Nearly 11 months since the fall of the regime, simmering insecurity and uncontrolled weapons continue to destabilize communities and claim lives in Syria’s southern Daraa province.
Communities in Daraa have taken care of themselves for years, fundraising to provide services and even paying teacher salaries to compensate for an absent state. With new authorities in Damascus, local initiatives arise to monitor local governance and root out corruption.
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.
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.
On the twelfth anniversary of the Syrian revolution, our reporter Walid Al Nofal reflects on his personal experience.
