Syrian refugees: our new lives in Wiltshire

They are among the lucky ones to be given a lifeline by the British government and Wiltshire Council and move to the UK, as part of the scheme to resettle thousands of vulnerable refugees.

Abeer, 29, and her husband Ali, 25, were living in a small office in Lebanon with their newborn son Baraa, to escape the conflict, as it is all they could afford to rent on Ali’s salary selling coffee.

However, they have left behind their family and friends to live in a part of the world they cannot speak the language of and have never been to before.

But waiting at the airport for the couple and baby Baraa, who is four-and-a-half months old, was Sandie Lewis and her team of volunteers from Wiltshire Council to help them.

“At the beginning we were scared and terrified,” Abeer said.

“But when we saw all the people there, everybody was smiling and everybody wanted to help us. We quickly felt more comfortable.

“Even when we are walking in the street everyone smiles and says ‘hello’ or ‘how are you’. They respect us, they respect human beings. We are one of the luckiest families.

“The hardest thing has been we left our families behind and came without them. We really miss them. In our religion we stay together but now they have split everybody up.”

In total, Wiltshire Council has provided homes to 27 refugees since December, of which 15 are adults and 12 are children. This also includes eight families. They plan to introduce more to the county in April and possibly again in the autumn.

The government has given the council funding for at least a year to pay for services such as English lessons, which the refugees are doing before they look for jobs.

Abeer is focusing on getting qualifications and wants to go to university. Her dream job is to be a teacher.

Two of the children from the other families have also started school part-time, including 12-year-old Kholoud who went to her first class on Thursday. She has moved to Wiltshire with her sister Rawaa, ten, mother Nisreen, 29, and father Tamir, 36, a former blacksmith.

Kholoud has been so keen to learn English she does it in her spare time and describes the classes as ‘beautiful’. She has also been praised by volunteer translator Fadi Al Bshara for picking up the language quickly.

“It is lovely being here,” Kholoud said. “I like the nature and the people.”

All the refugees are renting houses or flats turned down by people in Wiltshire and in areas with sufficient school places and capacity at GP surgeries.

Leader of Wiltshire Council Baroness Scott of Bybrook said: “I hope people in Wiltshire can see the happy faces of these people who have come from extremely depressing circumstances. It is so heart-warming to see them smiling.

“Before David Cameron even suggested this refugee programme we were already looking into it because people were writing to us and emailing saying ‘what are you doing about it?’

"Wiltshire people have been accepting because that is just who they are

“I want to thank all the volunteers as well. Before Christmas, the men said to us it would really help them if they had a bike to travel around on. By the end of the day we had eight bikes, it is just typical of the hundreds of little things volunteers have done.”

Volunteer co-ordinator Sandie Lewis, who retired from working at the council two years ago, has returned especially to help the families settle.

She said: “They were so nervous and guarded when they arrived and very anxious about what they would find. Now they are so delighted and happy because they know they are safe and have a future here.

“They are not going to be reliant on the state and benefits; they have plans to work, to get their own homes, for their children to be educated.

“There will always be a few people who do not want that to happen, you cannot do anything about that. You just have to help people to understand what the good things are about having a multicultural society.

“But also it is about giving people the facts. Funding for this is coming from the overseas aid budget and not from Wiltshire Council budgets and no taxpayer’s money locally.”

The families are also full of praise for the council and people in Wiltshire for their support.

Abeer added: “We want to thank all the volunteers and the government. I also want to meet the Queen, I just want to say thank you to her and we appreciate everything they are doing for Syrian people here.

“My son will have a better future, better education and the medical care is very good. Of course, we would want to go back. Everybody misses their home, so when the situation becomes good in Syria we will go back to see our families and be near to our friends. But come back here to continue our life.”