Syrian-Americans try to launch tech industry in Syria : NPR

Damascus, Syria – Abdullah Omira survived the civil war of Syria with his teenage family, shortly after he was released from prison, after he witnessed terrible violations by the previous regime.

Now an American citizen, he recently returned to Syria as a student of high studies in Stanford and an emerging businessman, hoping to help start the technology industry in a country that is still struggling to find a balance after 14 years of the devastating conflict.

President Bashar al -Assad was overthrown in December, but Syria is still destroyed by the cramps of violence, as well as millions of citizens who lost their homes, ways to live and more than anything else. But a glimmer of hope sometimes appears, such as a modern technical conference that brought together hundreds of young Syrians, and a small number of Syrian Americans, including Omera, in the Sheraton Hotel Hall in the capital, Damascus.

“Everyone is excited. We want to build. We want to do something for our country.”

This event, called Sync ’25: Silicon Valley + Syria, was held by Syrian American technicians and businessmen To explore the methods that may help technology rebuild Syria. Like everyone at the conference, Omira admitted the amazing challenges.

“There is no infrastructure, there is no electricity, there is no water, and there is no internet,” he said. “Bathing is an event.”

Omera said that his experience taught him flexibility, and he believes that many Syrians learned the same lesson.

Prison at the age of fourteen

When he was an early teenager in Damascus, he studied high cancer rates in an area where the Syrian government got rid of nuclear waste.

he Suggest a new way To deal with waste and got a patent at the age of fourteen. This was followed by an invitation to be honored in the presidential palace in 2012.

But before that, Omera was one day stopped by the frightening intelligence service members. Omira was working with a professor in the nuclear waste project, and was carrying a document related to the nuclear program. When the security forces found the paper, they threw Omera in prison.

The experience was horrific.

“They start bringing people, killing them under torture, and showing me how to kill them,” he said. “Each room had a topic different from killing. There are a lot of terrible things, such as the third room, where they killed people with a saw.”

Omera said he was not physically damaged. But he was warned that if he was arrested again, “you will choose one of those rooms to die.”

He was released two months later, and his family decided that it was time to leave Syria. The Syrian civil war broke out a year ago, in 2011, which prompted millions to flee, and it was increasingly clear that no person in the country was safe.

The omira family has moved from a prosperous life in Damascus to a tent in the refugee camp in neighboring Türkiye, where they will remain for several years. In the end, they arrived in the United States and landed in Chicago in 2016.

But Omera did not speak English or obtained a high school diploma. He obtained an equation in high school, GED certificate, and continued to study until he obtained an ideal degree in the admission exam at ACT College -and admission to Stanford.

It graduates with a computer degree last year, and is now working on a master’s degree in artificial intelligence.

It runs an emerging technology company, called FarmitixDesigned to help farmers in Syria and other places. During his last trip to Syria, he met with technology students at seven universities across the country.

Abdullah Omira (the left center in a dark suit and a red tie) stands next to the temporary president of Syria, Ahmed Al -Sharra (the right of the center in a blue suit and a blue tie). Omera and other Syrian Americans met with the president to talk about how technology can help rebuild Syria.

Abdoom Omira

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Abdoom Omira

Using technology to rebuild a broken country

However, obstacles can look overwhelming.

For beginners, there is the daily challenge of obtaining electricity and internet connection. Many young Syrian technology students want more about artificial intelligence. But American products, such as Chatgpt, are not easily available due to comprehensive US sanctions. So the Syrians say they are learning in Deepseek, a Chinese model.

US sanctions were imposed against Syria’s dictator, Assad, and his regime. He was expelled in December, but the sanctions were not lifted, and there is no sign that it will be any time soon.

This was a repeated topic at the last technological conference.

The banking system said of the rest of the world: “The sanctions are now very high. Rama ChakkakiA Syrian American and technical investor from Southern California, the conference organized.

Currently, the goal of communication with the technology community in Syria is very isolated during the war.

“There is one thing about the Syrians is that we are very socially interconnected,” said Chakkaki. “We all, after we were in the diaspora and a feeling of intense loneliness, we could not wait for this opportunity to meet. So I worked my 12,000 connections to LinkedIn well for me.”

About 700 people attended a modern technical conference in Damascus, Syria. Most of them were Syrians and Syrians. Because of the war and sanctions, the technology industry in Syria has been largely isolated for years. The country continues to conflict with basic services such as electricity.

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when Abdoom Omira He returned to Syria, visited his old family’s house in the capital, which was destroyed by the fighting.

“I went to my room. I was taking my memories. Then I found a book for computer science that I got in the seventh grade,” he said. “They were explaining what the Internet is, how to use the keyboard, and how to turn off the computer.”

Omira has made long long. He summarized his journey, from the refugee to the Stanford student to technology businessman.

“The United States is definitely the pioneer. If you put 100 %, you will get 100 %,” he said. “In Türkiye, if you put 100 %, you may get 10 %. Here in Syria, if you put 100 %, you will be placed in prison.”

He hopes to write a new formula for a new Syria.

Jawad Rizkallah from NPR contributed to this report.