Mahmoud Idris Al Salim, who is a farmer, lost his son during the conflicts. He decided to migrate for safety of his life, economic problems, and also due to the pressure caused by the war.
Mahmoud Idris Al Selim Abu Ibrahim: I am from Kefellesin Village of Idlib, Syria. I am 62 years old. I have 2 wives, and I am a father of 11 children. The ages of my children range between 15 to 28. I have 8 sons. My 5 children are married. I have 12 grandchildren. We have lands in our village. We grow olive, grape, fig. Our sole source of income is agriculture and stockbreeding.
ORSAM: Could you tell us about your life before the civil war in Syria, what you went through during the civil war and the reasons why you came to Turkey?
Mahmoud Idris Al Selim Abu Ibrahim: When the civil war broke out, my 26-year-old son joined Jaish Al-Hur. During the conflicts, my son was martyred. He has two sons. After his death, the whole family started to feel more uneasy about the situation. Our olive groves, orchard were damaged. We could not harvest our crops. We were damaged to a large extent in economic terms. There was no meadow left to graze our animals. Blackout, food shortage etc. We could not find anything to eat. I wanted to sell my field and my livestock. However, there was no one left to buy them as everybody migrated, lands could not be cultivated, and due to the lack of meadow to graze livestock. I sold my livestock at low prices to butchers. We decided to migrate for safety of his life, economic problems, and also due to the pressure caused by the war. We arrived in Reyhanlı and rent a house. As the whole family, we settled in this four-room house with garden. We took a pick-up truck while coming here. We both meet our own needs and also transport to the border or city center through this pick-up truck. During the olive season, we worked in the fields in Reyhanlı. We planted onion, and pruned trees. Women in our family bake bread and sell them to the Syrians in the neighborhood. We are in contact with those come from and go to Syria. We hear that our furniture and goods at our home we left behind are all plundered. We were damaged in both financial and emotional terms. What I worry about most is the fact that my grandchildren cannot carry on their education.
* This interview was made by Feyyat Özyazar in Reyhanlı district of Hatay, on 27 December 2012
