“They are everywhere. There is nowhere safe. Anyone can die at any—”
At that moment, Layla’s internet cut out, leaving a black square in a video-call interview with close family and CTVNews.ca. Her family says they often only get a few seconds with her at a time; an excruciating limitation as they try, desperately, to follow her escape from civil war.
Layla was in Aleppo visiting family – her uncle has heart issues – when rebels stormed the city on Friday. The fighters, from the designated-terrorist group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, seized control of the airport, exchanged gunfire and re-ignited a long-stalled battle with the Bashar Assad regime. Dozens of Syrian soldiers were killed, and Russia’s air force carried out strikes on rebel targets.
It is the first time control of the city has shifted since 2016, when government forces, backed by Russia and Iran, defeated the rebels who controlled Aleppo’s eastern districts.
“We started to hear some bombs,” Layla told CTV News, adding the rebel fighters “are everywhere in Aleppo.”
Layla is not her real name. CTV News has agreed to conceal her identity. She fears her Canadian citizenship makes her a target to rebels interested in taking a hostage with foreign ties.
A Syrian opposition fighter shoots in the air in downtown Aleppo, Syria, Saturday Nov. 30, 2024. (Ghaith Alsayed / The Associated Press)
She and her family fled Syria in 2012. The year prior, civil war was unleashed following the Arab Spring uprising against President Assad. Hundreds of thousands have died since then, and more than half of the country’s prewar population of 23 million has been displaced or fled as refugees.
When the rebels took Aleppo, a mass exodus of locals quickly filled buses, taxis and roadways, making escape difficult. Meanwhile, the rebels’ strengthening occupation pushed many of the remaining residents to shelter in place. With nowhere to go, Layla called her family for help.
‘No assistance available?’
Khaled Mohamed, a close family member who helped Layla navigate her uncertain journey out of the war zone, said they reached out to Global Affairs Canada (GAC) – a government department the family says has been unhelpful in her escape.
“For the last many years, Canada’s travel advisory for Syria has been to: ‘AVOID ALL TRAVEL,'” reads an email Mohamed shared with CTV News from an exchange he says he had with GAC. “You should not rely on the Government of Canada for assistance to depart a certain area.”
The email points people to contact the nearest embassy in Beirut, Lebanon. Mohamed says they reached out several times but received no response. Faced with what they saw as a dead end, “we really tried to do things on our own,” he said.
CTVNews.ca has reached out to GAC to confirm the validity of the email chain and to respond to the family’s story. This article will be updated when a response is received.
“We looked on a map. We saw the Turkish border is an hour north of Aleppo. We advised her to go there,” explained Mohamed. “They had a very old car … they didn’t have gas. They put oil or something (in the car) and drove it 50 kilometres” to the Turkish border. From Turkiye, Layla could take a flight to Canada, he said, but she hit another roadblock.
Although Turkiye lifted its visa requirements for Canadian tourists in January, she was turned away. Border officials explained she would need “a special permit or recommendation from the Canadian government” to cross, according to Mohamed. CTV News is awaiting response after reaching out to the Turkish embassy in Ottawa to clarify its entry rules.
“After reaching out to the Canadian SOS services, we were informed that there is no assistance available for Canadians stranded in Aleppo,” Mohamed added.
Now, Layla is stuck in a hotel in northern Syria, unable to return home to Canada nor to her family in Syria. Instead, she’s stuck on the wrong side of the border with unstable electricity and internet access, waiting for a letter from Canada that she is unsure will come.
“I just hope,” she told CTVNews.ca via electronic message on Tuesday.
‘We’re Canadian. We’re going to have help’
Sitting in a virtual room for an interview with CTV News, Mohamed and another family member wait for Layla to reconnect.
“I’ve been texting her at least once every hour. I’m always checking if she’s online, just to make sure that she’s alive,” said the family member. “Usually, it will cut off after a few seconds … It’s difficult to fall asleep.”
Layla requested CTV News also hide her family members’ relationships to her in order to protect her anonymity.
“This is why we came to Canada. Being Syrian is not the best. You don’t feel like your country is safe. You don’t feel like your country is supporting you or will be there for you in situations like this,” the family member told CTV News.
“My first instinct was, if anything, since we’re Canadian, we’re going to have help.”
With files from Reuters