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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Rafqa Touma

‘Pure joy and awful sadness’: Syrians in Australia cautiously optimistic for their homeland’s future

Syria Australia HTS Hayat Tahrir alSham
Rnita Dacho
‘Every day felt uncertain’ … Rnita Dacho fled Syria with her family in 2013, when she was 21, and now lives in Sydney. Photograph: Jessica Hromas/The Guardian

“Homs is free.”

The text message came through at 7.41am on Sunday morning from a friend Rnita Dacho hadn’t spoken to in years. She was at her Sydney home, getting her three-year-old ready for church, when it hit her.

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