One year after the fall of al-Assad, a reporter returns to Damascus

Damascus, Syria – On the greeting of December 5, 2025, a taxi drove maine crossed the Lebanon-Syria border. This clip was antithetic from my archetypal travel across, successful the aboriginal hours of December 9, 2024, conscionable a time aft Bashar al-Assad fled Syria for Moscow.

On that day, Syrian Army subject vehicles were abandoned connected the broadside of the road to Damascus. Also abandoned, scattered on the highway’s shoulders, were the uniforms of the men who had erstwhile driven them.

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A twelvemonth later, they’re each gone. So, too, are the defaced portraits of Bashar and his begetter Hafez, who ruled the state from 1971 until past year. And gone is simply a motion I’d photographed a twelvemonth earlier that work “Assad’s Syria welcomes you”.

A photograph of a motion speechmaking ‘Assad’s Syria welcomes you’, taken connected December 9, 2024, the time aft Bashar al-Assad fled Syria for Moscow [Justin Salhani/Al Jazeera]

I was backmost successful Damascus to screen the archetypal day of the autumn of the regime. A twelvemonth later, radical instrumentality to Umayyad Square to celebrate.

This time, equipped men are organising the crowds alternatively of firing their rifles into the air. The muddied SUVs that transported anti-Assad forces into Damascus person been replaced by caller information forces vehicles, emblazoned with the caller nationalist emblem adopted by Ahmed al-Sharaa’s government.

A batch tin alteration successful a year. Immediately aft the fall, Syrians had a five-decade value removed from their chests. It had pressed down connected their ribs and organs and robbed them of feelings of agency.

‘May God support the government’

For years, galore Syrians – adjacent successful the diaspora – avoided giving their existent names oregon having their photos taken retired of fearfulness of repercussions for themselves oregon loved ones backmost successful Syria.

After al-Assad’s fall, galore Syrians were eager to express the suppressed thoughts they’d agelong burrowed away.

In Umayyad Square, adjacent though the day was inactive 3 days away, radical gathered and waved flags and lit fireworks. Many spoke of their joyousness astatine the upcoming celebration.

“The concern is good, whitethorn God support the government,” said Moataz, a 19-year-old student. “The concern successful the past twelvemonth changed … successful each way.”

We finished speaking, and I began talking to different student. Then, Moataz approached maine and asked maine to delight not see his household sanction successful the report.

Another of his friends refused to beryllium interviewed. Nothing was wrong, they said, they conscionable felt much comfy that way.

Standing adjacent to maine was a Canadian colleague. When Moataz’s person heard helium was from Canada, helium told him that Syria was bully to sojourn for a week oregon two, but that it’s amended to unrecorded successful Canada.

Most successful the quadrate had lone ever known 1 family’s rule. Many, nether the property of 25, had lone known 1 man’s rule. Exorcising the trauma and demons, particularly those of the years of the uprising and convulsive suppression, volition understandably instrumentality time. So volition improving the state and its infrastructure.

Syrian store owners I spoke to successful the al-Salhiye and al-Hamadiyeh souqs told maine that they nary longer feared information forces would raid their shops, but that concern had mostly inactive not improved. Hopes are precocious that the lifting of United States sanctions, including the caller repeal of the Caesar Act, mightiness kick-start the economy. But for now, galore are surviving day-to-day oregon disconnected remittances.

A thoroughfare creator successful the al-Salhiye souk successful Damascus [Justin Salhani/Al Jazeera]

The disappeared

One disapproval from activists is that small advancement has been made connected the contented of the tens of thousands of disappeared Syrians. Portraits of missing persons posted successful Damascus’s Marjeh Square were torn down.

A twelvemonth earlier, my colleagues and I had driven towards Sednaya situation northbound of the city. We parked a mates of kilometres away, arsenic Israeli aerial strikes exploded successful the distance, and carried connected by ft towards the prison.

There, we recovered tens of thousands of radical looking for immoderate sign, susurration oregon remnant of their loved ones who had been disappeared successful the nefarious Syrian situation web built by the Assad authorities implicit decades. On our mode down from the prison, radical arriving asked america if determination were immoderate prisoners near inside. They did not yet cognize that each the remaining prisoners had been liberated and that rumours of an underground holding compartment were impervious of the depths of originative depravity the authorities was susceptible of.

That authorities is gone. And cipher I spoke to successful Damascus wants al-Assad back. That information unsocial has made a satellite of quality to millions of Syrians. However, discussions with store owners, servers astatine cafes, a erstwhile edifice employee, erstwhile prisoners, researchers, students, engineers, taxi drivers and members of the diaspora considering returning home, besides highlighted that it volition not beryllium capable to rebuild the country.

The World Bank estimates reconstruction successful Syria needs $216bn. Dozens of areas inactive prevarication successful ashes and rubble. The system has yet to instrumentality off, and the pledges of fiscal and governmental enactment from planetary and determination allies person not afloat materialised yet.

A twelvemonth connected from al-Assad’s fall, immoderate streets are being repaved, gunmen successful mismatched fatigues who erstwhile roamed the metropolis streets person been replaced by men successful matching achromatic uniforms with authorities insignia. An authoritative sheen has been laid implicit Damascus. Many locals whitethorn lucifer that sheen with their ain expressions of joy, but underneath, galore are inactive struggling.

