Syrians returning to Damascus embrace post-Assad life

DAMASCUS

Syrians residing in neighborhoods of the capital Damascus that were devastated by the Bashar Assad regime and its allies are holding on to life in these ruined areas, experiencing a blend of joy, sadness and hope for the future.

As you walk through the Harasta and Jobar suburbs in the Eastern Ghouta area of Damascus, the harsh scars of war are immediately evident, with the heavy toll Syrians have paid in their battle to end the 61-year rule of the Baathist regime clearly visible.

Images of devastated neighborhoods with facades torn down and now resembling ghost towns evoke scenes from apocalyptic movies.

Barrel bombs, mortars and artillery shells used by the Assad regime and its regional allies still litter open fields.

Syrians who had fled the conflict and sought refuge in other areas are now returning to their homes, bringing their belongings in pickup trucks.

Residents reveal that regime soldiers have looted everything -- marble, cables, furniture, iron, construction materials, fuse boxes and network cables, all part of the area’s infrastructure.

In Jobar, the increasing destruction has led to the flight of nearly all of its 300,000 residents. Few cars are seen on the side streets, which have now become ghostly quiet. Syrians say they’ve returned to see the condition of their homes.

Umm Wafa, whose son was detained by the regime in 2012, does not know his fate.

In some of the homes in Harasta that have not been demolished, the windows still attached and the flowers on the balconies stand as symbols of resistance against the life that has been wiped away from the area.

Residents say that Harasta’s population once numbered around 250,000, but only 10,000 people remain.

Umm Wafa, 60, a mother of five who struggles to survive amid the ruins, shared with Anadolu that she fled the area in 2012 but returned in 2019.

Wafa said Assad soldiers detained her son, who was 30 years old at the time, at a checkpoint in 2012, and despite her repeated attempts, she was turned away empty-handed during the regime’s rule. She even went to prisons after the regime fell but still couldn’t discover her son’s fate.

She said Assad's soldiers hate the people, relentlessly persecute them, raid homes, steal their possessions and detain young people, and the fate of those who disappear is unknown, adding that she watched with a trembling heart as opposition groups advanced toward Damascus.

‘Only Türkiye took Syrians and embraced them’

Commenting on the global perception of Syria and its people, Wafa said: “The world countries took young Syrians because they wanted to employ them. Only Türkiye took Syrians and embraced them and treated them as its own people. The Syrian people love Türkiye and the Turkish people. My nephews are still in Türkiye. They love the Turkish people. Turkish people shared our pain.”

She noted that even Assad's soldiers dislike him and observed that “they fight on behalf of the regime for the interests of Russia, Iran and Hezbollah.”

Despite the destruction and ruins, Wafa still holds on to hope.

“Look at this situation. But I am willing to live here for another hundred years. Injustice is ending. The youth will return and the sons of this country will rebuild everything. The endless injustice in this country is over. We are healed,” she said.

She pointed out that the situation has improved, even though it has been some time since the liberation of Damascus and the fall of the Assad regime.

“We used to wait five hours to buy bread. Now it does not take 10 minutes. This happened from the first day of our liberation, and we can buy as much bread as we want. Even this shows the situation.”

Recalling how she used to be disgusted by having to get off the bus and have her bags searched by Assad soldiers, Wafa emphasized that they were treated as foreigners and enemies in their own homeland and subjected to fear and terror.

She concluded by saying that the world should congratulate them for ending “unlawfulness” and said they gained their freedom while enduring a great prison in exile in Syria.

*Writing by Efe Ozkan