Syrian Uruguayans () are
Uruguay
Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of 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 the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...
an citizens of
Syria
Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
n descent or Syrian-born naturalized Uruguayans.
Historical background
Uruguay has several thousands of people with Arab descent, whose ancestors came mostly from
Lebanon
Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...
; 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, 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 the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...
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 (20May 193513May 2025) was a Uruguayan politician, 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 imprisone ...
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
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in August 2015 but was sent back because of missing visa.
Notable Syrian Uruguayans
*
Amir Hamed (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
Syrian diaspora refers to Syrian people and their descendants who chose or were forced to emigrate from Syria and now reside in other countries as immigrants, or as refugees of the Syrian Civil War.
The estimated number of people of Syrian ...
*
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
There are about 53,000 to 75,000 Lebanese Uruguayans, or Uruguayans of Lebanese origin. The Lebanese are one of the larger non-European communities, though still not as large a group as most European groups. Relations between Uruguay and Leban ...
*
Arab Uruguayans
Arab Uruguayans () are residents or citizens of Uruguay of Arab ethnicity, whose ancestry predominantly traces back to any of various waves of immigrants from the Arab world, especially Lebanon and Syria.
Overview
Arab Uruguayans originated m ...
References
Uruguay
Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of 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 the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...
Syria
Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
*
Syria–Uruguay relations
{{Syria-stub