I Don't Want to Talk About Home by Suad Aldarra

Author:Suad Aldarra [Aldarra, Suad]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781529193091
Publisher: Transworld
Published: 2022-06-29T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 12

Illegals

WHEN THE NIGHT CURFEW was enforced in Egypt, it came as no surprise to us. We were well used to curfews in Syria. However, as news circulated on the Syrian Facebook pages that checkpoints were arresting Syrians with expired visas and deporting them, we found ourselves facing another unofficial curfew exclusively for Syrians. Other news reported police officers raiding apartments in Al-Housari, searching for Syrians. Looters took advantage of the situation and robbed houses by impersonating Egyptian officers. They knew Syrians had cash and jewellery in their houses since they’d sold everything back home and carried it with them. Banks didn’t authorize accounts with a tourist visa, but Syrians didn’t trust banks anyway.

A couple of weeks after the coup, curfew was lifted but the situation didn’t change much. When we went to Al-Housari to get some groceries from the Syrian shops, I could see military tanks from the bus’s window. I hadn’t expected that I’d see tanks so soon after leaving Syria.

Later that week, Housam went to pick up his salary from Western Union. Seconds after he left the place, a guy pointed a knife at him. He didn’t want Housam’s money; he wanted his Syrian passport. Luckily, Housam managed to run away with his life and passport.

‘What would they possibly do with a Syrian passport? It’s useless!’ I said in shock.

‘Many things,’ Housam said. ‘They could use it to seek asylum in Europe. They could use it to plant evidence at a crime scene and blame a Syrian. And, of course, they could use it just to blackmail its owner for money since they know how complicated it is to get a new one.’

After six months in Egypt, it was clear that our time there was over. We had to find an alternative. My mother-in-law wanted to go back to Syria, and Amani had an Egyptian suitor proposing to her and wanted to stay in Egypt. Countries that allowed entry for Syrians without a visa didn’t admit Palestinian Syrians like Housam. Our best chance was to secure a work visa. Our days turned into job hunting and reading about visa regulations all over the world. Housam’s previous manager in Dubai contacted him after hearing about the situation in Egypt and offered him his job back, but UAE rules regarding Syrians were changing overnight. At first, he was allowed to get a work visa, but I could not get a dependant visa. After a few weeks, I was allowed to get a tourist visa, but then Housam was not allowed any type of visa, even with a job contract.

A visa agent promised us that, with money and connections, we could get a visa anyway, so we sent our documents and started focusing on leaving for Dubai. We told the landlord of our intentions to leave as soon as we received a visa so that we wouldn’t lose our deposit. Every month for several months we told him that this would be our last month in the apartment, but the end of the month would come, and our visa would still be processing.

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