Syrian refugee reflects on first year in Canada
Liam Britten | CBC News | Posted: December 10, 2016 11:30 PM | Last Updated: December 10, 2016
'It's been a big dream for us to be together again in this great country'
One year ago today Yasin Alhomsi arrived in Vancouver as a refugee from Syria.
Alhomsi had been imprisoned and tortured in his home country, as his father had been before him.
But now, Yasin, his brother, Majd, and father, Mamon, are together again after 15 years of being apart.
- Syrian refugee celebrates 'amazing' 1st Canada Day in B.C.
- Syrian refugees find work against the odds
- Family interrupted: Syrian refugees' story of torture, imprisonment and reunion in Canada
"It's been a big dream for us to be together again in this great country," Yasin Alhomsi told On The Coast host Stephen Quinn. "Now, I feel like it's the time to move on now."
Mamon Alhomsi was a politician opposed to the Assad regime and convicted of "attempting to change the constitution by illegal means" and "inciting racial and sectarian strife."
He was imprisoned for five years in 2001 and fled to Canada after being released.
When Yasin and Majd and their father were reunited in Canada on Dec. 10, 2015, it was an emotional moment.
Yasin thinks often of the people he has left behind in Syria. His mother and sister are still in Dasmascus.
"When I turn on here, the heater, because we have electricity," he said. "[My mother] told me, 'it's very cold here, we don't have heaters, we don't have electricity, we don't have fuel.'
"I feel, like, guilty. I hope all of them [can] find something safe or a stable life, like me."
Yasin has spent the past year working at an electronics wholesaler's in Richmond. He's been able to work his way up to being an account manager in that time.
"I actually believed in myself and believed that in this country, … all people [have] equal opportunities," he said.
With files from CBC Radio One's On The Coast
To hear the full story, click the audio labelled: Syrian refugee reflects on first year in Canada