“Syrians are famous for their sweets,” says Mohamed Said. He and his son-in-law, Emad Mahmoud, are Syrian refugees living in Darashakran Camp, near the city of Erbil in northern Iraq. They make a living selling handmade cakes and baklava – a pastry filled with chopped nuts and sweetened with honey.
Said and Mahmoud run Sima’s Sweets, one of several confectionery shops in Darashakran Camp. Sima’s Sweets currently sells ten to fifteen kilograms to camp residents every day, but Said and Mahmoud want to sell their products in Erbil, a city with over 850,000 inhabitants, where there are already many successful Syrian-owned sweet shops.