Years of war, mismanagement and drought wreaked havoc on the fertile Ghouta countryside surrounding Damascus. Farmers face a host of challenges as they return to care for their land.
With the Assad regime gone, Douma is coming back to life. Markets are bustling in the East Ghouta city, as construction workers repair damaged buildings and displaced residents return to visit or settle down.
The view from the ground in the East Ghouta suburbs of Damascus is one of a worried regime withdrawing its forces from the interior of cities and reinforcing checkpoints on their outskirts “for fear of being targeted,” residents say.
France’s international arrest warrant for Bashar al-Assad for complicity in crimes against humanity marks a historic first. What does it mean in practice, and what are its implications for seemingly unstoppable regional normalization?
Rather than healing the country's wounds, Ghouta’s recent experience with Assad’s promise to release detainees suggests a careless disregard for unifying the country.
France is the second European country requested to investigate and prosecute those responsible for chemical attacks carried out by the Assad regime against the Syrian people in 2013.
