Syrians who fled homes bombed by Assad regime say returning is distant dream

Displaced people in the north-western city of Idlib have only ruins to go back to

Bashar Yassine, originally from Eastern Ghouta but now displaced in Idlib, is the manager of a restaurant called Salleh. Jamie Prentis / The National

Restaurant manager Bashar Yassine fled his home in the Damascus suburb of Eastern Ghouta in 2018 after the government of Bashar Al Assad carried out some of its worst attacks against the Syrian people in the area, including a sarin nerve gas attack.

Mr Yassine fled the Assad regime's bombs to Idlib, the north-western city where he now runs Salleh, a breakfast venue serving fatteh and felafel. His neighbourhood of Sakhba, in Eastern Ghouta, was under siege for four years by the Syrian army and his mother and sister were killed by bombardments.

Millions found refuge in Idlib under its rebel rule as Mr Al Assad sought to crush all opposition during the country's 13-year civil war. With the end of Assad family rule after half a century, Mr Yassine yearns to move back to Eastern Ghouta, but there would be only ruins to greet him.

“I went there with my father, I couldn’t recognise where my home was,” he says of his first visit in eight years. “I’d love to return but the infrastructure and homes are destroyed.

"When we went to see the graves, we were full of sadness. I asked my father if he wanted to go back to Damascus, but he said ‘I didn’t rebuild my home so where else can I go?’”

So devastating was the damage in Eastern Ghouta that some houses did not resemble buildings, just pebbles and dust on the ground. Mr Yassine is one of many who now face the mammoth task of rebuilding. He said he would need at least a year to reconstruct his home, even if he were not facing the financial difficulties of many displaced Syrians.

While there is widespread joy at Mr Al Assad's fall, the task of moving ahead is daunting. Millions have been displaced, many of whom ended up in Idlib governorate, the final bastion of the rebels before they launched their lightning offensive on Syria a month ago.

Among them is Hussein Amine Hajj Abdullah, who runs an education centre for orphans in Idlib, but is originally from rural Hama. “I have many responsibilities here, I’m the manager of the institutions, for the orphans,” he said. “As for my town, my home is destroyed, my farm damaged, the wells are destroyed. I can’t go back – all at least for now.”

Mustafa Ibrahim from Ma’arat Al Nu’man concurs. “The one who can rebuild his house, will rebuild. But those without money can’t and sleep in tents.”

Syria's economy has been shattered by the conflict, salaries are dismal and the value of the Syrian pound has plunged. Significant investment and skills from abroad will be needed to get the country back on its feet, analysts say.

Moustafa Soufi, 57, told The National that his hometown of Ma’arat Al Nu’man in Syria's north-west was so bad that there are craters in city centre streets. In 2019, the Syrian army advanced on Ma’arat Al Nu’man, forcing many residents such as Mr Soufi to flee to decrepit refugee camps in the countryside around Idlib.

“I feel happy – it’s like when someone is about to suffocate you but at the last minute they relieve you and you take a breath,” he said, referring to the end of Mr Al Assad's regime on December 8.

But outside the city's Umayyad Mosque on his first visit home in five years, he reminisced with sadness about the bustling city it used to be. “All morning I’ve been walking around looking at the streets and buildings,” he explained.

“In the past on Fridays, a lot of people came to this mosque and then would go to the markets and buy anything. This one is for shoes, this one for food, this for carpenters,” he said, pointing to different areas of the town. We had doctors, clinics in this building. On Saturdays, this building would see many people come from the villages to buy things.”

In Saraqib, another town near Idlib, Ammar, 35, stood by a motorway selling petrol, snacks and water on Sunday. He left his home six years ago, like many in the villages and towns of Idlib governorate, fleeing a military advance.

His home has also been flattened by bombing. None of his family or neighbours have been able to return, except for his uncle whose home was occupied by Assad government soldiers and so was spared.

“I can't go back; it's destroyed,” Mr Ammar said, describing contrasting emotions of joy at the fall of Mr Al Assad and sadness at being unable to return. “Maybe in the future this country will be rebuilt.”

He took The National on a tour of Saraqib, pointing out its old souq, homes and schools that are now crumpled. Many across the Idlib governorate say regime soldiers stole everything they could from their communities, even iron and plastic used to make taps for washing in the local mosques.

Houthayfa Hamoud, 23, showed The National where he used to relax at his grandparents' home in Al Ghadfa, another destroyed town.

“That home, in the front, is my uncle's house. It was severely attacked,” he said of the area, which until a month ago was occupied by the former regime. “I need to go back to my village, to my home, to my house. But we don't have the financial support.”