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NHK
3 days ago
- Politics
- NHK
Syrians in Japan face turning point
Syria has begun the process of rebuilding after the Assad regime that lasted more than half a century fell in December last year. Japan's Immigration Services Agency estimates nearly 1,500 Syrians have come here since its prolonged civil war began in 2011. NHK World spoke with some of them who face a choice: stay where they have worked hard to establish new lives, or return to contribute to the rebirth of their homeland. Over 500,000 of more than five million Syrians who fled during the conflict have returned to the country since December, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. Mohammed Al-Masri had to decide whether to join them. He is from the Syrian city of Homs, which was mostly destroyed in the conflict, and came to Japan with his wife and children in 2018. Mohammed Al-Masri NHK World spoke with Al-Masri at his friend's home near Tokyo in March — the same room where he and his friends watched news of the Assad regime's collapse. He described the surge of emotion he felt, and said the situation still sometimes seems unreal to him. "It's been months now, but every single day, I ask myself 'Did it really happen? Has he gone? Is Assad really toppled?' And then I realized that was not a dream," he said. Al-Masri said it was only recently that he stopped having nightmares of being arrested at a checkpoint, and looking up at the sky in fear whenever heard a passing helicopter or jet. He says millions of his fellow Syrians are living with similar anxieties. "It's something that we need to cope up with and to recover, and the first step towards recovery is to admit that we have our own traumas in one way or another," he said. Survivor's guilt Al-Masri said he also feels survivor's guilt, knowing that most of his friends who stayed in Syria met a different fate. When protestors rose up against the longtime rule of the Assads in 2011, Al-Masri said he took part in the movement for democracy. At that time, he was a graduate student at Homs University and taught English at an elementary school. But he said he got threats from the government because of his participation in the protests. He was forced to leave his studies as the situation in his country deteriorated into a long civil war. One night in November 2013, his apartment was attacked while he and his wife were sleeping. "We barely survived. We were very lucky to survive the rocket or the missile," he said. "At that moment, my wife and we decided that we would leave Syria." Mohammed Al-Masri says his apartment was destroyed by airstrikes in November 2013. Lessons from Japan's experiences The couple fled to neighboring Lebanon in 2014, where their two children were born. Al-Masri started to work educating youths in Syrian refugee camps. Four years later, he and his family moved to Japan after he was granted a Japanese government scholarship. He earned his master's degree focused on peacebuilding from Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, and then began doctoral research at Waseda University. Mohammed Al-Masri came to Japan with his family in 2018. Al-Masri produced a documentary in 2022 with his Syrian friend, filming in both Hiroshima and Rikuzentakata in Iwate Prefecture, to record lessons Japanese people learned from their experiences. He visited Hiroshima in 2022 to meet hibakusha – atomic bomb survivors – who have long campaigned for the abolition of such weapons. He wanted to learn how they could overcome feelings of despair and continue to call for a world free of nuclear weapons and war. "For me, one of the challenges that I was facing in Japan was that the situation in Syria was getting worse and worse, and there was no hope then that Assad would be dethroned," he said. "Meeting the hibakusha, I could see that the work they do is amazingly important and very, very inspirational." Mohammed Al-Masri, right, met atomic-bomb survivors in Hiroshima in 2022. Al-Masri also went to Rikuzentakata in Iwate Prefecture, which was hit hard by the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011. The city used to be famous for its vast grove of 70,000 pine trees, all but one of which were swept away by the tsunami following the quake. He said he was inspired by survivors in their 80s who planted saplings as part of recovery efforts, even though they knew they would not see the trees reach maturity. Mohammed Al-Masri, second from left, produced a documentary that features survivors of Japan's 2011 tsunami cultivating pine seedlings. "We cannot guarantee that the change will happen while we are still alive. We have to keep trying, trying, and we have to do what's right," he said. Al-Masri was motivated to return to his homeland and help rebuild it for children who will hand down the meaning of peace to future generations. "What is more important than anything else is actually to focus on the future, to have this kind of a reconciliation and to focus on tomorrow and planning for tomorrow, not to take revenge," he said. Rebuilding schools In January 2025, Al-Masri returned to Syria by himself and reunited with his parents for the first time in over a decade. His father guided him around scenes of devastation left in the wake of the regime's collapse. The sight of a former school completely destroyed by airstrikes made him determined to help rebuild the country's education system. He aims to establish a new elementary school there. "It's our responsibility also to do our best, that our children will not face the same challenges and the same situation in the future," he said. Al-Masri visited a destroyed school said to have been occupied by the former regime, with snipers on its rooftop. His wife Aya Idrees, who shares his vision, told NHK World, "I didn't need any convincing." Their children were looking forward to going to a home country which they had never