Syrian Uruguayans ( ar, السوريون في اوروجواي) are
Uruguay
Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...
an citizens of
Syrian descent or Syrian-born naturalized Uruguayans.
Historical background
Uruguay has several thousands of people with Arab descent, whose ancestors came mostly from
Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...
; a minority came also from Syria.
There were Muslims, Christians, and also some Jews among them.
New wave of immigration in the 21st century
As of October 2014,
Uruguay
Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...
received a new immigration flow of Syrian people, this time as a consequence of the
Syrian Civil War. 42 Syrian people from five families were received by President
José Mujica
José Alberto "Pepe" Mujica Cordano (; born 20 May 1935) is a Uruguayan politician, former revolutionary and farmer who served as the 40th president of Uruguay from 2010 to 2015. A former guerrilla with the Tupamaros, he was tortured and im ...
on 9 October. Because of allegedly insufficient support by the government, some Syrians prostested in 2015 and requested visa to leave the country. One family reportedly tried to leave Uruguay via
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...
in August 2015 but was sent back because of missing visa.
Notable Syrian Uruguayans
*
Amir Hamed
Amir Hamed (11 May 1962 – 20 November 2017) was a Uruguayan writer, essayist and translator.
Background and education
Born in Montevideo, he earned a degree in literature from the University of the Republic and a doctorate in Hispanoamerican ...
(1962-2017), translator
*
Jorge Antonio Chibene (1917–2007), businessman and political figure
* Amin Niffouri (born 1971), politician
*
Raquel Daruech (born 1953), journalist
See also
*
Syrian diaspora
*
Immigration to Uruguay
Immigration to Uruguay began in several millennia BCE with the arrival of different populations from Asia to the Americas through Beringia, according to the most accepted theories, and were slowly populating the Americas. The most recent waves ...
*
Lebanese Uruguayans
*
Arab Uruguayans
References
Uruguay
Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...
Arab Uruguayan
Ethnic groups in Uruguay
Immigration to Uruguay
Syria–Uruguay relations
{{Syria-stub