Syrians on P.E.I. cautiously optimistic for loved ones back home

It was business as usual at Black & White Convenience and Take-out in Charlottetown on Monday, but the Syrian owners had much more on their minds than shawarma and tabouli.

Brothers Michael and Tafik Al Mayaleh have been glued to the news and keeping in touch with friends and family in their homeland after Syrian president Bashar al-Assad's authoritarian regime was toppled by rebels on Sunday, bringing what they hope is an end to 14 years of civil war.

So far, they said, everyone seems cautiously optimistic.

"It was a bad situation, and it's still bad, but we hope it gets better than before," Tafik said.

The brothers are among hundreds of Syrians on P.E.I. who fled their country in hopes of a better life in Canada.

Many left Syria to avoid the fighting and Assad's crackdown on dissent. The United Nations says his forces have killed more than 350,000 opponents, jailed and tortured countless thousands more, and used banned nerve gas on opposition towns to deter challengers. 

Al-Assad has reportedly fled to Russia.

Michael Al Mayaleh said there is still plenty of uncertainty in a country without a president, but he hopes residents can at least expect the basic necessities of life.

"We can't imagine. Many days no water, many days no electricity, and a lot of bombs around the people there," he said.

"That's my hope, for it to be better for everybody."

Fadi Saada, who fled to P.E.I. in 2020, said he worries for his friends and family in Syria. They assured him they are doing well, but they don't know what the future holds until the dust from Assad's ouster settles.

"Things are still a little chaotic…. We don't have a president anymore, and we don't know the future that awaits people. It puts you back in that situation again where you're worried and want to know what's happening."

The person some say is poised to shape that future is Abu Mohammed al-Golani, leader of the largest rebel faction Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, which the UN and the United States consider a terrorist organization.

The Sunni Islamist group struck a moderate tone on Sunday and promised a "free Syrian state" that embraces pluralism and religious tolerance.