To travel location oregon not to travel home?

Syria is inactive successful a post-war phase.

While locals said energy and infrastructure are improving, walking done unlit streets oregon alleys is inactive not uncommon. While visiting a person successful the Muhajreen neighbourhood, helium looked astatine the clock. “The energy hasn’t travel yet today,” helium said. “We’ve been getting 2 hours connected and 4 hours off.”

Of course, fewer radical successful Damascus miss the days of al-Assad. His specified lack has opened up the anticipation of instrumentality for thousands of Syrians.

Many consciousness determination is an accidental to assistance rebuild and reshape the country.

About 3 cardinal Syrians person reportedly returned to the state successful the past year. I met a fistful during my abbreviated trip.

Omran, 22, moved backmost a week agone from Lebanon, wherever helium worked installing star panels aft not seeing his parent oregon small member for adjacent to a decade.

Abu Taj, 24, came backmost aft 10 years successful Saudi Arabia and hopes his household volition soon follow. At a meal adjacent Bab Sharqi, a radical energetically discussed the past year, the changes they wanted to spot and however they mightiness beryllium portion of shaping it.

A Syrian-Palestinian researcher who had moved backmost from Lebanon a fewer months earlier had her criticisms but felt contagiously optimistic astir the absorption the state was going in.

Others, Syrians surviving overseas successful London, Amman oregon Istanbul, said they were considering moving backmost arsenic well. For them, determination is yet hope.

End the civilization of impunity

On December 9, 2024, I visited a villa utilized by the al-Assads to big guests. In beforehand of the villa was a neatly curated enactment of effect trees, bearing kumquats.

As locals filtered successful and retired of the ransacked villa, visiting a determination that had antecedently been off-limits to the public, a antheral wearing a leather overgarment picked kumquats disconnected the trees and sucked the foodstuff from them. He projected his dependable for each astir to hear, “How saccharine this is!”

He could person been talking astir the effect oregon the infinitesimal successful history.

On that day, and for months afterwards, it was communal to spot men successful a assortment of colours and patterns of fatigues, patrolling the metropolis oregon manning checkpoints.

Today, they’ve been replaced by men successful standardised achromatic uniforms. People are nary longer jumping up and down, hugging them and celebrating with them. But successful Damascus astatine least, radical didn’t visibly fearfulness them successful public.

Of course, the past twelvemonth has besides included a assortment of lived experiences, including immoderate that are dark.

Widespread unit and massacres connected the seashore successful March and successful Suwayda successful July person near galore minorities distrustful of authorities. In earlier trips astir the country, including to Suwayda for a time successful February 2025, I recovered galore Syrians from number backgrounds sceptical of Ahmed al-Sharaa and his caller government. But galore expressed a consciousness of anticipation that actions astir number rights and dignity would lucifer the words from the caller enactment and its followers.

In fact, galore expressed vexation astir speech successful Europe and elsewhere astir the extortion of minorities. At an upscale edifice successful the Abou Roummaneh neighbourhood successful Damascus, a lawyer told maine helium was angered by a blimpish French paper aft it discussed his views connected the governmental concern and called him a “Christian lawyer”.

On my latest trip, however, I recovered overmuch of that goodwill from the minorities I spoke with had faded. That was existent successful Damascus and elsewhere.

“I don’t deliberation radical recognize however severely the massacres successful Suwayda affected radical there,” 1 non-Syrian who regularly visits the portion for enactment told me.

Last year, I wrote a reporter’s notebook aft a travel to Damascus and Aleppo successful December. In it, I expressed scepticism implicit the Western obsession with number rights erstwhile they had truthful intelligibly ignored that nether al-Assad, and that the lone universalism was the quality to beryllium imprisoned, tortured oregon disappeared.

“The concerns of minorities are existent and not to beryllium dismissed, but I besides anticipation a absorption connected a peculiar number radical does not overshadow oregon disregard the wider conflict for cosmopolitan rights that thousands of Syrians are demanding crossed sects and regions,” I wrote astatine that time.

The alleviation that al-Assad is gone is inactive present. But that conflict for cosmopolitan rights, for minorities and for the majority, inactive has a upland to climb.

On my 2nd time successful Damascus, I received a dependable enactment from Razan Rashidi, enforcement manager of The Syria Campaign. Rashidi and her colleagues are starring a run to bring al-Assad backmost from Moscow to look a Syrian-led peculiar court.

“After 1 twelvemonth of the autumn of the Assad authorities arsenic quality rights campaigner and a idiosyncratic who worked for truthful agelong for galore years with survivors of galore atrocities wrong Syria, I’ve personally witnessed stages and however the authorities utilized assistance to starve civilians, worked with chemic weapons survivors, worked with families of the missing. And it’s precise heartbreaking to cognize that Assad is surviving and enjoying state successful Moscow and galore of his officials,” she told me.

“And what we’ve seen successful the past twelvemonth successful presumption of the civilization of impunity successful antithetic parts of Syria, whether for perpetrators who movie themselves erstwhile they’re committing the crimes oregon the denials of galore of the crimes that we’ve seen arsenic good wrong Syria, it makes america much committed and our content successful the request for justness and accountability is adjacent deepened, knowing that lone justness tin bring bid to this state that is trying to rebuild and revive aft years of atrocities.”