Vasfi Hussein al Bagari, who sold spare parts and agricultural irrigation equipments, states that; “Some people in our area do not migrate, put up with pressure, problems, pains; some of them cannot leave their properties; some others cannot risk their salaries and income by leaving to migrate”.
ORSAM: Could you tell us about yourself?
Vasfi Hussein al Bagari-abu Nahsen: I lived in Al Bab district of Aleppo, Syria. I am 47 years old, and a father of 3 children. I sold tyre, spare parts and agricultural irrigation equipments.
ORSAM: Could you tell us about your life in Syria before the civil war, your experiences during the civil war and what brought you to Turkey?
Vasfi Hussein al Bagari-abu Nahsen: I had a very nice house in the district, and I had bought it for 7 million SYP back then (it equals to more than 200 thousand TL). It was a house with a large garden. I also owned my shop with a storage full of equipments. It was a decorated retail sale shop. My son and I had a regular and a peaceful life. I stood on my own feet. I sold spare parts for all kind of vehicles, as well as all kind of pipes, generators etc. to be used in agricultural irrigation, and also I had a good capital.
When the civil war broke out, people stopped cultivating, and I could no more sell anything when migration started as well. When farmers who used to pay me each harvesting period, lost their sources of income, I could not earn anything either. Money lost its value. Although those who migrated were financially damaged, at least they got rid of pressure and torture. Those who could not migrate continued to live in difficulty. Even though I had not migrated in the first place, my brother and relatives migrated, so I suffered loneliness and unease. After a certain point, we could not hear from each other with my relatives. A bombardment took place, and those invader groups took whatever we had away, water was cut, our wheat stocks declined, we couldn't find anything to eat with our bread we baked at home. The young people I know were killed in conflicts, and most of the families who have not left Syria are in sorrow and misery.
I could not live in such an environment, and thus I also migrated like people around. Some people in our area do not migrate, put up with pressure, problems, pains; some of them cannot leave their properties; some others cannot risk their salaries and income by leaving to migrate. Children of some people work and study in Aleppo, Damascus and many other districts of Syria. When families of those people migrate, they cannot be heard from and their children suffer.
Currently, I live in a rent apartment, and I have no idea what happened to my luxurious house where I used to live back in Syria. Even though I am safe here in Turkey, I have neither peace nor am I happy.
* This interview was made by Feyyat Özyazar in Reyhanlı district of Hatay on 15 January 2013.
