UAE Helping Hands: A Syrian mother’s plight

A Syrian woman’s move to the UAE began with tears of joy, but a constant struggle and family problems have left her ailing, with no means of support for her or her youngest daughter.

S A, 67, moved to the UAE to be with her youngest daughter, who had found a job that she has since lost. Her husband has vanished and she doesn’t know how the two will survive. Victor Besa for The NationalShow less

ABU DHABI // Constant struggle and family sorrow have taken a great toll on a Syrian woman, who moved to the UAE shortly before the violence in her country broke out.

“I am so, so tired,” says S A, 67. “I can’t do this any more. I want to die and be free of all this suffering and pain.”

Her husband and sole supporter had just suffered a stroke and had been admitted to hospital.

“He was bedridden and could not move or speak,” the mother of two says.

The family began to struggle and her youngest daughter, Yusra, 25, started looking for a job to support her parents, while her eldest daughter, 43, looked after her father, who had been completely paralysed by the stroke.

“Yusra looked everywhere until one day, her friend said that she knew a Syrian man in the UAE who would be willing to hire her.”

The mother and daughter were to come to the UAE on visit visas and later try to arrange for their father to join them. Her eldest daughter was married and chose to stay in Syria. “Our luck began to change. For the first time, we had tears of joy,” the mother said.

“Yusra was hired and an Egyptian man took pity on me. He said that I was like his mother and added me as an investor in his company, just on paper, so I could get a visa and remain with my daughter in Dubai.

“Yusra is single and I couldn’t leave her alone here, and I am too old to be eligible for residency.”

The tears of joy ended when the time came for her to bring her husband to the UAE.

“My eldest daughter called me from Syria and she was screaming on the phone. Her father had disappeared. He was gone,” S A said.

“My daughter said that she went to get him some clothes and when she returned, he wasn’t in his bed. His phone was there, all his clothes and his belongings, his passport, his ID, everything. Nothing was missing.

“The nurses said that when they went in the morning to give him his medication, he just wasn’t there.”

It has been four years since the family last saw him. “I looked for him everywhere. My feet bled from knocking on every door and asking everyone and anyone if they had seen him. “I went to the embassy and asked for their help and they told me, ‘how can we find your husband among 4 million missing Syrians?’”

Things became even worse. Yusra lost the job that had paid for their accommodation and S A was found to have diabetes and high cholesterol.

“Everyone we know in Syria has left and I am too sick to go anywhere. I am losing my eyesight and my legs feel like there are a thousand needles jabbing them.

The mother and daughter now rely on charity organisations for food.

“I looked for the cheapest place for me and my daughter. We can’t stay in bachelors’ accommodation because Yusra is unmarried and we have no male supporter.”

S A found a small one-bedroom apartment in Sharjah for Dh32,000 but cannot afford it.

“I beg you to help me pay for this apartment. I swear I couldn’t find anywhere cheaper. Please help me. I have nowhere to go and no one to help me but God and you.

“Don’t let this place go away from me. I can’t take another step. I can’t look again. I am so tired.”

Hisham Al Zahrani, manager of zakat and social services at Dar Al Ber, said: “This is a humanitarian case of an elderly Syrian woman who sought the help of the UAE to help her live a life where she can at least have the basic necessities for herself and her daughter.”