Idlib camps increasingly permanent despite ‘dream of return’
Thirteen years after the Syrian revolution, displacement camps in Idlib’s Atma look increasingly like towns, tents replaced by cement buildings. Has the dream of return been lost?
Killed, displaced, exiled: Syria’s women’s movement 13 years after revolution
As Syrians mark the 13th anniversary of the March 2011 uprising, activists reflect on the state of the women’s movement after more than a decade of revolution and war. In the face of conflict, displacement and persecution, what remains of it today?
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.
Lebanon’s crackdown on Syrians’ unregistered motorcycles turns deadly
Motorcycles and scooters are a lifeline for many Syrians in Lebanon, but most cannot legally register them. As police crack down, they face fines, extortion and—as seen in the recent killing of a young man at a checkpoint in Beirut—violence.
‘Today Heba, tomorrow us’: Feminist activist’s hanging casts long shadow
The hanging of Syrian feminist and activist Heba Haj Aref after a long series of threats has cast a long shadow over women activists across northwestern Syria, highlighting the dangers and lack of support they face.
Renewed talk of US withdrawal rattles Syrians in the northeast
Residents of SDF-controlled northeastern Syria say the US military presence there brings a sense of relative stability, one that any withdrawal—as Washington was recently reported to be considering—would shatter.
How does IS resurrect itself in southern Syria, defeat after defeat?
After each blow to the Islamic State in southern Syria inflicted by former opposition factions, the group simply reshuffles its ranks and reactivates its cells. How does IS regenerate itself, what is its future in the south and what is the regime’s relationship with it?
Detained, deported, disappeared: Assad’s critics face ‘nightmare’ in Lebanon
As Lebanon presses forward with mass deportations of Syrian refugees, those openly involved in opposition activities against the Assad regime face a growing danger.
With little support, thousands of Syrians homeless one year after earthquake
One year after the February 6 earthquake, tens of thousands of Syrian survivors are still homeless, without enough support to repair and rebuild their homes. Aid workers stress the importance of early recovery to facilitate returns and provide livelihoods.
Fuel crisis and weak subsidies threaten Syria’s northeastern bread basket
Farmers in northeastern Syria are reducing the amount of land they cultivate or relying on the rain for irrigation as weak fuel subsidies and high costs make farming increasingly unprofitable.