London’s Syrians hatch plans to go home while celebrating Assad's downfall

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For one Syrian cafe owner, exiled in London for two decades, the overwhelming joy at seeing his homeland finally free of the regime of president Bashar Al Assad means only one course of action.

“I'm going back, inshallah, as soon as I sell the shop,” Mohamad Sheekh Aly, 45, told The National, one day after he and hundreds of other Syrians gathered in London’s Trafalgar Square to celebrate the end of the 54-year rule of the Assad family.

Mr Sheekh Aly has lived in the UK since 2004 after initially coming as a student. He had previously come to the attention of the regime for airing his views about politics.

“Britain will always be in my heart, it will always be the country who gave me dignity and freedom. I’ll always come to visit to see friends. But the rest of my life, in Syria,” he said.

A tear ran down his face as recalled how he felt as he joined the celebrations in Trafalgar Square and after seeing a “heartbreaking” video of children being released from Syrian jails.

“This happiness we never felt in our life. I cannot describe it. It's something new, you know,” he said. “Just imagine England winning the World Cup. I reached a place where I couldn’t really breathe.

“I can talk to you for days and days about how bad it is. You cannot feel it. Just watch the videos of the people coming out of the prison and the kids who were born in prison.”

During his time in the UK, Mr Sheekh Aly has visited Syria for a few days at a time but said he had been scared. “People in the rest of the world didn’t understand. If you went there, you don’t know if you’re coming back.”

Some jubilant Syrians who went to London on Sunday made their way to their country’s embassy to place opposition flags there.

In the Syrian-owned Levant Cafe, not far from the west London family home of Asma Al Assad, the former president's wife, a cake in the opposition flag colours was produced at raucous celebrations that went on into the night.

The morning after, when The National paid a visit, two men were talking excitedly on a video call to Syria as an employee brought out a delicious sweet and coffee. “For a free Syria,” he said with a smile on his face.

As customers began to arrive, they spoke of their feelings about the new dawn for their country and whether or not they wanted to go back.

Abd Ali, who is 30 and from Aleppo, said he left Syria after being called up for military service because he “didn’t want to have [compatriots'] blood on my hands”.

“I’m very excited for the people to have freedom in my country and get out of this regime,” he said. “Since it started 10 days ago I’ve been watching the news, step by step, and we’re excited to see people coming out of prisons.”

Mr Ali said that after 13 years he had finally been able to see his mother, sister and brother, who have been living as refugees in Turkey. His father remains in Syria.

“I would like to go, but at the moment, we want to see what's going to happen in Syria; how it’s going to settle with new government,” said the father of three who works for a food supplier.

“I’m very optimistic and I'm very happy for the people there. They just need to breathe the freedom. This is a new Syria.”

Betoul Radwan’s family, like Mr Ali's, are scattered around the world. She has sisters in Germany and Turkey, and a brother in Australia. The 47-year-old is more upbeat about returning to Syria: “I hope, I hope, I hope.”

“My family, mum, dad, everyone, they left Syria, because of the situation. It's not good to live there. And everyone now wants to go back. All the time we are happy and we cry.”

Nizar Kanafani, 43, an accountant, said that even while living in the UK, exiles from Syria were afraid to talk openly about the situation in their homeland.

“I mean, finally, it's a dream. It happened. Bashar and his regime, well, they’re just gone. I never thought it would happen, to be honest with you, but finally it did. Now it’s a new era for us,” he said.

Mr Kanafani said that at some point he would like to return to Syria, “but for now we'll be just visiting because there will be a new government. Let's just see what happens”.

Rana Alzin, 35, who runs the Levant Cafe with her husband Mohammad Asami, said the mood among Syrians who gathered for the impromptu party was such that “nobody slept”. She added: “It was like Christmas Day or an Eid party. I cannot explain our feeling. We are so happy.”

Pictures of Syria hang on the walls of the brightly coloured cafe, while Arabic books, ceramics and plates sit on the shelves.

“We just want some area to just have peace and drink coffee and just look around you. Some things that are just reminding you of Syria,” she said.

Ms Alzin said that when she and her family “came to the UK as refugees there was not any hope that we can go back to our country”. Now, she said: “We have a plan to go back, we have plan to rebuild our house. We have a hope that our children will see our home again.”

For Mr Sheekh Aly, Syria has “always been in my heart” but now he faces the difficult dilemma of resettling his three children, who only speak the Darija Arabic of their Moroccan mother, back in his homeland. But he believes that after years of living under the regime of Mr Al Assad, his country has a bright future.

“I'm very optimistic. Anything would be better than what we had. There is nothing worse in history than what we had in Syria.”