even visited before. However, his daughter had mixed feelings because of the language: she had not studied much in Arabic. Aya Idrees, Mohammed's wife, left, unfurled Syria's new flag at the airport as the family departed from Japan at the end of March. Pursuing 'home' Syrians who remain in Japan are wrestling with the question of how to help their homeland. Anas Hijazi is one of Al-Masri's close friends. He is from the city of Homs and came to Japan in 2019 on the same study program after living in Lebanon for seven years. Hijazi said he was forced to flee forced conscription by the Assad regime right after he graduated from Homs University, majoring in engineering. But his younger brother was detained and tortured for a year after he left the country. Anas Hijazi "I was very afraid to live in Syria every single moment of my day. Even going to the university, we had three military checkpoints on the way. So every day I went, I was afraid for my life," Hijazi said. "But I knew that if I left Syria before having any degree, then I would suffer tremendously. So I risk my life for the next two years until I finished." He said he misses his father and elder sister who remain in his hometown. During his absence, Hijazi's mother died after she was infected with COVID-19. Hijazi earned a master's degree in engineering from Soka University, and then joined a company as an IT consultant. Anas Hijazi, third from right, works as an IT consultant. "I can say very comfortably that after a few years living in Japan, it was the first time for me to feel at home. I lived in Lebanon for seven years, but I never felt home there," he said. Hijazi said living in a safe country allowed him to speak to groups of Japanese students about Syria's plight under the former regime. After a massive earthquake struck the northern part of the country in 2023, he and Al-Masri took part in a fundraising campaign to help the disaster victims. Hijazi, in the center of the second row, and Al-Masri, in the first row on the right, with other Syrians involved in fundraising in Japan for the most vulnerable families in the most affected areas back home. While the fall of the Assad regime gave him a sense of relief, he is unsure whether he will return permanently. In the meantime, he is watching to see if the country's peace can be sustained. In May, Syria's interim government established two independent institutions: the National Commission for Transitional Justice and the National Commission for the Missing. They are tasked with probing crimes committed during the Assad regime, compensating victims and locating thousands of people whose whereabouts remain unknown. "I was thinking, without transitional justice, there can never be any peace. So finding this very hard line that will keep the country together is something until now keeps me puzzled," Hijazi said. He added that his traumatic experiences in his homeland, as well as his years as a refugee in Lebanon, make him wary of relocating to a place where safey and stability are not assured. "It leaves you with endless scars and bad memories, and getting over that is not easy," he said. "We need to build this new trust between me and my previous home, and establishing that is unexplored territory." No right or wrong answer NHK World observed a conversation in Tokyo in March which Hijazi shared his concerns with Al-Masri, and asked him about his decision to stay in Japan for now. Anas Hijazi and Mohammed Al-Masri met in Tokyo in mid-March. Hijazi said that he has a job and an income in Japan, and he fears losing everything if he leaves it all behind. Al-Masri empathized with this, and told him, "If you return to Syria, you need to make a life plan seriously and precisely. So I can say your thought is correct, and your choice is correct." Hijazi asked his friend, "When you decided to return, weren't you worried about your kids' education or adapting to life there?" Al-Masri replied that he knew there would be challenges, but all he could do was "deal with whatever happens." Al-Masri said, "The most important thing for me is having a sense of belonging to the country, and a sense of responsibility. I believe that when I return, I can do something, however small." Hijazi and Al-Masri understood and respected each other's choices. They agreed to draw upon their own networks and experiences to bridge Syria and Japan, and do all they could to contribute to their country's rebuilding. 'A new page' Al-Masri sent NHK World video footage of the Eid festival in Homs in April which celebrated the end of Ramadan, the Muslim holy month of fasting. One month after Al-Masri returned to Syria, he sent videos to NHK World showing how his country is gradually returning to normal. His hometown was severely damaged so he decided to settle in a different area, where his children are getting used to their new life. Al-Masri's daughter Alma, left, says that she usually uses Japanese when she argues with her brother Dia, center, at home. Dia enjoys his new life in Syria but says he misses drinking Japanese milk. In May, the Japanese government partially lifted sanctions it had imposed on Syria, following similar moves by the European Union and the United States. Like Hijazi, the global community is watching to see if the country's peace can be sustained as the country navigates its new era. "We have a new page and it's becoming real and we are able to relive what we dreamed of," Al-Masri said in an online interview from Syria. Mohmmed Al-Masri shared his situation from Syria in an online interview with NHK World at the end of April. Al-Masri said that anyone living in Japan or another developed country could not help comparing the level of services there with those in Syria as it rebuilds. Despite this, he said he felt good to be where he was. "This is our home and we have to do our best to help the country recover, and contribute to the reconstruction of the country."
