MILWAUKEE — News of the fall of the Assad regime in Syria is traveling fast to Syrians who call Milwaukee home.

Samaher Aldaye came to Milwaukee from Syria back in 2017. She traveled with over a dozen of her family members, fleeing the ongoing civil war.

Once Aldaye and her family arrived in the U.S., they received help from Hanan Refugee Relief in Milwaukee. It’s a refugee re-settlement group that was started that year. Aldaye’s family was the first group of refugees Hanan Refugee Relief helped.

Since then, the group has been helping countless refugees from many different countries. 

Aldaye and her husband said they started out in Wisconsin with nothing. Eventually they opened a successful Syrian restaurant called Damascus Gate. It helped employ other refugees within the community, before closing about a year ago.

“There are a lot of people like Hanan, Sheila, Halima, who helped us to continue, to start our life from the beginning, from zero,” Aldaye said.

She’s gotten the chance to settle in and build roots here, but still has family overseas. Her two sisters are in Syria with their families. Aldaye said she’s been keeping in touch via video chat to check in with her loved ones.

With the fall of the Assad regime, Sheila Badwan, Hanan Refugee Relief executive director, said her team has been very busy bringing in refugees. (Spectrum News 1/Megan Marshall)

With the fall of the Assad regime, Sheila Badwan, Hanan Refugee Relief executive director, said her team has been very busy bringing in refugees.

“We have been bringing in Syrian refugees from Lebanon, from Jordan, from Turkey,” Badwan said. “We have been — I want to say in the last six months — bringing in Syrians”

While Badwan said she’s unsure what the future looks like when it comes to bringing Syrians to Milwaukee and the U.S., she plans to help as many as she can for the time being.

“It’s been a rewarding experience to help those that really need the help,” she said.

Samaher Aldaye's nieces in Syria (Samaher Aldaye)

Aldaye said she is very excited to hear the news of the fall of the regime. She said she believes this will allow her to visit her loved ones and provide a better life for them in her home country.

“I’m so happy,” she said. “I just feel a little bit scared because I don’t know what will happen in the future. I am so excited. So happy. I will wait until the airport opens to see my family again."

She said her nieces will be able to return to school this week and her family is safe in Syria. Her hope is to visit them as soon as possible.