Canadian Family Returns to Syria to Rebuild with Climbing Gym

When Syria's old government fell in December 2024, Yasseen Tasabehji thought the door to his homeland had closed forever. His family had built a comfortable life in suburban Toronto for 15 years, complete with good jobs, close friends, and no plans to return.

But as rebel forces liberated Damascus, something shifted. Tasabehji, now 33, his four siblings, and their parents felt a pull they couldn't ignore.

"The Syrian file was just closed for all of us," Tasabehji told Al Jazeera. "We had the feeling that we would never go back."

The family visited Damascus in April 2025, thinking they might open a climbing gym. Several siblings are serious climbers and saw an opportunity to fill a gap.

What they found was a country hungry for hope. After a month visiting family, the siblings made their decision: pack up Toronto and move to Syria permanently.

By July, they'd opened their climbing gym in Damascus's Mezzeh neighborhood. Today, kids scramble up colorful walls while Tasabehji's father watches proudly, himself now considering a permanent move from Canada.

"We saw a country that needs everything, and we felt like any addition will make a huge difference," Tasabehji said. The gym now runs programs helping young Syrians build confidence and community.

The Tasabehji family represents a remarkable wave of return. Since the regime change, 1.5 million Syrians have come home from refugee camps in Turkey and Lebanon, from jobs in Europe and the Gulf, from new lives scattered across the globe.

Many arrive with more than luggage. They bring skills, savings, and determination to rebuild what war destroyed.

The Ripple Effect

The climbing gym serves a purpose beyond exercise. Tasabehji saw young Syrians with no healthy gathering places, no sense of community, and dreams only of leaving.

"It became a goal of ours to make Syria more attractive to young people, so that they can see a future here," he explained. Each class becomes a small act of nation building.

The broader picture holds both promise and challenge. Syria's new government, led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa, successfully lobbied for sanctions removal to help economic recovery.

Still, reconstruction costs reach at least $216 billion, according to the World Bank. Two-thirds of Syrians currently need humanitarian assistance.

Not everyone plans to stay forever. About 400,000 returned from Lebanon due to conflict there, and some may leave again if conditions improve elsewhere.

Economic struggles mean many returnees wonder if they made the right choice. The opportunity to relocate abroad again remains tempting when bills pile up.

But families like the Tasabehijis bet on possibility over comfort. They traded Toronto's stability for Damascus's uncertainty because they sensed something bigger than themselves taking shape.

Every young person who learns to climb, who finds community on those gym walls, represents one more reason Syria's future might look brighter than its past.