Darwish Sido and his family resettled in Newcastle by the Australian government in 2016.
Mr Sido was born in the Kurdish city of Afrin and later on moved to Aleppo. But when the civil war started in Syria in 2011and the situation worsened in Aleppo they moved back to Afrin. Unfortunately the situation deteriorated in Afrin as well and that is when the family decided to leave Syria.
Six years ago Mr Sido, his wife Zeinab and three children boarded a bus bound for the border of Lebanon as what would become the most destructive confrontation of the Syrian conflict erupted in their home cities of Aleppo and Afrin.
The family’s sense of displacement deepened after arriving in Beirut as refugees. While they were allowed to live in the community, Mr Sido’s children were not permitted to attend school. They stayed in Lebanon for the period of four years.
“When we were in Lebanon we registered with the UN as refugees. The UN telephoned me and said that Australia has accepted to take us. We arrived at Sydney airport in 2016 and from the airport we went straight to Newcastle."
For every migrant or refugee who resettles in a new country they face many obstacles and one of those obstacles is if you don’t speak the language.
“The first year was difficult for us due to not speaking the language. The children were registered at school in the first week of arrival and I attended English classes later on.”
“I have three children the eldest being 18, the middle16 and my daughter is 11. My wife is attending English classes at TAFE now.”
Mr Sido attended English classes at TAFE for the period of seven months then Job Link found him a job at a clothing factory. He worked there for the period of one year and a half. Then he was assisted by a partnership between Stockland and Thrive Refugee Enterprises, a not-for-profit organisation that provides business support to refugees.
“As a result of the assistance I was able to open my own business for an alterations, Sido Tailor.”
Beginning his training as a tailor at the age of 10, and eventually going on to run his father’s alterations factory but due to the civil war in Syria his future completely changed.
“My hobby of tailoring began from a very young age. I used to help my father when we had our own business for 25 years. My father and my brothers are all tailors.”
Mr Sido and his family are happy that they live in Australia and they thank the Australian government for accepting them to be resettled in Newcastle.
“We have settled in Newcastle really well, it’s a friendly city and we love living here.”
Darwish Sido's interview in Kurdish is below.
