In a basement restaurant in South East London, the Nowruz candles are lit, symbolising the arrival of spring, and the triumph of light over darkness. The seven items of the Persian New Year festival are on the table – including garlic, apple, the spice sumac,
and wheatgerm.
As many of those present break their Ramadan fast with sweet dates, eyes fill with tears. This is a New Year in exile for refugees from many different communities – from Syria, Afghanistan, Hong Kong and Ukraine.
Ghazala Khaleel is a gardener from Kurdish Syria, where every year her family would gather around fires to welcome in the light. But such celebrations are outlawed now in Northern Syria.
