The Detroit area's many Syrians are celebrating Assad's overthrow and planning long-delayed visits

DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) — Nizam Abazid is gleefully planning his first trip in decades to Syria, where he grew up. Rama Alhoussaini was only 6 years old when her family moved to the U.S., but she's excited about the prospect of introducing her three kids to relatives they've never met in person.

They are among thousands of Detroit-area Syrian Americans who are celebrating the unexpected overthrow of the Syrian government, which crushed dissent and imprisoned political enemies with impunity during the more than 50-year reign of ousted President Bashar Assad and his father before him.

“As of Saturday night, the Assad regime is no longer in power,” Alhoussaini, 31, said through tears Tuesday at one of the Detroit-area school and day care facilities her family operates. “And it’s such a surreal moment to even say that out loud, because I never thought that I would see this day.”

It may be some time before either visits Syria. Though happy to see Assad go, many Western countries are waiting for the dust to settle before committing to a Syria strategy, including whether it’s safe for the millions who fled the country’s civil war to return.

Ahmad al-Sharaa, who led the insurgency that toppled Assad after an astonishing advance that took less than two weeks, has disavowed his group's former ties to al-Qaida and cast himself as a champion of pluralism and tolerance. But the U.S. still labels him a terrorist and warns against any travel to Syria, where the U.S. hasn't had an embassy since 2012, the year after the war started.

But for Syrians in the U.S. who have been unable to visit, the overthrow of the Assad government has given them hope that they can safely return, either for good or to visit.

“The end of the regime is the hope for all the Syrian people,” Abazid said this week, days after Assad and his family fled to Russia.

Abazid said he could go to Syria whenever, since he holds dual U.S. and Syrian citizenship, but that he'll wait a few months for things there to settle down.

Although European leaders have said it's not safe enough yet to allow war-displaced refugees to return to Syria, Abazid said he and his brother aren't concerned.

“When Assad’s forces were in power, my fate would’ve been in jail or beheaded,” Abazid said. “But now, I will not be worried about that anymore.”

Many Syrians who immigrated to the U.S. settled in the Detroit area. Michigan has the largest concentration of Arab Americans of any state and is home to the country's largest Arab-majority city, Dearborn. It also has more than 310,000 residents who are of Middle Eastern or North African descent.

As rebel forces seized control of Syria, capping a lightning-quick advance that few thought possible even a month ago, Syrians in and around Detroit — like their counterparts all over the world — followed along in disbelief as reports poured in about one city after another slipping from Assad's grip. When news broke that Assad's government had fallen, celebrations erupted.

Abazid, who owns a cellphone business in Dearborn, was born in Daraa, about 60 miles (95 kilometers) south of the Syrian capital, Damascus. He moved to the U.S. in 1984 at age 18, and although he's gone back a few times, he hasn't visited since 1998 because of what he described as “harassment” by Syrian intelligence. That trip had to be heavily coordinated with U.S. authorities, as he said Syrian authorities took him into custody and detained him for more than six months during a 1990 visit.

“When I was kidnapped from the airport, my family didn’t even know ... what it was about," he told The Associated Press on Tuesday. "I still don’t know the reason. I have no idea why I was kidnapped.”

Abazid, 59, said his parents have died since that 1998 trip, but his five sisters still live in Syria. Each of his four brothers left Syria during the 1970s and 1980s, including one who hasn't been back since emigrating 53 years ago, shortly after Bashar Assad's father, Hafez al-Assad, rose to power.

Alhoussaini, who lives in West Bloomfield Township, said she was born in Damascus and moved to the Detroit area as a young girl, “mainly because there was nothing left for us in Syria.”

She said under the Assad family's rule, her grandfather's land was taken. Authorities detained him for almost a month. Her father was also detained before the family left.

“There never needed to be a reason,” Alhoussaini said. "My dad was able to return one time, in 2010. And he has not been able to go back to his home country since, mainly because we spoke up against the Assad regime when the revolution started in 2011. And we attended many protests here. We were vocal on social media about it, did many interviews.”

