrived in the border region, some<br />
groups started to search us. They unloaded<br />
our foodstuff from the car, and they took<br />
some of our stuff. We rented an apartment<br />
when we arrived in Turkey, but we did have<br />
anything left. I had 120 thousand SYP left in<br />
my pocket. I bought a couple of furniture and<br />
now I have money only for a month. My son<br />
and I work as carrier dolmush drivers, me in<br />
my car and my son in pickup truck. When<br />
necessary, we carry things to the border region<br />
and sometimes to Syria.<br />
Some relatives of every Syrian in Turkey are<br />
left behind in Syria. As they have no income<br />
or anything left to eat back in Syria, we deliver<br />
what they need through the aid of some philanthropists<br />
or in return for money for their<br />
life. There are thousands of people who want<br />
to migrate but cannot. They cannot migrate<br />
due to transportation problem and poverty.<br />
Life in Syria is over.<br />
* This interview was made by Feyyat Özyazar<br />
in Reyhanlı district of Hatay on 15 January<br />
2013.<br />
An Interview with Dervish Talib al Hasawi<br />
abu Mahir who came from Syria to stay in<br />
Hatay Reyhanlı<br />
34 year old Dervish Talib al Hasawi abu Mahir,<br />
who had to migrate from al Rif district of<br />
Muarra, Idlib province of Syria, graduated<br />
from the University of Aleppo, Department<br />
of Literature. He is a father of two children<br />
and a high school teacher.<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 what<br />
brought you to Turkey?<br />
Dervish Talib al Hasawi abu Mahir: My father<br />
is a poor peasant who owns a couple of<br />
small cattle and 8 decares of land. And I have<br />
two sisters. He made great sacrifices for my<br />
education. We had a peaceful life.<br />
Muarre district is an area where Jaish al Hur<br />
and al Nasr units are found. When the voluntary<br />
units called SUVVAR arrived in our<br />
district after the escalation of civil war, the<br />
conflict grew worse. As a person who lived<br />
in poverty and fought against the regime<br />
for years, I quit my job and joined the warrior<br />
group. When I left my job, also my salary<br />
was cut, the area we lived in was bombed, our<br />
house was destroyed and we lost everything<br />
we had including our animals. I sent my old<br />
parents, my wife and children to Turkey. My<br />
family has been in Turkey for 4 months, and I<br />
arrived here in new year.<br />
I both fought and struggled to meet all kind<br />
of needs of my friends including food and<br />
clothing. I carried many injured to the border<br />
ORSAM<br />
Report No: 157, May 2013 67
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