Facing the ravages of an ongoing civil war that’s left four of his brothers dead and caused the estrangement of his wife from he and his two daughters, Syrian refugee Youssef Al-Khoudor is hoping to become one of Canada’s newest citizens thanks in part to the assistance of an Abbotsford church.
“I cannot return to Syria for several reasons,” Al-Khoudor, a 23-year-old journalist and writer, told Glacier Media by email from Beirut, Lebanon where he’s found temporary refuge. “The biggest reason,” he said, “is that, as a young man of military age, I would be forcibly conscripted, imprisoned, or worse. I do not want to engage with any of the parties to the conflict in Syria.
“Additionally, some of my writings could get me in trouble with the Syrian government. It’s not safe for me or my daughters.”
One of the biggest risks he faces is retaliation by Syria’s army, after his two older brothers Sobhi and Gazhi defected, only to be killed in combat in 2014.
In July 2015, Al-Khoudor’s younger brother Fares was killed in an airstrike by U.S.-led coalition forces in their home village Abyad. Al-Khoudor has also lost a half-brother.
A champion of human rights, Al-Khoudor has published poetry and written critically of the Syrian regime, he told the Canadian government in his refugee application. The application has been tentatively approved with sponsorship from Calvin Presbyterian Church members in Abbotsford.
Rev. Thomas Kim, the head minister at Calvin Presbyterian Church, told Glacier Media the struggle of Al-Khoudor and his daughters, six-year-old Rouaa and three-year-old Diala, were brought to him by lead refugee sponsor and organizer Noel Paul, whose father Bob Paul is the church’s interim moderator.
And so, “our members are rallying around one another to bring Youssef and his daughters to Abbotsford,” said Kim, who recently visited the family in Beirut.
Al-Khoudor and his daughters are expected to join the roughly 60,795 new Syrian-born refugees who were admitted to Canada from 2016 to 2021. Syrians accounted for over one-quarter (27.8%) of the 218,435 new refugees in the country, who represent 16.4 per cent of all immigrants, most of which fall under the “economic” category.
So far, the church has raised just over $22,000 but they need to get to $42,000 to adequately sponsor the family. Now, they’re seeking broader support via GoFundMe.
Paul had met Al-Khoudor about a decade ago, during the war’s early days and when Al-Khoudor and his parents initially fled.
“I met Noel about 10 years ago in Beirut where I was working with my younger brother, selling flowers on the streets of the city. At that time, Noel approached us and offered to hire us to act in a video project. I felt that he was a person who could be trusted, and we began working together, and eventually became friends,” said Al-Khoudor.
As the war accelerated through the mid-2010s, life took an unexpected turn when Al-Khoudor fathered his first child with his wife, at age 17. In love, the pair had another daughter in 2019, albeit under more pressing circumstances, including multiple smuggling trips across the Syrian-Lebanese border in the preceding years.
Stresses led to his wife abandoning the family from Syria, said Al-Khoudor, who was left to raise the girls with help from his parents, while juggling writing gigs and under-the-table work in restaurants and cafes.
As a Syrian refugee with no legal status, Al-Khoudor faced discrimination from employers, who took advantage of strict labour laws in Lebanon designed to push Syrians back across the border.
Al-Khoudor has not graduated high school but says he’s done his best to learn English to the best of his abilities and circumstances. His goal, however, is to become proficient and to study psychology in Canada.
But he’s also under no illusions when he comes to Canada, as he noted in his application:
“I realize that I can’t step off a plane directly into my dream job. When I arrive, I’ll look for something temporary to use as a launchpad for university. I have experience in manual labour and customer service jobs. I’ve washed and driven cars, I’ve worked in a car rental office, I’ve served customers and made coffee and sandwiches. I know how to be polite and courteous and I’m not afraid of hard work.”
