More than five million people have fled Syria since the start of the country's decade-long war, with little or no prospect of returning home. While the vast majority live in neighbouring countries, such as Turkey and Lebanon, others have crossed oceans and continents to start a new life far from their loved ones. FRANCE 24 brings you some of their stories.



Seeking a brighter future in Istanbul

02:12

Ola Dawarshi was only 20 when she left Damascus and crossed into Turkey, in March 2015. Six years on, the landscape architecture student is trying to make the most of her new life in Istanbul. Ola has her own YouTube channel, with close to 20,000 followers. She's been chosen to star in a short film about a Syrian woman adapting to a new country.

Ola says it is hard for refugees to find a home in Turkey, because of "deeply ingrained stereotypes about Syrians". Still, she does not intend to go back to Syria, where she feels there is no future for her. Though she misses her family and keeps in touch with her loved ones, Ola keeps a distance with her home country: "I try to stay away because every time I hear about Syria I feel sad."

A report by Shona Bhattacharyya, Ludovic De Foucaud and Hussein Assad.

Syrian pastries in Berlin

02:00

Suleyman al-Sakka and his family fled their native Homs, Syria's third-largest city, in 2014, leaving all their belongings behind. They have since rebuilt their lives in Germany, home to Europe's largest population of Syrian refugees, and now run three pastry shops in the capital, Berlin.

Suleyman says his family did not want to be a "burden" on their host country, where they are now well settled. But their success has stirred resentment among German far-right militants, who set fire to their van. For now, Suleyman wants to stay on in Berlin, where he is completing a degree in physiotherapy. In time, he hopes to put his skills to good use back in Homs, once Syria is at peace, "especially to help those who were injured in the war".

A report by Nick Spicer and Anne Maillet.

Documenting France's Yellow Vest protests

02:15

When FRANCE 24 first met Zaher Azzaher three years ago, the young refugee described the horror of his country's civil war in broken English. Zaher was 15 when fighting began to ravage his hometown, the ancient city of Aleppo. Today, he has a French language degree and continues to share his story with youths at schools and universities across France.

A photojournalist, Zaher has taken a keen interest in his new country and its often turbulent politics. His first big assignment was to cover the Yellow Vest protest movement that swept France from late 2018. More recently, he documented the lockdowns that brought cities to a standstill during the coronavirus pandemic. He plans to continue his work in France, which he says is a way to reassure his relatives who stayed behind in Syria.

A report by Marie Schuster.

Battling Covid-19 in Montreal

01:57

George Chabo left his Syrian hometown of Qamishli in 2015 along with his parents and two siblings, fleeing the country's gruesome civil war. They spent a month in Lebanon, before a Canadian family agreed to sponsor their move to Montreal, 10,000 kilometres away.

The French classes George took as a child in Syria helped him adapt to his new bilingual environment. An avid reader, he now reads in other languages too on his daily commutes through Canada's second-largest city, a place he has come to love. Six years after his arrival, George is happy to give something back to the country that welcomed him. "It's our turn to help," says the Syrian refugee, who volunteers for the Red Cross on the frontline of the coronavirus pandemic.

A report by Gloria Henriquez and François Rihouay.

Giving yoga classes in Lebanon’s Shatila

02:13

When Ghadir Awad first set foot in Lebanon’s Shatila refugee camp, the young Syrian refugee was shocked and scared. Today, Shatila is a very different place to the camp that witnessed the infamous 1982 massacre of Palestinian refugees. It is now home to Syrian refugees too, but it remains a difficult place to live.

"I didn't expect this when I first came to Lebanon. I was shocked and did not think we could ever live in this camp,” she says. Now 19, Ghadir is working hard to improve her lot and that of others in the camp. She has resumed her studies and gives yoga classes to local youths. One day, she hopes to travel to India to deepen her knowledge of yoga, before eventually returning to her war-torn home country.

A report by Zeina Antonios

Leading an NGO for migrants in Brazil

01:15

Abdul Jarour, 31, was studying business management in Aleppo in 2010 but was soon conscripted into the army, where he wounded his shoulder, leg and hand in an attack on May 5, 2013. Jarour decided to flee Syria, migrating to Brazil from Lebanon in 2014 after receiving a humanitarian visa.

Working as a trader, it took Jarour four years to save enough money to bring his mother and sister to Brazil. His mother, 55, died of Covid-19 last year. Despite the challenges and tragedies, Jarour has integrated into life in Sao Paolo and is now vice president of the Pact for the Right to Migrate, an NGO that provides legal aid and essential goods to 13,000 families from Africa, the Middle East and Latin America.

A report by Valeria Saccone, Louise Raulais and Fraser Jackson.


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