Syrians in Scotland celebrate the fall of Assad

Yaman Sarsar escaped from Damascus in 2012 after attempts were made to recruit him in the army.

“Assad’s regime wanted to take me to fight for them,” he said. “But to fight who? My other Syrians, my people?

“I don’t agree with it, so that’s why I left Syria. And since then, I couldn’t go back because they would take me to the prison or to fight for them.”

The 38-year-old now stays in Inverness in the Highlands with his wife and two children.

He said he was very happy to see the news coming from his home country.

“We were waiting for this moment for years and years,” he said.

“The situation in Syria was very bad and we weren’t able to say anything against [Assad] or his people. There was no justice or fairness.

“But we are all looking forward to building a Syria for all Syrians, not just Assad and his group.”

Assad left Syria on Sunday and fled to Moscow, hours after the rebels entered Damascus and crowds gathered on the streets to celebrate.

Yaman said he had spoken to friends and family in Damascus who were happy but scared to think about the future.

While he was “very excited” to see the Assad dictatorship fall, he said that he will wait before making any decisions about moving back to Syria.

“I want to see how the situation goes because it’s not the best at the moment,” he said. “We all want to see Syria stable and built up again.

“I love it here in Inverness, the people are very welcoming.

“But my heart belongs to where I was born and my history there. So I’m looking forward to going back – but we need to wait.”