By Ute Kaiser
The flights to Istanbul and Beirut and the taxi ride to Aleppo took a difficult 24 hours. Then Youssef Kanjou set foot on home soil again for the first time: “It was very emotional.” This is what the former director of the National Museum in Aleppo says about his feelings during his visit to liberated Syria. Twelve years ago, he fled Aleppo with his family.
Many returnees live in tents
The days were planned out. The anthropologist wanted to see family, friends, colleagues, the museum and the old city with its historical treasures, many of which have been destroyed. The impressions came thick and fast. He says that Aleppo is “very crowded.” Many people are returning not only from refugee camps near the Turkish border. Around a million Syrians are said to have already come back into the country, says Kanjou. Some of them live in tents because many houses have been destroyed or looted – like his family’s house in a village near Aleppo.
Food and jobs are scarce
People are suffering from the poor economic situation and international sanctions. There are hardly any jobs except in restaurants, shops and the taxi business. Food is also scarce because there has been little rain. Electricity and water rarely flow. It is very cold in Aleppo in February. Those who are lucky can heat their homes with a diesel stove. According to Kanjou, security in Syria’s second largest city is not good. Nevertheless, the visitor with a German passport also saw many women and children in the streets until midnight.
A guard at his side
Meeting his former colleagues was moving. They were “very happy” to see their former boss again after such a long time. Kanjou visited the excavation of a temple from the Bronze Age in the citadel of Aleppo with them. It was closed in 2011 because of the war. A security guard from the transitional government never left their side.
His salary is not enough for sweets
Kanjou and his colleagues had a lot to talk about – for example, about the past few years and the poor condition of the museum due to the war. Its windows are broken. There is water in the basement. One topic was therefore how Germany could help. The museum team members belong to many ethnic and religious groups. “This is normal in Syria,” the tuenews INTERNATIONAL employee explained to his German journalist colleagues. Because the government has almost no money, the museum staff earn only between 10 and 30 euros a month. By way of comparison, a kilo of the sweets in the bazaar costs 7 to 8 euros – unaffordable for most Syrians.
Using drones against explosives
There are many landmines in the region between Idlib and Aleppo. Kanjou experienced this first hand. A small grenade was lying on an excavation site. It was life-threatening, as was shown two days after visiting the site. That’s when the explosive device exploded. That’s why one of the German aid projects could be used to finance drones. They could be used to detect unexploded ordnance. “This is not only important for the safety of archaeologists,” says Kanjou, “but also for the population.”
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