Return to Homs: This is why Syrians are fleeing their homes

On March 24, the Islamic Association of Sudbury (better known just as “The Mosque”) will present the feature-length documentary film, Return to Homs, to raise the funds needed to re-settle a Syrian refugee family.

So why this film, and why must we raise funds?

Every night we see news-clips about the Syrian civil war. We can be de-sensitized to the sight of more bombed out towns, more barefoot children in those huge Camps. We feel helpless watching hospitals and schools being bombed.

It’s easy to become blasé about our Canadian processing centres in Jordan and Lebanon, the arrivals at Pearson Airport, and Syrian children playing in the snow. We’re proud to welcome the refugees.

Yet how many of us in our city of immigrants understand just what it’s like to become a refugee? With this event, the Islamic Association and its friends will raise funds with a film that takes us beyond the nightly news right into the front lines in the city of Homs.

Syrian, Talal Derki’s 2013 film Return to Homs takes us into the lives of Abdul Baset Al-Sarout, a 19-year-old singer and former goalkeeper with Syria’s national soccer team, and his friend, 24-year-old journalist, Ossama.

As peaceful protesters in the thriving city of Homs, they were attacked by Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad’s tanks. When Civil War reduces Homs to bomb sites and rubble, the pair join and lead a band of rebel insurgents.

The film takes us with them on the front lines. We experience the chaos of an underground resistance. We run with Baset and his poorly armed group through holes in the walls of abandoned homes to avoid gunfire from tanks and snipers. We glimpse the former peaceful, cultured family lives of those who are now refugees.

This film (in Arabic with English subtitles) won the Sundance Grand Jury Prize, the San Francisco International Film Festival Golden Gate Award, and the Krakow Film Festival Silver Horn Award at least partly for the way it uses imperfection to convey immediacy.

As we see what has been left behind, we understand the people who are becoming our new neighbours had no choice but to leave.

So why exactly must the refugee sponsor groups raise money? Doesn’t the government pay? There are three kinds of fefugee sponsorships: government, private and blended. The Sudbury sponsor groups are private sponsors.

Each group must show it has the funds to house and maintain the refugees for one or two years. Housing must be affordable for the family in the longer term. All costs must be covered. As well, the sponsors must enable the families to re-settle in Sudbury, to adapt to our climate and our community, and to maintain their own cultures. It’s not a short-term project.

We’re hoping that Return to Homs will help us all to better understand what is happening in Syria, as well as raise part of the funds needed for our sponsorship. Maybe you’ve already given money to another group. Maybe you gave last year. No problem. You can give as much as you can afford to as many of the sponsoring groups as you wish. And you will get a tax receipt for your donations.

Please join us for the movie “Return to Homs” on March 24 at 7 p.m. Doors open at 6.30 p.m. at the Sheridan Auditorium at Sudbury Secondary School on College Street. Free Parking, comfortable seating, accessible building.

You can support us in two ways. Buy your Tickets at $25 each (seniors and students $20) at the Apollo Restaurant on The Kingsway, Gloria’s Restaurant, Paris Natural Foods, Petro-Canada (Lasalle and Barrydowne). The cost at the door is $30.

And there is still time to order an individual or a business on-screen advertisement at $150, or to make a donation to the Sudbury Refugee Relief Fund. Please email me at [email protected] for more info. Or as some schools and other groups are doing, you can collect donations for this sponsorship effort.

Dr. Chris Nash is a retired psychologist and volunteer.