Assad regime collapse 'a dream' - Syrian refugee

Razan Alsous and Raghid Sandouk's cheese business has grown into a 16-person operation since beginning in 2014

A woman who fled to West Yorkshire after the start of the Syrian civil war has said she "can't wait" to visit her homeland again following the fall of Bashar al-Assad.

Razan Alsous said her family "lost everything" during the bombing of Damascus, with the entrepreneur moving to the UK with her husband and three young children in 2012.

Rebel forces in Damascus declared the city "free" of long-time ruler al-Assad in the early hours of Sunday.

Ms Alsous, who lives in Sowerby Bridge, said she would visit the Syrian capital again "as soon as I can" after "what had only been a dream has become a reality".

Hundreds of displaced Syrians are returning back to the country following the dramatic developments, with scenes of jubilation in the streets.

More than half a million people were killed during the war, with six million others becoming refugees.

Rebel forces in Damascus declared the city "free" of long-time ruler al-Assad over the weekend

Among those displaced were Ms Alsous and her husband Raghid Sandouk, who started the Yorkshire Dama Cheese company in 2014.

During their time in Damascus, Ms Alsous said they lived in constant fear of "arrest, torture, or kidnap" as Mr Sandouk had "worked with Western companies".

She described one incident where her husband "had to beg not to be arrested" after soldiers were convinced a baby carrier he had "was a military bag".

"You could even be arrested if your laptop didn't have a picture of Assad on it," she explained.

TV chefs The Hairy Bikers visited the Yorkshire Dama Cheese company during filming in 2021

After growing their business, their cheese pastries are now stocked in more than 1,000 Aldi supermarkets following success on a Channel 4 programme.

Ms Alsous said watching events unfold over the weekend had been a mixture of "happiness and confusion".

"My family back in Syria couldn't believe what was happening and were being very cautious, staying at home all scared, because they didn't know what happened next," she said.

"But when they found this was a reality people started to celebrate."

Ms Alsous said people had "died for this freedom" and hoped all Syrians could "be accepted to live in one country under one democratic place".

"It's unbelievable - we are still actually trying to understand and digest what's happened," she added.

Looking to the future she said: "I would like to take my children to show them my homeland, the civilisation, the very rich culture over there.

"I wish to go there as soon as I can to be honest."

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