The dream of a safe future in Western Europe for a Syrian refugee family has ended in unimaginable tragedy, with a mother now blaming her husband for destroying their lives. Sumaia al Najjar, 43, has broken her silence to describe how her family was torn apart after her 18-year-old daughter, Ryan, was murdered in a so-called honour killing in the Netherlands.
A Family's Dream Turns to Nightmare
Sumaia and Khaled al Najjar fled the Syrian civil war, embarking on a perilous journey to reach safety. Their gamble initially seemed to pay off. In 2016, they were granted asylum and settled in the Dutch village of Joure. They were provided with a council house, Khaled started a pizza business with state support, and their children enrolled in local schools. Their integration was even highlighted as a success story in local media.
Yet, behind closed doors, a different reality festered. Sumaia describes her husband as a violently controlling man who beat her and their children. "He used to break things and beat me and his children up, beat all of us," she recalls. As their daughter Ryan grew older, she became the primary target of her father's rage.
The Tragic Fate of Ryan al Najjar
Ryan, who had been a studious girl, began to rebel during her teenage years. Bullied at school for wearing her hijab, she eventually stopped wearing it, started smoking, and embraced a more Western lifestyle. This transformation enraged her conservative father, Khaled, who suspected her of flirting with boys and making TikTok videos.
The conflict escalated to the point where Ryan, terrified of her father's violence, fled the family home and entered the Dutch care system. Just one month after her 18th birthday, her body was discovered. She was found face down in a pond at the Oostvaardersplassen nature reserve, bound and gagged with 18 metres of duct tape. Traces of her father's DNA were found under her fingernails.
Justice and a Mother's Unending Grief
This week, a Dutch court delivered its verdict. Khaled al Najjar, who has since fled to Syria and remarried, was sentenced in absentia to 30 years in prison for orchestrating his daughter's murder. The court concluded Ryan was killed for rejecting her family's Islamic upbringing.
In a devastating blow for Sumaia, the court also sentenced her two sons, Muhanad, 25, and Muhamad, 24, to 20 years each for assisting their father. Mobile phone data, GPS signals, and algae on their shoes placed them at the scene. The judges ruled they were culpable for driving Ryan to the isolated spot and leaving her alone with Khaled.
Sumaia vehemently denies their involvement, insisting her husband acted alone and later framed their sons. "It was not right to punish my sons for what their father had done. The verdict was unjust," she wails. "Khaled destroyed our family - we are all destroyed." She is desperate to see her extradited ex-husband returned to the Netherlands to serve his sentence.
Reflecting on the horrific chain of events, Sumaia's voice fills with contempt for the man she once married. "He has destroyed my whole family," she states. "May God never forgive him. The children will never forgive him - or forget him." Her remaining family is now fragmented, living with constant grief for both a murdered daughter and imprisoned sons, a brutal outcome for a family that once sought nothing more than peace.
