Windsor’s Syrian community celebrates Assad’s departure, hopes to return home

The streets of downtown Windsor echoed with honking horns over the weekend as members of the city’s Syrian community celebrated major political developments in their homeland.

The celebrations followed news that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad fled the country as rebel forces closed in on the capital, Damascus, after 13 years of civil war.

The conflict forced millions of Syrians to flee their homes — including more than 1,300 who resettled in Windsor.

“We freed Syria,” one celebrant declared during a rally by the Detroit River.

“We got rid of the Assad regime.”

The rallies began Saturday afternoon, continuing late into the evening and picking up again on Sunday.Members of the Syrian community celebrated in Windsor, Ont., on Sunday, Dec. 8. (Robert Lothian/CTV News Windsor)

People waved Syrian flags, cheered, prayed and honked car horns, celebrating what they see as the liberation of their home country — and hope for a chance to return after years of exile.

“We’ve been trying to free ourselves from the Assad government for 13 years,” one participant said.

“Yesterday, we finally accomplished it.”

For many Syrians in Windsor, Assad’s departure represents a turning point.

“We will shortly go back to Syria, because we are Syrians,” one person said.

“We couldn’t before because if any of us returned, we would be taken to prison or forced to join Assad's military. But now we are free.”

Despite the celebrations, experts caution that Syria’s future remains uncertain.

What happens next will depend on how a new government forms — and whether international powers like the United Nations get involved.

"It all depends on what type of transitional authority will be established," said David Lesch, author of Syria: A Modern History. "Will the opposition groups stay united? Will there be an international element to it?"

Meanwhile, Canada’s federal government continues to advise against all travel to Syria, urging Canadians already there to leave if possible.

For those celebrating in Windsor, hope endures — even in the face of uncertainty.

“No matter what the future holds, it’s going to be 100 per cent better than what we had before,” one person shared.