We've heard the stories of thousands of Syrians making perilous journeys, sparing no effort to seek safer ground in Europe. But less known, are those who after coming all this way, then decide to return to their war-torn home. Spero Hadad did just that.

Photographer Spero Hadad used to live in Jobar-an eastern suburb of Damascus. Jobar became one of the early flashpoints of the Syrian civil war. Spero and his mother fled. Spero decided to take a chance and flee Syria.

"My mother encouraged me to leave and start a new life in Europe. When I settled in Europe, I can take her with me. I told my mother I'll try. But if we were not going to reunite in Europe, I would come back," Hadad said.

Spero sold his camera and left Syria. In July 2015, he went to Beirut and took a flight to Turkey. After giving a smuggler 15-hundred U.S. dollars, he got on a boat for Greece.

"We were using a boat to pass Mediterranean Sea. The maximum capacity was 20 people but we had 52 on board," Hadad said.

The journey was difficult, but Spero finally made his way to Austria. After staying a while, he regretted his decision-but not because of his reception in Europe.

"Europeans were nice to us. But some people went to Europe, they are not actual refugees. They ruined everything and gave negative influences to those who really wanted to flee the war like us," Hadad said.

Spero said some of the refugees were extremists. Some, he said, even bragged about their ties to ISIL in Iraq.

"On the 5th day after I arrived in Austria, one refugee came to tell me that they are here to conquer Europe, they are not refugees. I found it too weird. They were talking about being in infidel countries. But these countries gave us food, money and healthcare," Hadad said.

Spero came to see dark times ahead for Europe. That's when he decided to return home. Before he left, he met a group of photographers.

"When I planned to go back, I met some photographers from an association. After they learned I would go back without a computer and camera, they gave me a new camera as a gift, hoping I would remember them when I started a new life," Hadad said.

In December 2015, Spero went back to Damascus. His mother wept when she saw her son.

"She cried when she first saw me, because of happiness and sadness. She told me she cried because I suffered on my journey yet lost my future in Europe. She's also happy to see me again, because she might not see me before she died. That will also be the saddest moment for me," Hadad said.