Members of Dunedin’s refugee community danced, sang and did burnouts in their cars as, half a world away, Syria’s brutal regime was ousted.
After 13 years of civil war and five decades of the al-Assad family’s autocratic rule, Syrian rebels seized the capital Damascus on Sunday unopposed in a rapid advance, causing Assad to flee to Russia.
Dunedin Syrian Society president Wasim Askar said he was struggling to find words to describe his joy.
"We feel free, we feel ourselves, we feel proud of our identity.
"We feel the victory."
He had been watching the news "day and night" over the past 10 days with a mixture of fear and happiness, anxious for any update on the conflict.
"We were waiting ... looking for the future."
Relatives in Syria he had spoken to felt they had won their country back, Mr Askar said.
"One of my family members in Syria ... said to me ‘I have no words to explain what I’m feeling right now’.
"Today only we have the feeling that we have a country that wants us back — a country that loves us and values us."
Previously, Syrians in New Zealand had been reluctant to express support for their families for fear of repercussions from the regime.
"We were just keeping it to ourselves because our loved ones ... were there under the ruling of those oppressors and dictators," Mr Askar said.
"We can now be free from fear, free from fighting, and just live the life that Syrians deserve to live — as normal human beings."
Syrians were hard workers and had always aimed for a better future for their country, which was now within reach.
"We have good people that hopefully will take leadership.
"We have doctors, we have teachers, we have lawyers, we have all sorts of people who can build a country with no dictatorship, with love and with hope for a better future."
In 2015, Dunedin was announced a refugee resettlement city — Mr Askar estimated there were about 1100 Syrians living in the city.
"Dunedin is our Syria ... since we arrived.
"We felt like home the whole time."
A public event was being organised in the coming days so all of Dunedin could celebrate the victory together, he said.
St Kilda resident Victor Billot saw a group of about 30 men celebrating in John Wilson Ocean Dr on Sunday night.
"There were some guys doing some kind of dance, and there was someone else doing a burnout and all the flags were going.
"It had that excited feeling."
The group were later seen driving down Cumberland St in a convoy, waving flags and honking in their horns.
