(Credit: Montage Nicole Karkour/AFP)
He must choose a pseudonym, so it will be Amir*: that's how he's known in the "community." The rest, he shares candidly, with modesty and transparency. Amir spent most of his life in Homs — studying chemistry at Baath University, starting a food factory, and living a clandestine life avoiding prison while secretly loving his partner, far from the disapproving eyes of society. Until Aug. 15, 2025. That day, a miracle — his months-earlier asylum application at the Canadian embassy was approved. The fall of the Assad regime in December had prompted many Western consulates to close ongoing applications. In a rare occasion, though, his case was accepted. He would join his fiancé across the Atlantic, in Ottawa. "The torture videos probably sped up the process," he explains by phone.The events date back to February....
He must choose a pseudonym, so it will be Amir*: that's how he's known in the "community." The rest, he shares candidly, with modesty and transparency. Amir spent most of his life in Homs — studying chemistry at Baath University, starting a food factory, and living a clandestine life avoiding prison while secretly loving his partner, far from the disapproving eyes of society. Until Aug. 15, 2025. That day, a miracle — his months-earlier asylum application at the Canadian embassy was approved. The fall of the Assad regime in December had prompted many Western consulates to close ongoing applications. In a rare occasion, though, his case was accepted. He would join his fiancé across the Atlantic, in Ottawa. "The torture videos probably sped up the process," he explains by phone.The events date back to...
'American sponsorship is a guarantee,' says Lebanese-American coordination committee