The Baath Party is working to restore its activities and role in Syria’s southern Daraa province, while its headquarters remain closed in many cities and towns six years after the return of regime institutions.
Most of Daraa’s cities and towns have no police stations nearly six years after returning to Damascus’ control. Where police are present, they have limited powers or work under the watchful eyes of settlement factions.
For several months, local armed groups in Daraa have resorted to a strategy often used in neighboring Suwayda province: taking hostages and besieging regime security headquarters to force the release of detainees when attempts at civil mediation fail.
Facing a teacher shortage and little government support, communities in Daraa are turning to alternative solutions: providing financial bonuses to keep underpaid teachers in classrooms and repairing school buildings themselves.
Increasing numbers of Syrian public sector employees left their jobs due to low pay and high living costs over the past three years, despite the fact that quitting without permission is a criminal offense.
People in Syria’s southern Houran region have long turned to clan reconciliation processes to resolve thorny disputes. The practice increased after 2011, and peaked over the past three years, with residents choosing the clans over the courts with the encouragement of regime legal representatives.
Communities and local armed groups in Syria’s southern Suwayda and Daraa provinces are taking the fight against drug traffickers and smugglers into their own hands. With Damascus and Hezbollah profiting from the trade, they face an uphill battle.
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.
Syria’s fronts with Israel remain relatively quiet, while intensified Israeli strikes and mobilization by Iran-linked forces in the country leave the door open to increased escalation.
A landmark torture case brought against Syria by Canada and the Netherlands began at the UN’s highest court on Tuesday—with Damascus absent. While it is not a criminal case, torture survivors and family members of Syria’s disappeared say it marks another milestone in their long, slow fight for accountability.
