The Syrian community in Malta yesterday took to the streets of Valletta chanting encouraging words to instil hope in their relatives back home who have lived in terror for the past year.
Around 40 men and children marched in neat rows along Republic Street waving the Syrian National Council Independence flag. Some of them filmed the march, to be uploaded online and sent to families and friends in Syria.
“Hope in Syria is waning. We want them to hold on, to keep our children’s spirits up. This is all we can do. We tried returning back home to be with our families but were not allowed into the country,” said a young man from the town of Idlib in the northwest of Syria.
The man has not been able to speak to his family for the past 20 days but he said his village was deprived of basic needs. Schools, shops and hospitals had been shut down. Corpses were found abandoned on the streets some two weeks after people were killed in jail. Children were kidnapped and used to threaten families.
With Syrians living in fear and all roads leading out of the country and into Turkey – their escape channel – blocked by the government’s regime, only the lucky few managed to make it to Europe. Some of them joined the community gathered in Valletta yesterday afternoon.
The demonstration was well organised and those marching up to St George’s Square even made sure they left ample space for pedestrians. They were not carrying any placards with harsh words and their chanting was rather melodic. Their words, however, were strong.
“Get out, go away you and your family. We had enough of your father and we’ve had enough of you,” they said in unison.
President Bashar Al-Assad has been in power since 2000 following a three-decade rule by his father Hafez.
Men who spoke to The Times said the Syrian revolution was going to be a “long story”, and not over in a matter of months. It had erupted at the wrong time – just while the US was preparing for its presidential elections and as soon as the EU economy collapsed.
The Syrian uprising started last January 26, just one day after the Egyptian revolution erupted. However, the fall of the fourth President of Egypt Hosni Mubarak sent a message of hope to Syrians.
“Once Mubarak was gone, the largest Arab stronghold on powerless countries was loosened. Mubarak had been strangling Palestine, Syria and other Middle-Eastern countries. He was too powerful,” one protester said.
Protests similar to the one in Valletta were held across Europe, replicating those held in Syria. But unlike the revolutionaries in Libya, demonstrators in Syria wear as little clothing as they can, to show they are unarmed. However they are still gunned down by Al-Assad’s policemen. Although there are hundreds of Syrians in Malta, many of them fear for their families’ lives and do not dare show their resistance to Al-Assad’s governance.