Inside al-Sharaa’s New York Meeting: A Test of Engagement

NEW YORK, Sept. 21, 2026 — For several hours in a New York hotel, hundreds of Syrians living abroad found themselves in the same room with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, not simply to hear another presidential address, but to ask questions about the country they left behind and the country they hope to help rebuild.

The al-Sharaa New York diaspora meeting, held during his visit for the United Nations General Assembly, brought together Syrians from across the United States, Canada and elsewhere.

The invitation from The Presidency of the Syrian Arab Republic welcomed members of the Syrian community in the United States and emphasized “continued communication and engagement” in service of the homeland.

That idea, engagement, ultimately became the central question of the evening: What meaningful role can Syria’s large and highly skilled diaspora play in the country’s next chapter?

A Long Wait, but a Warm Reception

The experience began well before the president entered the room.

Those of us who had received formal invitations waited outside the hotel for nearly two hours, followed by roughly another two and a half hours waiting for the president to arrive after entering. The delays were substantial and, from an organizational standpoint, should be addressed at future events.

Other aspects of the arrangements were handled considerably better. Guests were welcomed respectfully upon entering the hotel. Phones, electronic devices, and other belongings prohibited inside the meeting hall were securely checked, while snacks and a full buffet were available to attendees.

The long wait also produced something no official program could have scheduled: Syrians meeting other Syrians.

Old friends reconnected. New introductions were made. Physicians, businesspeople, academics, activists, journalists, and professionals from different backgrounds exchanged ideas and experiences. For a few hours, the gathering became a meeting place for a community dispersed across states, countries, and continents.

Attendance was smaller than at last year’s gathering, which drew roughly 900 people. This year’s attendance was estimated at around 600.

A Message to the Diaspora

When President al-Sharaa arrived, the formal session began and continued for approximately two hours.

His central message focused on rebuilding Syria and on the role Syrians inside and outside the country can play in that process. The broader implication was important: the diaspora should not be viewed merely as a source of remittances or financial support.

Syrians abroad represent something far larger, professional expertise, business networks, academic knowledge, technical skills, institutional experience, and relationships developed over decades in other countries.

The session soon moved into direct questions from the audience. The opportunity to speak, however, was limited. Many attendees who hoped to address the president were unable to do so. Thirteen participants were ultimately selected by the Presidency’s Head of Protocol to pose questions during the session. Given the size of the gathering and the time available, the exchange could not accommodate the many others who had come with questions of their own.

The discussion ranged from mental health and economic recovery to diaspora advocacy, industrial investment, vocational training, transitional justice, wages, Syrian-Lebanese relations, diplomatic representation, and the return of skilled Syrians.

Mental Health as a National Priority

Boston’s M.Ed Mental Health Counseling therapist Alaa Tello, raised the need for greater institutional attention to mental health and proposed establishing a dedicated ministry.

Al-Sharaa suggested that mental health could instead be incorporated more extensively into the work of the Ministry of Health.

The subject resurfaced later in the meeting, underscoring a much broader challenge. After years of war, displacement, detention, loss, and social disruption, mental health cannot remain peripheral to Syria’s recovery. Whether addressed through a separate institution or within the existing health system, it requires sustained national attention.

Diaspora Advocacy, and Syrian Food

Dr. Ihab Herraka, Board Certified in Gastroenterology and Obesity Medicine, raised concerns about the weakening of Syrian advocacy in the United States and asked about the diaspora’s role in building stronger relationships with American policymakers.

Al-Sharaa responded with humor, referring to familiar Syrian dishes,  yabraq, fatteh, foul, and hummus, while encouraging Syrians to become more socially engaged with policymakers and public figures.

Behind the humor was a serious point: effective advocacy is not built exclusively through formal meetings, policy papers, or political events. Long-term influence often depends on personal relationships, trust, hospitality, and sustained engagement.

For a diaspora seeking a more effective voice in Washington, that point deserves consideration.

Humor, Informality, and Presidential Communication

Humor was a recurring feature of al-Sharaa’s responses. At times, it made the exchange more relaxed and reduced the distance that normally separates a head of state from an audience.

At other moments, however, some responses struck me as more sarcastic than the questions warranted.

