The most difficult thing seems to have already been done: surviving a war that left half a million dead and more than six million refugees; survive in another country, where they do not share the language, and where they have not had the facility to find work or even go to school; and survive to finally be able to return. We are in the province of Gaziantep, at the Öncüpınar border crossing between Syria and Türkiye. Thousands of families have already passed through this crossing who experienced the fall of Bashar Al Assad’s regime as the greatest joy of their lives. Trucks, cars, buses and even forklifts crowd at the border crossing, packed to the brim. Furniture, mattresses, carpets, clothes… for many it is more than ten years stuffed into a couple of boxes and some suitcases with which to start a new life in a country that they say they miss and to which they never thought they could return. Three of the most repeated words in this place are “happiness”, “expectation” and “relief”. The refugees who return to Syria a decade later: “It is an indescribable happiness” Ignacio GilHappiness at being able to see their loved ones again, some of which they have never seen. It happens with the grandchildren who were born abroad or with the nephews of those who were able to escape. Relief to see the dictatorship of one of the biggest criminals of the 21st century end; and expectation because no one knows quite what to expect from Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the most powerful military faction of the opposition, which led “the liberation” of Syria last November. There are many stories out there on a border: some of joy and others of sadness. These are just a brief example of what more than fifteen years of brutal repression, harassment and violence by the Bashar Al Assad regime have meant. Four buses and 14 hours to the border Yara was only 17 years old when she left Syria, but she was already the mother of a son: Zacarías. With her husband they left Qamishli, a city in northeast Syria on the border with Turkey, near Iraq. Above, Brahim (6 years old), Zechariah (8 years old) Isaac (4 years old). They cross with their mother alone. His father has decided to stay in Türkiye to finish arranging the papers. They are heading to Qamishili, a city in northeastern Syria, very close to Iraq. They have lived, illegally, for six years in Türkiye Ignacio Gil Nine years have passed since their departure. Now he returns with three more children: Brahim, 6 years old, Isaac, 4 years old, and little Yacub, only five months old. “We are happy,” says Yara. “We never thought we would return and now we are very close.” So close that, from the enclosure built by the Turkish Government to control the departure of people, you can see Syria on the other side. The arrival at the door of Öncüpınar was not easy: from Antalya, where they lived in Turkey, through Konya (in the center of the country) they had to take four buses. Almost 20 hours of travel alone with four children and several suitcases. Jamal lost six family members during the war. Sola Jamal also returns to Syria. He is 69 years old and has lived much of his life under the Assad dictatorship. Jamal, 69 years old. This Syrian woman returns alone to take care of her sick daughter in her country. From Aleppo, he has not yet met his grandchildren. During the war he lost six members of his family: two were killed by ISIS and four by the Al Assad regime. Ignacio GilWhen he begins to tell his story, he cannot hold back the tears of everything he has seen, heard and, above all, suffered. He is from the eastern area of Aleppo (second largest city in Syria, after Damascus). “I have lost six members of my family in the years of war: two murdered by ISIS and four others, victims of Al Assad.” He has spent nine years dreaming about this moment every night. All this time he has lived in Killis, a city very close to the border, in the province of Gaziantep. This Turkish province is the second with the highest number of (registered) Syrian refugees in the country, almost half a million. Only the large province of Istanbul, with 550,000, is ahead. In December, a few days after the fall of Assad, the United Nations estimated that one million people would return to Syria in the first half of the year. In Türkiye it turned from welcome to contempt. Of Kurdish origin, in Turkey they know they were not welcome, but it was the only place they could reach. Now, they are going to try to cross. They do not know if they will be able to because their two oldest children – Mitra, 12 years old, and Isam, 10 – were born in Syria and do not have an identity card. Mohammed (38 years old) and Sultans (37) with their children Mira, Segmu, Mitra and Isam . This family of Kurdish origin just wants to return to their land, to Afrin. “Anything better than staying here,” says the father. They have experienced discrimination and humiliation in Istanbul due to their Kurdish origin. Ignacio GilThe objective is to reach Afrin, in the province of Aleppo. «Anything is better than staying here. Now our area is quiet. Afrín has been liberated, we have a house, a family. “We hope to be safe.” In the end, and after more than six hours of desperate waiting, they were able to pass. REUNION AT THE BORDER Abdel’s family is reunited after eight years separated by war. It is the first time that the grandfather sees his grandson in person. They return to Aleppo, their city of origin. IGNACIO GILLong and tedious processThe process to cross the border is not simple. First, they have to present identification documents. Not everyone has them, especially the smallest ones, so the process takes hours. During this wait, several humanitarian organizations distribute tea and bread to make it a little more pleasant. Although the sun is hot during the day, as soon as it sets, the cold sets in everywhere. “We have served hundreds of people every day,” says an official from the Turkish Ministry of Migration. «The situation is under control. There haven’t been any special problems. Sometimes they have lost their nerve a little, but it is normal, there are many hours of waiting. Salam (30 years old), Samira (26 years old) and their four children: Leila (5 years old), Soufiane (4 years old), Salam (2 years old) and Isra (barely 1 year old). They return to Al Raqqa, a city that was taken by ISIS. That family had to leave Syria years ago due to the violence carried out by Islamic fundamentalism. Now they return happy, eager to start a new life in their land. Ignacio GilOnce the Turkish authorities obtain the families’ information, they open the gate so that they can go to another enclosure waiting for them, in a few hours, sometimes more than six, to get on the buses or take their own cars. . It seems that bureaucracy, although slow, works. But not for everyone. Amira, 24, is trying to spend the second time with her two daughters: Malak, 4, and Mira, 3, and also sick from malnutrition. They don’t let them cross. She claims to have all the papers, but the authorities do not. “I don’t know what I’m going to do now, I sold the phone to get here and now I have nothing,” he laments. Not everything is happiness in this part of the border. Mira (3 years old), Malak (4 years old) and their mother Amira (24 years old). The youngest is sick and her family cannot pay for the treatment Ignacio GilMany of these families do not know what they will find when they arrive in their cities and towns. Their houses have been bombed during these years. Some have been sending money to the family so that they could rebuild their homes little by little. Others, like Brahim and Abdel, two 20-year-olds, don’t really know where they are going. At 10 years old they left Syria and now they return alone. “We left our parents in Türkiye because we want to get to know our country and join the Army,” they say. Everything at this point is a great unknown, but the desire to set foot again on what was once his home outweighs the uncertainty of the future. «What we are clear about is that we will never again allow a dictator to return to Syria. Insallah.
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