OHIO — Thirteen years of civil war — now, the Assad regime collapses as he flees to Moscow. Ohio Syrians are reacting to this change.

Over the last few years, Syrians in America watched their country from afar.

Yaser Ayesh came to Columbus when he was 15 years old with his family. He said things there were really hard.

“You do not have the right to speak out,” Ayesh said. “Now, we don’t have freedom, we don’t have any respect for a human being, for your right of life, court system or anything.”

He grew up at place in Syria called Deraa, and when he was a teenager, his mom brought him to the states.

He said Assad’s regime was controlling the economy.

“They control the money,” Ayesh said. “They control the resources for the country, ... 85% of these people, they don’t have the right for anything.”

Ayesh explained that many people who are from Syria are educated, so by Assad fleeing the country and his regime collapsing, it’s bringing new hope and some higher expectations.

He said they now have to start from scratch to rebuild their constitution.

Ayesh hopes they’ll be able to vote again but he said change is going to take time.

“The country is still will be healed right now and we well build the country in the democracy style like United States,” Ayesh said. “It’s not like we have a country, but the president is corrupted. We do not have a country. One person, he has everything from A to Z.”