I’m so relieved to have been granted asylum with my family, says viola player with the Orchestra of Syrian Musicians

Raghad Haddad will be among Syrian musicians performing at the Politics Festival this weekend. She tells Rob Hastings how she escaped her wartorn homeland and was reunited with her family

The woman sitting behind the border control desk that day must have never seen anything like it. Raghad Haddad gives a sweet laugh and her eyes sparkle as she remembers the startled expression on the official’s face last summer, when the professional viola player stepped forward to present her passport at Heathrow Airport together with eight other Syrian musicians.

“I just said: ‘Hello, we want to claim asylum’. She said: ‘What?’ I repeated: ‘We want to claim asylum.’ She said: ‘Who?’ I said: ‘All of us.’ She looked at us and said: ‘Nine of you?!’”

The group had flown into the UK from Germany at the end of their European tour with the Orchestra of Syrian Musicians. All nine have now been granted permission to remain in Britain, and Raghad will be among a small band from the orchestra performing on Saturday night at the Politics Festival, which opens on Friday in London’s Kings Place, supported by i.

During this weekend of public talks by distinguished figures from the left and right of British politics, the show by Raghad and her friends will not only provide an artistic break from the discussions and debate. It will also be a reminder of arguably the most important questions of our time: how can we bring an end to the Syrian war, how do we solve the refugee crisis, and in the meantime how do we look after those who are suffering?

Introducing the Orchestra of Syrian Musicians:

Raghad’s story

Compared to many of her compatriots who have been maimed or killed in Syria, or have escaped only to become destitute walking across Europe or be housed for years on end in primitive refugee camps, Raghad knows she is one of the lucky ones to now be living safely in the UK together with her husband and four-year-old son.

Yet she is still finding it hard to secure work despite her rich musical talent and good English; we’re speaking in London’s Victoria coach station before she travels north to an audition. Until she finds regular employment, she is at risk of being moved to the other end of the country with barely any notice – having endured fears the vast majority of us can barely comprehend.

Raghad Haddad can now enjoy playing music in the safety of the UK
Raghad Haddad can now enjoy playing music in the safety of the UK (Photo: Raghad Haddad)

Like the other musicians, back home Raghad was a member of Syrian National Orchestra for Arabic Music. As well as teaching her instrument in the national conservatoire, she was playing in the opera house in the country’s capital as recently as 2016, five years into the war.

“Every day I had to go from my town to Damascus and back by minibus, which is a very long journey, 80 kilometres each way,” the 35-year-old tells i. “There were many checkpoints on the road and there were snipers, so every time I prayed: just let me get back to my son. It was not a safe way to live.”

The journey was not the only threat. A family friend was killed at the opera house in 2014 when it was mortar bombed just a short while before Raghad and the orchestra was due to perform.

She was not continuing to play music out of defiance at the war. “It was our living,” she says. “I have a small child and my husband lost his work, so we had no choice.”

Vocalists open the orchestra’s show at the Royal Festival Hall, leading into their version of 3azely

Damon Albarn and his team come to the rescue

Being recruited by the musical collective Africa Express co-founded by Albarn and the journalist Ian Birrell to play in Europe last year for the Orchestra of Syrian Musicians became her chance to escape. After great success opening Glastonbury festival and playing concerts across the continent, those like Rahhad who had travelled from inside the country all had two decisions to make at the end of the tour. Could they really face returning to Damascus? And if not, where would they go?

Speaking good English, and with a few days left on her British visa, Raghad knew her best choice was coming to the UK. “When I had the chance to come here and let my family settle down in a safer place, I didn’t hesitate,” she says.

“My husband totally disagreed with me. He wanted me to come back. He said: ‘We know we are not safe but anything that will happen will happen to all of us’.” She held firm, however. “I told him on the phone, he was very, very angry. For one month he didn’t speak with me.”

Eight others came with her to the UK, but being the only one to speak the language, she had to take responsibility for communication when they arrived. After being fingerprinted and interviewed at the airport, the nine spent a few days in a reception centre before the six men were sent to a hostel in Leeds while the three women were taken to Birmingham.

Damon Albarn performing the Blur song Out of Time with the orchestra:

How Raghad was reunited with her family

It took six months for Raghad to be granted asylum. That development simply started the beginning of another process: securing permission for her husband and her son to join her. After using photos, birth and wedding certificates and written testimony to prove they were a family, she was finally reunited with them last month when they landed at Heathrow airport.

She was “full of fear” while waiting to see her son, Gaby, by now aged four, after a year apart. “It’s a very sensitive age so I was expecting a strange reaction,” she says

“I spoke to him in Arabic. He just ignored me and looked to his father and asked: ‘Is this my mum?’ My husband said: ‘Yes, she is.’ He asked: ‘She speaks Arabic?’ His father said: ‘Yes, she is speaking to you.’ He said: ‘Oh, because I thought she speaks only English.’ He must have thought that if someone speaks English they wouldn’t be able to speak Arabic again. It was a hard moment. A nice moment.”

Now they are living together in Eastbourne on the south coast – glad to be close by a small number of other Syrian refugees – Raghad is keen to find work to ensure they can stay there.

The orchestra perform Old Damascus:

Tomorrow’s concert will be a chance to catch up with a few friends from the orchestra. But while the show is being held as part of the festival, she is glad they will not have to talk about politics given the way it has ripped their country and its people apart.

“All we can do is play music,” she says. “We just want peace. We didn’t used to have problems with people – we were one orchestra of all religions and all types of people. After the war came, the country became divided, but not us – we just kept playing together.”

The Politics Festival

i is the official media partner for the event at Kings Place, London. Visit our stand, the i Garden, to sit down, relax, read the paper and possibly win tickets to Henley Festival.

Friday:

7pm: John Bercow in conversation with Steve Richards

9.30pm: Harriet Harman in conversation with Kirsty Lang

Saturday:

12pm: Political Cartoons with Steve Bell

1pm: What Just Happened and What Happens Next? Gavin Esler discusses with Ian Birrell, Tim Montgomerie, Philip Collins & Ayesha Hazarika

2.30pm: Europe and the Rise of Populism

3.30pm: ‘Brexit’ – Nick Clegg in conversation with Ian Birrell

5pm: What Next for the Conservative Party? – Nicky Morgan, James Cleverly and Tim Montgomerie

6pm: Politics and the Media: Head-to-Head with Robert Peston & Matthew d’Ancona

7.30pm: Michael Gove: My Life in Politics with Ian Birrell

8.30pm: Owen Jones in conversation

Sunday:

11.30am Dismembered: How the Attack on the State Harms Us All – Polly Toynbee & David Walker in conversation with Stewart Wood

1pm: Lessons from the Campaign: Brexit and the Election – Craig Oliver in conversation with Helen Lewis

2pm: Ed Miliband in conversation with Steve Richards

4pm: The New Statesman Podcast – Helen Lewis & Stephen Bush

4.30pm: WTF Happened to US Politics?! Justin Webb in conversation with Ian Birrell

4.30pm: ‘Accidental Anarchist’ screening and Q&A with Carne Ross, chaired by Yasmin Alibhai-Brown

7pm: Ed Balls in conversation

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