00:00To stay or to go home, that's the dilemma facing Syrians living in Europe.
00:06After Bashar al-Assad's fall in late 2024, 159 Syrians voluntarily returned from Belgium,
00:14according to the Belgian Federal Agency for Asylum Seekers.
00:18Originally from Idlib, Ahmad flew to Lebanon in 2012,
00:23after being imprisoned and tortured for taking part in protests against the Ba'athist regime.
00:30Having settled in Belgium nine years ago, the Belgo-Syrian now works in the IT sector in Ghent.
00:37He plans to return to Syria in a few years to help rebuild the country through his association.
00:42I would like to publish the democracy in the Middle East, and especially in Syria as my country.
00:56It was already my dream since the start of the revolution.
01:02Ayesha fled Syria at 13 in 2011 after her father joined anti-regime protests.
01:09She spent seven years in Turkey before moving to Antwerp through family reunification.
01:15Now a communications student, she hopes to visit Syria, but rules out permanent return due to insecurity,
01:23limited economic opportunities and the prospect of starting over for a third time after losing everything.
01:29How are you expecting a place who have been in war for 14 years to be safe for people?
01:36It's not, it's not even like, life there is not stable.
01:40There is no job, there's no work, there's nothing.
01:43And some people have literally sold everything they had to be here.
01:49I know people, I know friends who sold their homes and cars and everything they had,
01:53so they have the money to come to Europe.
01:55Syrians have filed few asylum applications in the EU this year.
02:00Following Bashar al-Assad's fall, the European Union Asylum Agency reports they are no longer
02:06the largest group of asylum seekers, overtaken by Venezuelans and Afghans.
02:12Still, the agency warns that some Syrians remain at risk of persecution.
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