A little surprised, a passerby stopped to ask why such a crowd in front of the Puy-en-Velay theater, with families and songs. “They are Syrian refugees in Haute-Loire, they are celebrating the fall of dictator Bashar al-Assad,” replied Ponot who came to support them.
Sunday around 11:30 a.m., a little more than 80 people gathered in front of the Puy-en-Velay theater. A group made up of Syrian refugees in Haute-Loire. All left Syria after the start of the civil war in 2011. “Some have been welcomed in our department for ten years, others have just arrived, often for family reunifications. All are literate”, wishes to specify a Ponote has been very invested for many years in the cause of refugees.
“Thank you France! Now we must return to Syria to rebuild our country.”
This Sunday, a week after the fall of the Damascus regime, they gathered to celebrate the end of the reign of Bashar al-Assad, who left for Russia. “All Syrians are happy with the fall of Bashar. Because in more than ten years, there have been so many massacres, so many prisoners…” recalled Taher Hijazi, Syrian human rights activist, who was still , three days ago, with the French head of state to discuss the situation in his country. Reached by telephone on Sunday morning, he spent two years in Puy-en-Velay, from 2020 to 2022, where he kept many friends present in the procession. “France offered us security. Today we say thank you to France! France gave a lot for Syria. Now we must return to rebuild our country,” he maintained. “We must organize our return to Syria now. We have to think about how to organize the country. Syria is free and we must return there after these 14 years of war,” insisted the man who lost his brother in the prisons of Bachar.
The procession, very family-friendly, still singing and with slogans celebrating the end of the dictator, made a short tour of the town of Puy, going up Breuil, to turn onto rue Saint-Gilles, place du Plot, rue Courrerie before passing in front of the Puy town hall.
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