The breakout of civil war in Syria during the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings forced Mazen Alomar and his family to flee their country, and over 12 years went by before the family was reunited in Moose Jaw last October.
I met Mazen, his father Hatim Alkutayn, and his brother-in-law Vasim at the Moose Jaw Public Library to hear an update from him after writing his story in Nov. 2021.
In 2011, Mazen was working as a military policeman in Homs. He had no intention of fighting in a war, however, and when his superiors offered him a discharge, he took it eagerly. He went home to Idlib, only to be informed by rebel forces there that he would have to fight, after all.
His father obtained a passport for him, and he fled to Jordan.
The plan at that point was for the entire family to eventually reunite in Jordan. But Jordan stopped accepting refugees, and Mazen’s parents and sisters went to Turkey instead.
Mazen started a family in Jordan, and although they kept in touch through the internet, his parents had never met his wife and children in person. His sisters also married and had children in Turkey.
Seven years ago, Mazen and his wife were offered the chance to leave their refugee status in Jordan and settle permanently in Canada. At first, Mazen was dismayed and reluctant. He did not know where Canada was, he spoke no English, and he wondered if moving to Canada might not make it more difficult to bring his family back together.
He is now a Canadian citizen, his English is quite good, and in October 2022 his father and mother, and his sister and her family arrived in Moose Jaw from Turkey.
As Mazen translated, his father Hatim said he was happy to be in Moose Jaw.
“We came here from a dangerous place,” he said. “It was not safe there, and now we are in our new country, and we are safe now, finally.
“People here are friendly, and everything is good. And finally, we can meet all our kids and our kids can be together, like they were before. We did not think we would ever see our son anymore.”
On behalf of their family, Hatim and Vasim thanked the Canadian government for making a place for them. They also thanked the United Church of Canada for its sponsorship and, in particular, Jim and Jennifer Tenford. Jim Tenford was the pastor at St. Andrew’s United Church until he and his wife moved to Regina last fall.
“You will mention (the Tenfords), yes?” Mazen asked with a smile. “I think maybe they don’t want, but I don’t know how we can thank them (enough), because they help us with everything — applications, language, the culture. … They help us to bring them here, they help us when they arrive, to find a house for them.
“Not only because of their church, you know? But because they are just (good).”
There is now one sister remaining in Turkey with her husband and children. Mazen and his family will continue to work with the United Church and the Canadian government to bring her to Moose Jaw.
