Syrian refugee's US falafel shop offers 'free meals' to unpaid federal workers

Yassin Terou has been running Yassin's Falafel House in Knoxville, Tennese following his migration from Syria as a refugee and now wants to extend a hand to others in need. 

"For someone like me who is living the American dream in the American land…I believe every hard worker should reach his goal and have a good level of life" Terou said, according to an Arab American News report.

Terou added it was important for him to provide such meals as federal workers "are our brothers and sisters, and they already did the work and they aren't getting paid".

His restaurant announced on Facebook that those affected by the shutdown would eat free of charge. 

"We are more than happy to serve them because they (have) been serving us all (these) days and we are not going to (leave) them alone."

Since the announcement, the restaurant's Facebook page shared images of federal employees who had taken up the offer.

Last year, Terou's restaurant was named "The Nicest Place in America" by Reader's Digest and Good Morning America.

The partial federal shutdown - which began when US President Donald Trump refused to sign off on proposed budgets that did not include funding for his planned border wall - entered its fifth week on Saturday. 

The shutdown - the longest in US history - has paralysed Washington and resulted in 800,000 federal employees being placed on temporary leave or are working with no pay.

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