There is a meaningful distinction between humor that makes a public official more accessible and sarcasm that may, even unintentionally, leave a serious question, or the person asking it, appearing to have been taken less seriously.

A president’s words carry institutional weight, particularly in a public forum addressing economic hardship, justice, national recovery, and the concerns of citizens abroad. Informality can be an asset in political communication, but it is most effective when balanced with the restraint and seriousness associated with the office.

Preserving al-Sharaa’s evident sense of humor while being more selective in its use would, in my view, strengthen rather than diminish his public communication.

“You Deserve Ten Passports”

One Syrian participant from Massachusetts, who works in prosthetics, described bureaucratic difficulties involving fingerprints and obtaining a Syrian passport. He wanted to travel to Syria and contribute his professional expertise.

“You deserve ten passports,” al-Sharaa replied.

The remark brought a lighter moment to the room, but the issue behind it was serious.

If Syria wants its diaspora to participate in reconstruction, administrative barriers affecting passports, travel, documentation, professional engagement, and temporary or permanent return will need to be addressed. Encouraging skilled Syrians to contribute means little if bureaucracy makes that contribution unnecessarily difficult.

Syria and Lebanon: A Difficult Border File

Dr. Dania Arayssi, Assistant Director at the New Lines Institute and an Assistant Professor at Georgetown University, raised questions about Syrian-Lebanese relations and unresolved border issues between the two countries.

Here, al-Sharaa’s response was notably more serious. He acknowledged the complexity of the border file and said resolving outstanding issues would require time, particularly alongside other national and political priorities.

The Syrian-Lebanese relationship carries decades of political and historical complications. Border disputes represent only one part of that relationship but durable solutions will ultimately require institutional negotiations rather than temporary arrangements.

Can Syria Bring Its Industrialists Back?

Aleppo industrialist and business executive Yasser Krayem raised one of the meeting’s most consequential economic questions: many Syrian manufacturers and business owners who established operations abroad remain hesitant to return. What strategy exists to bring them back?

Al-Sharaa expressed optimism about the coming period, spoke about protecting domestic production, and said officials had met with industrialists and business leaders, some of whom had already returned. He indicated that the government hopes to encourage more to follow.

But bringing industrialists back involves much more than attracting capital.

When a manufacturer returns, Syria can potentially recover investment, management experience, jobs, production capacity, commercial networks, and technical knowledge. Creating the conditions for such returns will therefore require more than appeals to patriotism. Investors will look for legal predictability, functioning infrastructure, institutional stability, protection of property, and confidence in the rules governing business.

Bringing Expertise Home Without Requiring Everyone to Return

Marwa Khabieh, Executive Director of the Syrian Canadian Foundation, asked how Syria could establish mechanisms to engage Syrians who have built professional expertise in Western countries and channel their knowledge and experience into projects inside Syria.

Al-Sharaa’s response touched on vocational training, education, industrial development, teaching methods, and the need to move beyond educational models overly dependent on memorization toward systems that develop reasoning and practical skills.

Her question points to an important distinction.

Syria does not need every successful Syrian abroad to relocate permanently. A serious diaspora strategy could enable physicians, engineers, academics, entrepreneurs, educators, and other professionals to contribute through temporary assignments, training programs, investment, remote collaboration, university partnerships, and institutional exchanges.

The objective should not simply be to reverse migration. It should be to reconnect expertise with Syria.

Transitional Justice and the Missing

Mouaz Moustafa, head of the Syrian Emergency Task Force, raised transitional justice, individuals accused of abuses, and the continuing cases of missing Syrians. He also emphasized the importance of coordination with affected families.

Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani addressed part of the issue, referring to the work of the National Commission for Transitional Justice and its attention to these cases.

Few issues will be more difficult, or more important, in Syria’s transition.

For families who still do not know what happened to missing relatives, transitional justice is not an abstract legal concept. It is a search for truth, accountability, and answers that have already been delayed for years.

Wages and Economic Recovery

Dr. Ousama Muammar, Director of Strategic Affairs at the Morse Policy Forum, raised a range of economic concerns, including salaries, wages, and the broader cost-of-living pressures facing Syrians.

Al-Sharaa said wages had improved compared with the previous period and emphasized the importance of self-reliance in rebuilding the economy.

