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Paris (AFP)
It is not the first catastrophe they face.
But while today’s global pandemic does not resemble the civil war of nearly a decade in Syria, some refugees believe that their experience of violence and exile helps them deal with the anxiety caused by the new coronavirus.
AFP interviewed four Syrians in France who said that past trials, such as prison and exile, had prepared them to face the blockade, helping them find optimism and power to overcome the challenges.
– The filmmaker –
As France’s orders to stay home began, Mohammad Hijazi said he thought about what he had learned from living through the war and the dark days of his three-month detention by the Syrian regime.
Maintaining a strict routine helps, said the 31-year-old Damascus filmmaker, who was held for his political views in 2012-2013.
Her experience has taught her the importance of community, eating healthy and expressing herself “singing, drawing, praying … everyone has their own way, but everyone works equally well”.
“I suppose people who have had these kinds of experiences have more training on how to maintain a sense of perspective,” Hijazi told AFP, speaking through a video conference app in Paris, her home since 2017.
“We immediately go back to the mechanisms we used before to manage in times of crisis,” he said.
And he added: “We know where to stock up.”
Lockdown has also revived memories of the loneliness he felt in his first months living in France.
Now, with filming suspended, he is using his equipment to set up an online radio called “Maazoul”, which means “isolated” in Arabic.
It allows him to maintain a sense of community and remain optimistic, he said.
– The web developer –
Looking closely at war does not make it easier to experience a pandemic, as Yazan al-Homsy knows.
He survived more than a year under siege and bombardment in the city of Homs and said that the first week of the confinement brought him back to that terrifying time.
Before the virus landed on planes, the sound of them taking off and landing at the Lyon airport near their new home began generating memories of fighter jets that hit their hometown.
“I woke up thinking, where am I? I was lost in feeling and I didn’t go out for a week,” said Homsy, whose name was changed for this story out of concern for the safety of her family in Syria.
With no “health care to speak of in Syria” after years of conflict, the 34-year-old web developer and data analyst is also afraid of her older parents.
After all he’s been through, he says the best advice he can give his anxious friends in France is to remember that “your government is working for your safety” and that “they have rights.”
– Worker, student, mom –
In these difficult times, living in a democracy is also reassuring for Dunia Al Dahan of Damascus.
“There is a system, there is a state, and there are people who express their views,” said the mother of two young children.
Having lived in Paris since 2014, he values the freedom to speak, citing the example of a televised interview with a French doctor who criticized authorities for their lack of preparation for a pandemic.
But she acknowledged that the death toll from COVID-19 had “scared her” and made her reevaluate the devastating loss in her own country.
“What really scared me was the news of the deaths, the number of deaths,” said Dahan, 40, who co-founded the association Portes Ouvertes Sur L’Art (Open Doors to Art) which supports exiled artists and is studying for a doctorate. .
“It surprised me because it made me wonder: how could we bear it when we knew how many people are being killed in Syria?”
More than 380,000 have died since the conflict began nine years ago, and much of the infrastructure has been destroyed.
– The Cook –
Having started from scratch once, Emad Shoshara, a Damascus chef, is not letting the chain of canceled catering contracts for the lucrative spring-summer season depress him.
In Syria he owned a transport company, but had to find a new business when the war forced him to flee.
He settled in Paris in 2015 offering Syrian cuisine and has a list of clients, from wedding planners to theaters and galleries.
But the coronavirus has wreaked havoc on businesses, large and small, around the world.
And now Shoshara spends her days making time-lapse video recipes to share on Instagram, like her version of bright purple hummus, the Levantine cooking star.
“In Syrian parlance, we say: every time you fall, you get up again,” he said, preparing grilled octopus.
The 36-year-old man hopes his virtual kitchen will help lift viewers’ spirits.
“(The problems) are not a reason to give up,” he said.
Remember, you are on a path in life and there are obstacles. Maybe you will overcome this obstacle, maybe you will stumble on the next one. But whatever happens, keep going. “
© 2020 AFP
