Syria DirectSyria Direct Staff2024-04-22T16:24:07+02:00

  • Satellite images reveal how the Tal al-Hara woods, in the northwest of Syria’s southern Daraa province, were all but stripped bare by logging between October 2011 and November 2022. (Google Earth)

Under the axe: The fall of Daraa’s forests and fruit trees

Trees have fallen under the axe in Daraa and across Syria since the spring 2011 revolution, cut for wood to sell or use as an alternative to heating and cooking gas during war, siege and economic crises. Since 2020, however, logging has increased to include fruit-bearing trees on private farmland and within cities.

  • Atia Abu Salem, a 24-year-old refugee and communications student in Jordan facing deportation back to Syria, appears in a picture wearing a keffiyeh as an expression of solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, 12/10/2023 (Atiaa Abu Salem)

Syrians arrested amid Gaza protests face deportation from Jordan

Atia Abu Salem, a Syrian refugee in Jordan arrested on his way to a pro-Gaza demonstration this month, is facing deportation. The families of “many Syrians” among the more than 1,500 people detained amid recent protests are keeping quiet, afraid of “escalation.”

  • An overhead view of Erbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdistan Region of Iraq, 18/4/2024 (Syria Direct)

Syrians at a loss after Erbil stops issuing visas

Erbil’s April 4 decision to stop issuing visas to Syrians has been a disaster for those for whom the Kurdistan Region of Iraq was a safe haven from conscription or a place to reunite with family members after years of separation.

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