Saurav Kumar Borah

“I have become accustomed to working amid bombs and ammunition… My soul cries when I see the people of the war-torn areas. It is my responsibility to help them. Amid the war, it is my job to give them direction on self-reliance and survival.”

Shehnab Sahin of Guwahati said this, weeks after she was extricated from Syria amidst a regime change through armed rebellion. She took the last flight off Damascus airport on December 8.

By then, armed rebels had besieged the capital Damascus. President Bashar al-Assad's army was defeated by the fighters of rebel leader Mohammed al-Julani. President Bashar al-Assad fled the country as this ended his 24-year dictatorship. Just ahead of that, Shehnab Sahin had left Syria amid heavy shelling and rocket-missile attacks.

Shehnab has been working in war-torn Syria over the past two years as the Country Head of COSV, an Italian international voluntary organization providing humanitarian aid in the war zone of Syria.

Shehnab Sahin with colleauges at a project site in Syria

Shehnab’s job was to ensure livelihood and extend humanitarian aid to the Syrian people affected by the war between rebels and government forces. From November 27, the rebels intensified their attacks as cities and towns fell to them and the conflict turned serious.

Till that time, Shehnab worked amid gun battles, the bombardment by Russia and the United States, and the Israeli missile attacks. However, the real fighting started on November 27, between Mohammed al-Julani's Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and its allied rebel group Jaish al-Izza and the Assad government's forces.

Aleppo was the first major city to fall to the rebels. Shortly afterward they besieged the capital Damascus. This made foreigners leave Damascus in hordes.

Shehnab Shahin’s employer COSV asked her to leave Damascus on December 6. She left for Beirut on December 6 by road as the air travel was risky,

Beirut and Beirut airport were also not safe for Shehnab. She did not feel safe even after boarding the Middle East Airlines flight as a missile could hit any flying object in the sky. Only after Shehnab's flight landed safely at the Kuwait City airport she realized that she could return home.

When I met Shehnab Sahin at her residence in Guwahati recently, she was calm and composed.

Shehnab Sahin in her office with colleagues

Shehnab Sahin was a civil servant (ACS 2019 batch) and her job in 2022 was to return to work for humanitarian welfare in war-torn areas. She first joined an international NGO in Jordan, another disturbed country in the Middle East.

Shehnab says even humanitarian work was difficult in many ways during the reign of Syria's Assad regime, which was under sanctions.

She says once the initial enthusiasm and joy of the Syrian people over the overthrowing of the Assad regime subsides Shehnab is ready to return to the war-torn Middle East.

“This is my passion. Nothing called job security has come to my mind to date. I will go back to the field in which I love to work. My mentality has developed like that.

"It is even more difficult to work in a country like Syria, which is in a state of continuous war than working in the active conflict zone,” she said.

According to Shehnab, who had previously had the experience of a similar job in the refugee camp of Jordan, the situation in Syria was more complicated as its different regions were ruled by different groups.

Shehnab worked in Syria during the regime of Bashar al-Assad. For this, she needed three-tier permission from the Assad government. Syria has long been in the grip of sanctions from the world's most powerful countries. Therefore, representatives of Western countries like Shehnab were always looked upon with suspicion.

The NGOs were closely monitored and they had to confine their work strictly to human welfare not the development of the country.

Shehnab at a livelihood training programme

Shehnab earned her Master's degree from St. Stephen's College, Delhi, and later completed her European Studies at the University of Vienna. Next, she completed her Master's degree in International Development from the University of Turina, Italy.

During her last campus experience, she got attracted to relief work on war-torn societies.

Once the situation calms down, Shehnab Sahin will return to the battlefield of the Middle East.

She has been elevated to the position of the regional head of COSV stationed in Lebanon.

It is worth mentioning that despite the latest temporary ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, Lebanon is under attack by Israel. So it would be a tougher challenge in front of Shehnab. Israel's fierce army IDF still has a strong presence in Lebanon.

Shehnab's job will be to help the poor affected by Israeli bombardment and missile attacks.

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“In December all the foreign INGO officials go to their countries. I also consider it a holiday to come home. Once the situation gets a little better, I will go back to the war-torn Middle East. Even though my body is now at home, I have left my mind behind there. It has become my second home. If I go back there, my mind will be at peace. Till then I am taking a break for a few days,” Shehnab said.

 (The writer is a senior journalist of Assam)