Saeed’s Service Garage

Beatriz Mira estudante de Jornalismo Claudine Duarte estudante de Letras Luara Dittrich estudante de Letras

Revisão da Tradução

Lucia kremer professora de Letras Julius Nunes professor de Jornalismo

After seeing their cities and homes devastated by the Syrian war, refugees attempt to start a new life in Curitiba

Text: Caio Porthus e Daniel Malucelli Layout: Michel de Alcantara

Antranig finds in Elia’s service

garage a fresh start for his family.

It was a cold night when the sky of Alepo, which is the most populated city in Syria was lit up by the blinding flashes of bombs exploding after another air strike.

This story is just another heartbreaking chapter in the lives of millions of Middle Eastern people who desperately long for nothing but peace.

After a hard day of work Antranig Karajian, 52, was awaken by the deafening sound of sudden explosions. His service garage had just been destroyed by a terrorist attack. Everything he had built and fought for, along with his brother Garbis, was gone in a matter of seconds, leaving nothing but debris. His home was about to be attacked and his family was in peril.

“I lost everything. Thank God there was no one in the service garage at the moment of the attack. There were 18 employees in charge of fixing government cars, which was the reason we were a target for the Islamic State. Alepo is in ruins. My family and I are catholic and now we are being hunted by terrorists in Syria. If they ever found us, we would be beheaded”, explained Karajian while sliding his hand along his neck.

He had no option, but to flee. Shelter was found in Curitiba, a southern city in Brazil. Karajian knew someone who had been taken in by Elia Amma, a Syrian Brazilian businessman, whose home welcomed refugees. Karajian contacted Amma who gave him a positive reply. The plane tickets were expensive, so Karajian left Alepo with a mission: work to bring his family to Brazil, while they were forced to hide in Syria. Once Karajian arrived in Curitiba, Amma came up with the idea of opening a new service garage for the refugee

and his brother Garbis, so that their families could be reunited. Little by little, and with the help of other Syrian Brazilian residents, the Karajian brothers managed to bring their kids and wives to their new home.

“Put yourself in their shoes. You’re running for your life. There’s a war and religious persecution. If the Islamic State catches you, you’re thrown in a

ditch.” - Elia Amma, service garage owner

Elia Amma (left) housed Antranig and more than 70 Syrian refugees.

battle now. “Imagine yourself in your own life, getting your own money, and out of the blue, you have to live off food, clothes and medicine donations” said the Syrian-Brazilian businessman

who took in more than 70 refugees.

Learning the language is extremely hard for Syrian immigrants, especially for the elderly. Brazilian Portuguese lessons are way too expensive and most of them are under the budget for that. Due to this lack of communication, there are several unemployed immigrants

surviving on donations. For this report to be done Amma’s help with translation was needed. yourself in your home and suddenly it’s taken from you and is completely destroyed. Here I’m nobody. I don’t speak Portuguese and I often see my countrymen going through hard times. It’s heartbreaking”, said Kajian in Arabic.

“We’re being hunted by Syrian terrorists. If they found us, my family and I would be beaheaded.” Antranig Karajian, mechanic

The Host

It was in the early 70’s when Elia Amma came to Brazil pursuing opportunities. Brazilian soccer fascinated him and Pelé was his idol. He established his life in Curitiba working with all sorts of business, and he is the father of 12 kids.

In every report that Amma saw about his homeland he felt a pinch in his heart. While talking

about his country his voice goes weak and his eyes are filled with tears. “The war is devastating my people. Why Syrian songs are always so sad?”, he questions. “Our people suffers, we want peace, not war. But what can we do about it? They are killing us all, we sing to overcome the pain.”, he said in a tired voice tone.

It all began in 2013. “Isaac was the first one. He was an acquaintance of someone I knew in Syria. They asked for help through social media. I had no doubts, how could I say no? He spent eight months with me before his family arrived. Uncles, cousins, everyone. They totalized twenty refugees. After that, another eight came… and six more … and then four. In the end, they were over 70 people. I didn’t know any of them, they were mostly from Alepo and got here with nothing else but the clothes they were wearing. I managed to give them food, a home and everything that you can possibly imagine. Now I owe two hundred thousand reais to the bank. But when I lay my head to sleep at night, I feel peacefull”, told the SyrianBrazilian

His life was transformed. His calm routine was interrupted in the moment that he saw himself diving into his mission. People running away from death, stepping out in a new country, knowing not even a single word in Portuguese, were under his protection. He couldn’t check his social network without receiving messages asking for help from entire families. Deep in his heart he could feel the pain that was attached in each of those messages from his fellow countrymen, and he just couldn’t stand it.