The National
4 days ago
- Politics
- The National
How the Iran-Israel war is viewed in each neighbouring country
The aerial war between Israel and Iran has been playing out over the skies of the Levant, prompting concerns in each country about its effects on internal stability and their strategic position. Iraq has condemned the Israeli strikes on Friday that ignited the war. Despite their sharp political differences with Iran, both Jordan and Egypt have also accused Israel of violating international law and threatening regional security. Only Syria has remained silent. A dramatic regime change in Damascus last year has ushered in the political ascendancy of Syria's majority Sunnis and undermined Iran's cross-border military reach. Here is how the conflict is viewed in each of the region's capitals: Damascus A source close to the country's new rulers said that the Israeli attacks on Iran, the main regional backer of the former Assad regime, are seen as 'positive' because they undermine Iran's ability to destabilise Syria as it emerges from decades of hostility towards Washington. Strengthening Damascus as a bulwark against Iran and possibly drawing the country into the Abraham Accords were the main reasons behind US normalisation with Damascus last month, according to US officials. President Ahmad Al Shara does not want Iranian proxies, who had free rein in Syria until the removal of the regime in December, to penetrate the country again and launch attacks on Israel, the source said. A week before the Israel-Iran war, a small group in southern Syria that once formed part of Iran's regional network was suspected of carrying out a rocket attack on an Israeli-occupied area in the Golan Heights, drawing Israeli retaliation against Syrian military targets. 'For Al Shara, Israel is targeting its most dangerous enemy. Issues with Israel can always be negotiated. But for him, Iran is personal.' Amman Jordan has treaded carefully whenever conflicts involving Israel have erupted since the two countries signed a peace treaty in 1994. The kingdom also has a defence pact with the United States that governs the presence of 3,800 American soldiers in the country. Its population, however, contains a large proportion of people of Palestinian origin, and anti-Israeli sentiment pervades the public discourse. Officials have shied away from public criticism of Iran despite viewing Tehran and its proxies as a threat to the stability of the system. In his first public comments on the conflict, Jordan's king Abdullah said on Sunday that the country will not be a theatre of war and will not allow anyone to interfere with its internal stability, in an apparent warning to groups that might try to attack the country or US interests. Amid the Gaza war in January last year, a drone attack in north-eastern Jordan by a Shiite militia in Iraq supported by Tehran killed three US soldiers. The attack was seen as part of the Iranian response to the Israeli invasion of Gaza, but also retaliation for the assassination of Iranian military officials in Syria. As soon as Iran started retaliating against Israel on Friday, Jordan announced that its air force had intercepted missiles and drones entering its airspace. A military official later said the projectiles were heading from east to west, in clear indication that they were Iranian. Baghdad Iraq, which is one of the world's biggest oil exporters but imports virtually everything else, is one of the nations most vulnerable to the fallout from the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran. This is largely because of the government's weak influence on myriad Iran-backed groups in the country. On the security front, Iraq faces the risk of becoming a battleground for proxy warfare. There are fears that it could be pulled deeper into this confrontation if the Tehran-allied militias choose to join. After the outbreak of the conflict on Friday, the powerful militias said they would enter the conflict only if US