But with Bashar Assad gone and Syria in the hands of the rebels, “We don’t have to be afraid anymore to visit our country,” she said.

Her father, 61, is considering making a trip to Syria to see his siblings and visit his parents' graves. Alhoussaini said she and her husband, who is from the northern city of Aleppo, want to take their kids over to visit with family and friends.

Alhoussaini’s three sisters, ages 40, 34 and 29, were also born in Syria. But none of them have been back.

Now, there is hope and amazement that people in Syria can celebrate in the streets, she said.

Alhoussaini said she thinks people who were born and raised in the U.S. won't be able to fully relate, because Americans enjoy a freedom of expression that people in Syria have never had.

“You can say what you want. You can go out into the street and protest whoever you want,” she said. "You will not be detained for it. You will not be killed for it.”

Rama Alhoussaini sits at her desk in Dearborn Heights, Mich., Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Corey Williams)

Nizam Abazid sits in his cellular shop in Dearborn, Mich., Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Corey Williams)

Rama Alhoussaini stands in her office in Dearborn Heights, Mich., Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Corey Williams)

Nizam Abazid sits in his cellular shop in Dearborn, Mich., Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024. Abazid, 59, left Syria in 1984. (AP Photo/Corey Williams)

Rama Alhoussaini holds a Syrian flag in her Dearborn Heights, Mich., office, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Corey Williams)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said Thursday that it has opened a criminal investigation into rape and sexual assault allegations against Motown music luminary Smokey Robinson.

The department said in a statement that its Special Victims Bureau is “actively investigating criminal allegations” against Robinson.

Last week, four former housekeepers of Robinson filed a lawsuit alleging that he repeatedly raped and sexually assaulted them, in some cases for years, while they worked for him.

The suit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court seeks at least $50 million in damages over the alleged assaults, which the women say took place between 2007 and 2024.

Robinson's lawyer said there was no merit to the allegations against the 85-year-old musical icon who was among the biggest hitmakers of the 1960s.

The attorney, Christopher Frost, said Tuesday the only reason for the suit is “unadulterated avarice.”

“We feel confident that a determination will be made that Mr. Robinson did nothing wrong, and that this is a desperate attempt to prejudice public opinion and make even more of a media circus than the Plaintiffs were previously able to create,” Frost said.

John Harris and Herbert Hayden, the lawyers for the women, say they are pleased to learn that law enforcement is pursuing the allegations.

“Our clients intend to fully cooperate with LASD’s ongoing investigation in the pursuit of seeking justice for themselves and others that may have been similarly assaulted by him," the lawyers said.

The sheriff's statement said the investigation is in its early stages, and no other details would be provided.

Robinson's attorney said last week that the allegations “defy credulity” and are full of inconsistencies.

The four women, whose names have not been made public, each allege that Smokey Robinson would wait until he was alone with them in his Los Angeles house and then sexually assault and rape them. One woman said she worked for Robinson from 2012 until 2024 and was assaulted at least 20 times. Another said she worked for him from 2014 until 2020 and was assaulted at least 23 times.

Harris called Robinson a “serial and sick rapist” who must be stopped.

When asked at a May 6 news conference whether the women had talked to police, Hayden said no, but felt the allegations merited law enforcement getting involved.

All of the accusers said they eventually quit over the assaults. And all said they feared coming forward over fears of retaliation, public shame and possible effects on their immigration status.

Robinson churned out a host of hits as a central part of the Motown Records machine — both with his group the Miracles and as a solo artist, with songs including “Tears of a Clown” and “The Tracks of My Tears.” He also wrote and co-wrote songs for other Motown artists, including the Temptations' “My Girl.”

He is a member of both the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

FILE - Smokey Robinson attends the screening for "The Apollo" during the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival on April 24, 2019, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, File)