Two Syrians in conversation

Will there be a return to Syria? “Anything is possible!”

Ziad Rabeh (above) is still leaving his return to Syria open, but looks to his old homeland with confidence. Hussein Alhussein (right) wants to stay here safely.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Aleksandra Pawloff, EPA, zVg)

After the upheaval in Syria is not automatically before leaving Austria. Many Syrians still have major concerns about "returning home". The "Krone" spoke to two Syrians. 

While the former dictator Bashar al-Assad has fled to Russia, where he has been granted asylum on humanitarian grounds, his compatriots in Austria will no longer be granted this right for the time being. However, for many of the 95,180 Syrians living in Austria, the question is now: stay or go?

I am overjoyed and optimistic that we can build a democratic nation in which power lies with the people.

Ziad Rabeh

Quick return home comes with problems
For the time being at least, Ziad Rabeh wants to leave the decision open. "I've been in Austria for eight years and have fought hard to get to where I am today," explains Rabeh, who currently works as a front office manager in a hotel in Vienna. 

Transformation can succeed
A quick return to Syria is "difficult at the moment", especially as his son has learned German and can neither read nor write Arabic. "That's one of the biggest challenges I'm facing in terms of returning to Syria," he reveals, adding: "Nevertheless, anything is possible. I'll let the future decide."

Either way, he looks to his old homeland with confidence. "The last 54 years and especially the last 13 years have shown us how not to do it, and I am sure that we can manage the transformation into a democratic state," he adds.

Ziad Rabeh (above) is still open to returning to Syria, but looks to his old homeland with confidence. Hussein Alhussein (right) wants to stay here for sure.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Aleksandra Pawloff, EPA, zVg)

Hussein Alhussein has a similar view. He fled to Austria via the infamous Balkan route in July 2014. He does not want to return to Syria for the time being. "Where should I go there? My house in my hometown of Aleppo is no longer there. I've been here for 10 years now. Austria has become my new home," says the 33-year-old, who has since set up his own hairdressing business in Vienna's Leopoldstadt district.

Alhussein has also started a family. He wants to show his three-year-old son his native country one day. But only when it is safe again. That will probably take years.