KUALA LUMPUR: When Syrian refugee Somar Hukaima learnt about the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime earlier this month , he had mixed feelings. While Somar was pleased that the country’s former president had been ousted by rebel forces , he could not shake off worries about who might succeed a leader accused of tyrannical rule for more than two decades. “In my mind, I am worried about who would rule Syria.
Would it be better or worse? I am worried about the future of my country. It is still in a complete mess now,” he told CNA in an interview. The 34-year-old musician from the city of Suwayda in the south of Syria has been living in Malaysia since 2017.
Somar is one of 2,680 Syrian refugees and asylum-seekers registered in Malaysia as of November this year, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The fall of Assad's regime in Syria has sparked mixed emotions among the millions of Syrian refugees scattered across the globe. For those residing in Malaysia, the news has similarly brought both hope and uncertainty.
While many rejoiced at the end of the oppressive regime, concerns about the future of their homeland persist. NOT TIME TO GO HOME YET Syrian rebels seized control of the capital Damascus on Dec 8, forcing Assad to flee to Russia after more than 13 years of civil war, which claimed over 580,000 lives and displaced 12 million others and led to the rise of the Islamic State terror group. The Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), .