A Social Network — But Not For Fun

When Ahmad Edibli arrived in Dubai from Syria, it took him eight months to find a job. The ad agency regional creative director was well-qualified and experienced, and, after 15 years in the industry spearheading campaigns for Nissan and Nestle, should have been a shoe-in. But, he says, he was being offered a third of the industry standard salary.

“When I told them (what salary I wanted), they told me ‘No…you are Syrian, you need residency’… at that time I accepted it.”

This was a far cry from the life he once knew.

“My situation in Syria was great, I had a great job, I had my car, I didn’t have loans, I didn’t have anything. I’m coming here not seeking money… I’m running because my home is shelled, two rockets pumped my home and my car, and my family home, and my brother’s home and his clinic.”

The Damacine was confused, being knocked back from jobs he was over-qualified for, as he racked up debts.

“No one told me how I could get (what I needed). It’s too hard for you to come to Dubai the first time, you have to present yourself, how?”

And this is the question so many Syrians need help answering right now, since relocating to a new country and culture.

That’s why Edibli founded website Dubarah (which means ‘solution’ in Arabic), an information portal for Syrians run by Syrians.

What started a year ago as a job website has dramatically grown from — and outgrown — its humble beginnings. It now serves as a one-stop-shop for Syrians in need. It advertises housing, investment opportunities, information about healthcare, includes country guides with comprehensive information from A(mbulances) to Z(oos), and has a service answering 500 questions a day — though twice that number of inquiries come in.

What is more unusual is that it is entirely volunteer-staffed, with 20 core staff and a network of dozens more Dubarji (Dubarah volunteers) across the world. Edibli, who this year was elected a fellow of global social entrepreneurship foundation Ashoka, pours half of his salary into this labour of love.

Volunteer communications officer Nawara Chakaki says there is a “huge need” for Dubarah for Syrians around the globe.

“I think it’s the first time a project like this has been initiated where it’s actually asking Syrians to help other Syrians.”

Emails go back and forth amongst volunteers as they virtually corral information requests to their network of experts all around the world back to those in need – including right here, she says.

“It’s assumed ‘Oh if they’re in the UAE then they’re fine, but, no, we’ve got families living here... 10 people in a studio apartment…there needs to be a way that we can also help them… Everyone’s focused on helping Syrians in Syria but we need to help people on the ground here because then they can also help Syrians (back home).”

Chakaki has been living in Dubai for a year but has been visiting her sister here for more than a decade. She says the numbers of Syrians in Dubai are sky-rocketing.

“They’re everywhere…now everywhere I go out I hear a Syrian accent, tonnes of Syrian restaurants have popped up…I hear there are buildings that have all Syrians.”

Edibli agrees — he estimates there are about 350,000 Syrians now residing in Dubai.

Chakaki says there are Syrians here on visit visas who keep renewing the visas with money they have — or somehow cobble together “because they don’t have any choice”.

Among the number of legal Syrians will also, undoubtedly, be those who have overstayed visas. Most people come for jobs, she says; without work they would probably go to one of the ubiquitous refugee camps that have sprung up in countries like Lebanon and Turkey. But the UAE is never really a long-term solution.

“No one considers Dubai a place they want to be forever because they know there is not the nationality option so they’re here to make a certain income so they can support themselves here or their families back home… it’s not something you see as a permanent thing, especially for those who don’t have another nationality,” says the dual-citizen, who also has US citizenship.

Edibli says most of the requests for help from Syrians in the UAE, which make up about two per cent of their inquiries, are asking for information on basic services.

So why is Dubarah based here, if the majority of their beneficiaries are elsewhere?

“We are in the UAE because it’s safe…it’s a better place to manage this operation. In the end, we are helping people across the world.”