How Halloumi Turned a Syrian Refugee Into a British Businesswoman
Razan Alsous fled Syria with her family: She found her way in her new home by making squeaky cheese
When the car bomb exploded underneath her husband’s sixth-floor office balcony, Razan Alsous decided enough was enough.
Alsous, then living in Damascus, Syria, was studying pharmacology at the local university while looking after her three children. Her husband worked with British companies in Syria in the import industry. He called that day in 2012, in the middle of the civil war roiling the country: “You’ll hear on the news that there’s a car bomb over here. I’m still alive. I don’t know when I’ll be back home.”
The car bomb crystallized thoughts in the Alsous family’s minds. They had long considered moving. The explosion made it something that would happen. It had to. She had a visa that would allow her to travel to the United Kingdom with her kids. “The logic would say if you got the chance [to leave Syria], it’s better, especially when you have three kids and you feel responsible for their lives,” she said. The Alsous family booked their flights, packed their bags, and traveled 2,200 miles northwest.
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