Hosam Mansor left his family and country to evade involuntary reenlistment with Syrian forces
The B.C. Catholic
PORT COQUITLAM
Hosam Mansor never imagined he would have to leave his home country to live alone, far from his family, in a basement. But in order to avoid being detained, that is exactly what he has had to do.
“I’m working, studying, and living alone in a basement,” Mansor said. He grew up in Homs, Syria, and graduated from his local university with a bachelor’s degree in economics while majoring in banking. He planned to begin working soon after.
However, a compulsory military service awaited him instead. “When I finished my university in my country, it’s mandatory to serve in the army,” Mansor said. “It’s the law.”
Mansor bit the bullet and enlisted with the Syrian army. After one year and eight months, he completed his service. “While I was in the army, the (Syrian Civil) war was starting,” he said. “When I finished my army service, they asked me to join again to fight.” Mansor refused, but the government persisted.
“I could not stay in my country because the government was looking for me” to forcefully enlist him, said Mansor. “I went to Lebanon, and spent one year and two months there, before coming” to Canada.
He was forced to leave his father, mother, and three brothers. “I came here by myself. It was very sad, but my family understood that,” Mansor said. “If I escaped to other places (close by), ISIS might come, so (my family) knew the best solution was to go far away.”
Once he arrived in Canada in 2014, he was faced with a different problem. No college would accept Mansor’s previous education. “They told me, ‘You need to start all over again.’ I don’t like this, but I have no choice.”
Mansor relies on his full-time job at a pita bread factory to make ends meet and to send financial aid to his family. “I am alone, so I can’t afford to work part-time,” he noted.
He is a member of Sts. Peter and Paul Chaldean Catholic Mission, which meets at St. Andrew Kim Parish. There, Father Sarmed Biloues, the pastor of the mission, asked Mansor to speak at the annual university students’ Mass in February.
“We wanted to connect the University Mass with all university students,” said Gerard Garcia, the archdiocese’s Young Adult Ministry consultant. During the Mass there is always a collection for a special cause.
“What we wanted to do with this special collection was donate it to local refugees, someone in financial need studying in the lower mainland.”
The Mass raised $432 for Mansor’s education, a gesture of generosity, Garcia noted, from the university students.
“The university and college community of Catholic chaplains, campus ministries, faculty, staff, and students are pleased to support a Syrian refugee student through the monies collected at this year’s university Mass,” he stated. “We hope the offering will assist Mr. Mansor in his continuing studies at the post-secondary level.”
Despite his current living conditions, Mansor believes life is much better in Canada. “If I had the choice again, I would (still) come here. Even though Syria is my home country, I saw too many things in the army and the streets.”
“I can’t go back, and I don’t want to go back.”