forces based in Iraq intervened to support Israel. However, one group declared on Monday that it will join the fight, vowing to attack Israel and 'anyone who supports it' in Iraq and the region. A reassertion of military sway over foreign policy also threatens Iraq's delicate balancing act between maintaining relations with both Iran and the West, particularly the US, and undermines its efforts to assert sovereignty and pursue an independent foreign policy. Economically, the war could affect a process of recovery dating back to the low oil prices of five years ago. If the conflict expands and Iran closes the Strait of Hormuz, financial returns from Baghdad's oil sales could again plummet, plunging the country into another crisis. Past pressures on Tehran have also weakened the Iraqi dinar, which is trading at around 1,300 to the US dollar. Whenever Tehran has become more isolated, Iranians have bought what is known as the 'cheap dollar' from Iraq, causing foreign currency scarcity in Iraq and undermining the dinar. Beirut Unlike Iraq, Lebanon's Hezbollah, once Iran's go-to militia in Tehran's so-called asymmetrical warfare against its foes, has indicated no desire to enter the fray, although it has kept up anti-Israeli rhetoric. Its military might has taken a blow after a 14-month war with Israel, causing it to lose its footing. Since its military defeat Western and Lebanese leaders have been working towards disarming the once-powerful group. Israel understands only the language of 'killing, fire, and destruction,' Hezbollah said in a statement following Israel's initial assault on Iran. However, Riad Kahwaji, head of the Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis, said the group is constrained and in no position currently to support Iran. 'Hezbollah has taken a very strong beating. Its capability has diminished considerably,' Mr Kahwaji said. Meanwhile, Lebanese officials have fielded US and European warnings against allowing Lebanese territory to be used to support Iran. Hezbollah has been receptive to the pressure, with one of its officials telling Reuters last week that it would 'not initiate its own attack on Israel in retaliation for Israel's strikes'. Still, an Israeli drone buzzed over Beirut at a low altitude on Monday, its incessant noise overlaying the urban sounds of the capital. The message was clear: although Israel is busy fighting a high-stakes war with Iran, it can still cause significant destruction in the already devastated Lebanon. Cairo Egypt, home to the Suez Canal, is mainly worried about any spillover that could disrupt global shipping, as well as imports of commodities and energy. The government, as indicated by emergency meetings it has convened, fears that Iran could retaliate against Israel by closing vital maritime chokepoints such as the Strait of Hormuz or Bab Al Mandeb, which could disrupt access to the Suez Canal. Egypt is import-dependent and has limited sources for foreign currency, so it is particularly vulnerable to disruptions in food, fuel, and other essential goods. On Sunday, the Federation of Chambers of Commerce issued a statement reassuring citizens that Egypt had strategic reserves to cover its needs for six to 12 months. Moreover, Egypt's energy security is under threat after Israel suspended natural gas exports to it due to the deteriorating security situation. With high summer temperatures driving higher energy demand, this could lead to power shortages and rolling blackouts, a politically sensitive problem that sparked a public backlash as recently as 2023. Militarily, Egypt has put its armed forces on heightened alert, conducting nationwide air defence drills to ensure readiness. The Sinai Peninsula, which borders Israel, is on maximum alert, reflecting Cairo's fear of further spillover from the conflict. Incidents of stray projectiles landing on Egyptian territory, as seen with the Iranian-backed Houthis' misfired rockets, have further underscored Egypt's vulnerability.
