Riad: "I feel like my life has gone backwards"
Riad sitting inside a teahouse. Photography: Carmen Valiente
Resolution of the asylum application: refugee status recognized.
Riyadh, 25, from Syria, had lived in Lebanon with his family for six years. They moved to the neighboring country when war broke out in their country, although they were not sure either, as xenophobic attacks against Syrians were common. This was the reason that led them to request asylum in Spain.
Riad belongs to those 6.6 million people from Syria who were displaced to other countries due to the civil war that broke out in 2011. From that moment, he remembers that "we could not live there. There were many dead people, many bombs ..." .
He and his family are from Idlib, one of the most critical points of the war today, a stronghold of the rebels.
They left for Lebanon to rebuild their lives shortly after the war began. There, Riad worked as a bricklayer and waiter, but the situation in Lebanon was complicated . Cases of xenophobic attacks on Syrian refugees by Lebanese citizens were taking place. Riad was the victim of one of those attacks. Some strangers rebuked him in the street asking him where he was from and, when he replied, they attacked him from behind, hitting his head, causing serious injuries.
On this occasion we meet him in a tea shop in the center of Seville. He is a regular customer of this place that highlights how much it reminds him of his country. The place has Arabic decoration. In it, typical teas from countries such as Morocco, Pakistan and Syria are served, there are also hookahs and traditional Arab sweets.
QUESTION. How are you?
ANSWER. Well. My life is normal, I have no problem. I was working in a Spanish food restaurant. First I had a year on a full-time contract. Later, with the Covid, they did not renew me, but they have told me that they will call me again soon. Now I am collecting unemployment, I have only two months left, so I hope to return to work as soon as possible.
Q. And your family?
R. They have not found work. They continue to study Spanish and it has been a year and a half since their help from the Red Cross has ended. I sometimes help them, but I also need the money for myself.
At the end of 2017, Riad and his family received a call from a Spanish organization. They suggested that they all come to Spain together as refugees. Here, according to his account, they assured them that they would provide them with a home and access to studies.
Upon arriving in Spain, Riad felt cheated "they told me that I was going to live in a house, not in the CAR" . The food and the limited check-in and check-out times were shocking to him. "I feel like I'm in jail." When he left there, he received help from the Red Cross, but Riad does not want to depend on others: " I don't want help from anyone. I want to have my job, my house and that's it."
That is the freedom that Riad was looking for since he arrived in Spain and that he already mentioned in our first meeting, which gives him a job to support himself with and to be able to go out whenever he wants with his friends. "I have many Spanish and Arab friends around here. We like to go to eat, to cafes, discos ... I like to meet people and not be locked up."
Currently Riad lives in a room in a shared flat. Of her four siblings, two have already become independent, while the two youngest live with their parents. The youngest, her fourteen-year-old sister, is "the first in her class. She speaks Spanish, English, French, Arabic, Turkish and now she wants to learn Chinese. She 's very smart, she likes to learn." For his part, he wanted to study at the university, but his wishes were cut short when the war broke out.
Three years ago, he was talking about the tough situation a family member was going through in Lebanon. Asked again about this person, Riad's eyes go glassy for a second.
Q. In 2018 you said that your aunt was trapped in Lebanon. What has become of her?
R. It remains the same. His life is very bad. Now there are more problems there. There is no war, but they have to make war to live. He wants to get out, but he can't. My country is still at war so it cannot enter and as the other border of Lebanon faces the sea, it cannot leave either. To come to Spain they would need a permit.
The harsh living conditions you refer to are due to the inflation that Lebanon is currently experiencing.
During his first months in Spain, Riyadh's goals were simple: learn the language and find a job.
Q. What are your current goals?
R. Back to work. If not, I will go to another city or another country. When more time passes I would like to open my place, I do not want to work for anyone. I would like to open a cafeteria where cocktails and hookahs are served and also a restaurant serving Arabic and Spanish food.
Riyadh contemplating the horizon in Saida (Lebanon). Photo courtesy.
Q. Before you mentioned that you have many friends here. Do you feel integrated?
R. I'm very good. I like Spaniards a lot because they don't have problems with people from outside. Here we are all the same.
Q. Are you happy?
R. I am not very happy, more than that I am sure that I have my family here. I can see them and I don't have to be afraid of something happening to them. If they were in Lebanon or in my country I would be as dead, I would always be thinking of them. That is what makes me happy in my life around here, that they are with me.
Riad is very critical of his situation and living conditions. As a war refugee, his life changed dramatically. He went from living comfortably to being forced to leave his country and, after that, having to also leave Lebanon because his safety was at stake . He came to a country from a different continent, with a language unknown to him and in which he would have to build a new life from the ground up.
Q. Do you have the life you expected when you came?
R. The truth is that no. I thought I would have a better life. In Lebanon I had my house, my motorcycle, we had a car and I had a lot of money. I always ate out and had no shortage of money. When I got here I went backwards, not forwards. Yes, the people here are good and I have no problems with them, but I feel like my life went backwards. So do other Syrian friends who live here.
Q. The previous time you said that you would not return to Syria, have you changed your mind?
R. I would visit again if the war ends. I am 25 years old and have been away since it started. I still feel that it is my country, but I think that even if the war ends, there will still be problems, although I miss life there. The country is always close to the heart.