While working at his service garage Amma blacked out and woke up in a hospital with a cardiac catheter. “I’m no longer physically, mentally and financially able to do this anymore. Put yourself in their

Daniel Malucelli

shoes, you’re running away from war and religious persecution. If the Islamic State gets you, you’re thrown in a ditch. My part is done, we need Brazilians to help now. They need to be welcomed to restart their lives. Brazil is an open-hearted country, and that’s why they are here”, cried Amma.

According to the National Comitee for the Refugees (Comitê Nacional para os Refugiados - Conare), 2.077 Syrians were welcomed in Brazil from 2011 to august 2015, and more are yet to come. One of the main reasons for their preference is the huge Syrian Lebanese community and the Arabic descendants living in the country. The History Professor, Marcia Martinello also points out other reasons why Brazil is getting all these Syrians. “Nowadays, we receive more Syrians than the USA, Latin American countries and even some European countries, such as Greece and Spain, which have been inhibiting the coming of such refugees. This is due to the fact that, in 2013, the Conare created a norm that facilitates the grant of visas to Syrian immigrants. From that time to now, even with the distance, people would rather choose Brazil than run the risk of facing trouble in Europe.”

Understanding Syrian refugees’s case

Since January 26th 2011, Syria has been in civil war. According to the United Nations (UN), 220 thousand people have already died and four million fled, some of them are internally displaced within Syria, and others are refugees outside the country. They are war refugees, innocent people in search of peace. The number of casualties keeps rising, and among them there are many women and children .

The question is: what motivated this war? The situation is complex. Ulisses Galetto, PhD in History explains: “The Syrian war is the result of several circumstances. It is not only a reflex of the Arab Spring, originated in Middle Eastern countries in 2012, but also of some conditions derived from zones of influence within a geopolitical context”.

The Protests against the Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, who has been in power since 2000, started peacefully, but got a strong response from the government, which repressed the rebels with violence through the use of military forces. The rebellion against Al-Assad spread over the country, resulting in an armed conflict. Being Syria an excellent location in the Middle East and a rich source of oil, the war caught the political eye of many countries and groups.

The number of rebels fighting against Assad is about 100 thousand men, spread out in different factions, among them moderates, radicals and military men who are now against the Army. At the beginning of 2014, came into play the jihadist religious group self-named Islamic State (IS), which controls territories in Iraq and Syria, and was originated from the terrorist group Al-Qaeda. At first, the IS supported the rebels against the government, but now they are fighting against both of them, the dictator and the opposition forces, in order to take control over the whole region and create a theocratic state.

Among the opposition forces, there are the pashmerga, the selfdefense Kurd forces that combat the Islamic State. Kurds are an ethnic group from several Middle Eastern countries, such as Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Armenia, Georgia, and Syria as well. Many countries joined the dispute driven by different interests: Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Turkey, France, the United Kingdom, the United States and Russia. Americans support the moderate rebels and are against the IS, the radical rebels, and Assad, whereas the Russians support the Syrian government, and are against the IS and the rebels.

“America’s and Russia’s interests are at stake in Syria. The fact that Bashar Al-Assad is a bloodthirsty dictator triggered a conflict that soon surpassed the internal affairs and boundaries of that country. Today, the war in Syria is a lot more like a hegemony dispute in the Middle East, with all its political and economical implications”, stated Galetto.

Among all these disputes, it is the Syrian people who pay the price. “There is the stereotype of the ‘terrorist Arab’, devised by a conservative and irresponsible Western culture. This destructive myth contributes a great deal to the incitement of intolerance and violence related to any kind of difference. And the Syrians are the victims of such conservative wave based on ignorance”, wrapped up the historian.

This map shows the domination and conflict zones in the country. Besides the internal war among the army, the opposition rebels and the Kurds, the Islamic State moves forward throughout the Syrian territory. The United States and the European Union also fight the terrorists planning attacks in Syria.

TURKEY

Aleppo

Idlib

Hamah

Homs

LEBANON

ISRAEL

Damascus

SYRIA IRAQ

JORDAN

Government

Opposition

Islamic State (ISIS)

Kurdish