LAST week one of the asylum seekers living at the Mercure Hotel in Dumfries shared his story.
And in this second part, Mohammed explains to editor Fiona Reid what life was like in Syria growing up, and details his treacherous journey to the UK.
The 23-year-old has lodged an application for asylum with the Home Office but is still waiting to hear the result of that.
In the meantime, a new government has taken power in Syria, headed by Ahmed al-Sharaa. He met with US President Donald Trump last week and the American leader has agreed to lift sanctions on the country.
It’s also been reported that al-Sharaa is working to establish a presence on the world stage and stabilise the former war ravaged country.
Life in Syria
SYRIA was a peaceful country when Mohammed was born and he was able to attend school until he was nine.
But his family’s life changed hugely after civil war broke out in 2011, with an uprising against then President Bashar al-Assad.
He recalls: “They were fighting each other, they did not have a real enemy. They were fighting against each other for nothing.
“Different countries got involved after the first month and after that it started to become hell.
“We were in the middle, with chemical weapons thrown on us. We did not have food and we can- not at that time trust anyone.
“The Red Cross were there but nothing reached us.”
School stopped for a year but Mohammed continued his own studies, made harder by no phones, internet, or electricity.
And like many others, tragedy hit his family, with dozens of his cousins killed and his grand- father dying when a bomb hit his house.
He explained: “We were trying to move from place to place to find a safe place.
“My dream for the future at that time was to run from the country: I did not want kids in a country with a civil war.
“At the beginning you cannot imagine you will survive this thing, it’s not just bombs, it’s chemical weapons too.
“I saw death and destruction. I saw many dead people, kids, parts of humans. It was so hard for me at 10 or 11 years old.
“I did not have nightmares be- cause daytime was a nightmare.” When war finished Mohammed returned to his studies, also working with his car mechanic father, helping to programme
cars, keys and engines. Describing the state of his home
country before he left in 2024, he said: “There’s no money and a lot of crime. People do anything to get money.
“The wages are too low, things are expensive to buy.
“More than 70% of houses in my city are destroyed. Mosques are destroyed more than churches. It was not safe, everywhere it’s danger.”
The Journey
SECRECY surrounded Mohammed’s decision to leave, with only his parents aware of his plans.
It was nighttime when his journey into the unknown began and he knew that every step would be precarious.
Travelling through Syria was the first obstacle as to get to the Turkish border he needed to cross through areas ruled by three different governments at that time.
He paid a guide who got him and three strangers to the border, there producing a ladder so they could scale the ten foot high wall, which was topped with razor wire and patrolled by guards and dogs.
Although Mohammed managed to get over it, staying in Turkey was not an option as it’s ‘closed’ to Syrians after already taking in three million people.
If caught there, he faced being sent home, so that meant running 20 kilometres through a forest, in the dark, with no water or food, hiding when he saw a tractor.
The ultimate aim was to get a place in a small boat leaving from ‘the middle of nowhere’ with 31 others to try and cross to Greece, and therefore Europe.
On their first attempt they were caught by the Greek Coastguard and he recalls them shooting the water and sky around the vessel, causing chaos in the boat.
It turned around but was then chased by the Turkish Coastguard and the passengers ended up jumping ashore and scattering.
Mohammed hid in trees for two hours while search drones were deployed.
But he was still keen to try again, saying: “I always had hope, I had nothing to lose.
“It was hopes of death or hopes of reaching somewhere.”
A few days later the crossing was successful and upon arrival at an unknown Greek island the migrants were taken in by the police and trans- ferred to a refugee camp made up of containers.
He was there for a few months while his injuries from the ordeal healed.
However, thoughts of staying in Greece to continue his studies were derailed when the authorities said there were not enough places and he would need to learn the language, which would take at least two years.
“I tried to find places to study Greek and continue my life there. They said ‘cos of my English to go to UK. I did not have anything to risk,” he recalls.
Off he went again and a bus took him to Calais in France, where more people smugglers arranged a night- time crossing to Britain.
The French police were watching though and stormed the beach as they tried to launch, deflating two other boats and using tear gas.
Mohammed remembers it vividly and said: “Two people collapsed, I think they are not alive, there was water on the beach.”
There were 71 crowded in his boat and he says that ‘many times’ he thought it was going to tip – show- ing a video clip on his phone of the closeness of the endless black water and waves smashing against what’s basically a large dinghy.
Eventually the UK Coastguard appeared and took the boat’s occupants to Dover for processing, a system he claims is intensive and consists of 194 questions: “They check your full story. I was very nervous and so exhausted.
“They will make interview with you about why you come to UK.”
His answers have formed his asylum claim and he’s since had a second interview and now has to wait for an official decision.
Meanwhile, he was bussed to Dumfries to stay in an official hotel.
And he’s glad to be here, saying: “I was hoping I would be in Scotland. When I was in Greece I was searching and heard Scotland is more lovely.
“Dumfries is a tiny city but I feel it’s a lovely city.”
The future for Syria
MOHAMMED keeps a close eye on what’s going on back in Syria, a place he said used to be ‘lawless’.
Of the new president, he said: “Who would have thought he would become leader?”
But he also reflects that what hap- pens in his native country is never ‘logical’, adding: “People hope this Syria will be better than before.”
However, he remains sceptical, pointing out al-Sharaa is a former Al-Qaeda member.
As for the UK, he would like to see a more legal immigration route set up and believes that would afford the government here more control over the situation and would also help to solve the small boats crisis.
“They did Brexit and make laws but it’s not as effective as if they did legal routes,” he said. “People would not come on the boats if they were rejected.
“If rejected they can be deported.”
And when asked if the controver- sial Rwanda scheme would have put him off, he replied that it would have made ‘no difference’ to his plans to come to the UK.