For ordinary Syrians, however, economic recovery will ultimately be judged less by macroeconomic language than by everyday experience: purchasing power, employment, housing, electricity, public services, and whether a family’s income can cover the basic cost of living.

Those measures will remain among the most tangible tests of Syria’s recovery.

Wealth, Accountability, and the Former Order

Cardiologist Dr. Rim Albezem raised a direct question about businessman Mohammad Hamsho and the broader issue of wealth accumulated by business figures with close ties to the former Assad government.

Al-Sharaa said the state had taken control of approximately 80 percent of Hamsho’s assets, while leaving intact assets that authorities had not determined were acquired unlawfully. He added that the government was continuing to examine similar cases and stressed that financial settlements would not shield individuals from legal accountability in other matters. Contemporary reporting on the exchange also recorded al-Sharaa’s statement that roughly 80 percent of Hamsho’s assets had been taken and that the settlement did not preclude further prosecution.

The question clearly resonated beyond the exchange itself. After the meeting, several attendees approached Albezem to thank her for raising the issue, reflecting the continuing concern among some Syrians over Hamsho’s status and presence in Damascus.

The episode also underscored a larger challenge for the new authorities. Recovering assets linked to political privilege may serve a legitimate public interest, but lasting accountability requires transparent procedures, clear legal standards, and institutional oversight.

Accountability is strongest when governed by law rather than discretion.

A Syrian Embassy in Canada?

Syrian Canadian vocalist and singer Yahya Hawwa, who came from Canada, asked about the possibility of reopening a Syrian embassy there.

Al-Sharaa said the matter was being considered and that the Foreign Ministry was working on it.

For Syria’s sizable community in Canada, diplomatic representation is more than symbolic. It affects passports, documents, family affairs, travel, and the broader relationship between Syrians abroad and their country of origin.

“Write Down Your Proposals”

One of the most consequential moments came near the end of the meeting.

Al-Sharaa invited participants with ideas or proposals to put them in writing and submit them before leaving. He said the Presidency’s public relations office would collect the proposals for his review.

It was a simple request, but potentially an important one.

The invitation given to attendees had spoken of continued “communication and engagement.” The real challenge is turning those words into a functioning relationship.

A serious partnership between Syria and its diaspora cannot be built around an annual gathering, a presidential speech, or a photograph. It requires durable channels through which expertise, criticism, proposals, investment, and practical initiatives can move in both directions.

As attendees left the hall, each received a small commemorative gift from the Presidency of the Syrian Arab Republic, the final gesture of a long day that had begun with hours of waiting and ended with a direct exchange between Syria’s president and hundreds of Syrians living abroad.

The Question After New York

There were clear organizational shortcomings. Waiting for hours outside and then again inside the venue should be reconsidered at future gatherings.

There were also genuine strengths: respectful treatment, generous hospitality, careful security arrangements, a warm atmosphere among attendees, and, most importantly, an opportunity for members of the diaspora to address the president directly, even if the limited Q&A meant that only a small number could do so.

But the larger question extends far beyond a hotel ballroom in New York:

Can Syria turn its relationship with millions of Syrians abroad from occasional gatherings into a durable institutional partnership?

Across the diaspora are physicians, engineers, academics, manufacturers, journalists, entrepreneurs, investors, educators, and specialists who have accumulated decades of knowledge, professional networks, and institutional experience.

Syria cannot afford to regard them simply as people who left.

They are part of the country’s human capital.

The distance between Damascus and New York is considerable. Institutionally, however, that distance can become much shorter if there is trust, legal predictability, credible institutions, sustained communication, and meaningful opportunities to contribute.

The invitation to the New York gathering spoke of a shared identity and continued engagement with Syrians abroad. Turning that aspiration into policy is the more difficult task, and the one that matters most.

Attendees received an official welcome card from the Presidency of the Syrian Arab Republic upon entering the gathering, and a commemorative gift bearing the Syrian state emblem as they departed.

The real measure of meetings like this will not be how many people attend, how many questions are asked, or how many speeches are delivered.

It will be how many of those questions, proposals, and commitments eventually become policy,  and how much of that change Syrians can actually see on the ground.