Al Jazeera
4 days ago
- Al Jazeera
German court convicts Syrian doctor of crimes against humanity
A German court has handed down a life sentence to a Syrian doctor convicted of committing acts of torture as part of Bashar al-Assad's brutal crackdown on dissent. The Frankfurt Higher Regional Court imposed the sentence on Alaa Mousa on Monday, ruling that the doctor's actions formed part of the Assad regime's 'inhumane and repressive' campaign against opposition figures. The court had found the 40-year-old guilty of crimes against humanity, including murder and torture, in connection with acts committed during Syria's civil war between 2011 and 2012. Presiding judge Christoph Koller said the verdict underscored the 'brutality of Assad's dictatorial, unjust regime'. The trial, which ran for more than three years, was one of the most significant cases brought under Germany's principle of universal jurisdiction, which allows serious crimes committed abroad to be prosecuted domestically. Mousa was accused of torturing patients at military hospitals in Damascus and Homs, where political prisoners were regularly brought for supposed treatment, on 18 occasions. He had denied the charges during the trial, which came to a close months after al-Assad was deposed in December 2024. Prosecutors said rather than receiving medical treatment, detainees were instead subjected to horrific abuse, with some dying as a result. Witnesses described numerous acts of severe cruelty, including Mousa pouring flammable liquid on a prisoner's wounds before setting them alight and kicking the man in the face, shattering his teeth. In another incident, the doctor was accused of injecting a detainee with a fatal substance for refusing to be beaten. One former prisoner described the Damascus hospital where he was held as a 'slaughterhouse'. Mousa arrived in Germany in 2015 on a skilled-worker visa and continued practising medicine as an orthopaedic doctor until his arrest in 2020. Colleagues reportedly said they had no knowledge of his past, with one describing him as 'unremarkable'. During the trial, which opened in 2022, Mousa denied personally harming patients but admitted witnessing abuse. He claimed he was powerless to intervene, saying: 'I felt sorry for them, but I couldn't say anything, or it would have been me instead of the patient.'
The Guardian
4 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
German court sentences Syrian doctor to life in jail for crimes against humanity
A German court has sentenced a Syrian doctor to life in prison for crimes against humanity for torturing detainees at military hospitals under former ruler Bashar al-Assad. The crimes committed by Alaa Mousa, 40, during the Syrian civil war were 'part of a brutal reaction by Assad's dictatorial, unjust regime', said the presiding judge at the higher regional court in Frankfurt, Christoph Koller. More details soon …
Reuters
4 days ago
- Health
- Reuters
German court to deliver landmark verdict on Syrian doctor accused of torture
BERLIN, June 16 (Reuters) - A German court is set to deliver a verdict on Monday in the case of a Syrian doctor accused of crimes against humanity, including the torture of detainees at military hospitals in Syria, in a landmark trial following the collapse of the Assad regime. The trial of the 40-year-old doctor began in January 2022 at the Higher Regional Court in Frankfurt am Main, spanning over 186 sessions where the court listened to about 50 witnesses and victims, along with legal experts. The defendant, identified as Alaa M. in accordance with German privacy laws, was accused of torturing opponents of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad while serving as a physician at a military prison and hospitals in Homs and Damascus during 2011 and 2012. In court, Alaa M. pleaded not guilty, saying he was the target of a conspiracy. The verdict will be the first to be handed down in a case involving former Syrians accused of state-backed torture since Assad was overthrown in December 2024. Germany has prosecuted several former Syrian officials in such cases in recent years. The Assad government denied it tortured prisoners. Alaa M. arrived in Germany in 2015 and worked as a doctor, becoming one of roughly 10,000 Syrian medics who helped ease acute staff shortages in the country's healthcare system. He was arrested in June 2020 and held in pre-trial detention. Prosecutors charged Alaa M. with over a dozen counts of torture and accused him of killing a prisoner. In one instance, he allegedly performed a bone fracture correction surgery without adequate anaesthesia. He is also accused of attempting to deprive prisoners of their reproductive capacity in two separate cases. The plaintiffs were supported by the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR), which has brought similar cases to German courts in the past. German prosecutors have used universal jurisdiction laws that allow them to seek trials for suspects in crimes against humanity committed anywhere in the world. The doctor also worked at the Mezzeh 601 military hospital in Damascus, a facility known for its role in the Syrian regime's torture apparatus. According to Human Rights Watch, the hospital's morgues and courtyard appeared in a cache of photographs that documented widespread, state-sponsored abuse of civilians. The images were smuggled out of Syria by a former Syrian military photographer codenamed Caesar. Syrian lawyer Anwar al-Bunni, who heads The Syrian Center for Legal Studies and Research, a human rights group in Berlin that helped build the case against Alaa M., said he expected the court to respond to the prosecutor's demand for a life sentence without a possibility of parole. "This was a doctor, not a security officer. He was expected to protect human life. Killing and torturing people was not his job, he did it voluntarily just due to his blind support for the Assad regime," al-Bunni said.
