Syrians have taken to the streets to have a good time the primary anniversary of the elimination of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad amid renewed optimism that situations will proceed to enhance because the nation recovers from the consequences of almost 14 years of battle.
Fireworks rang out, and flags dotted cities throughout the nation on Monday, marking one year because the al-Assad dynasty fell after a lightning 11-day offensive by opposition forces ended its 53-year rule.
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Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa, sporting a army uniform, carried out the daybreak prayer on the Umayyad Mosque within the capital, Damascus, early within the morning to mark the anniversary.
In a speech after the prayers, al-Sharaa pledged to rebuild Syria.
“Nobody will stand in our means, regardless of how large or highly effective they’re, and no obstacles will stand in our means. We’ll face all challenges, God prepared,” al-Sharaa, who led the opposition forces that seized Damascus on December 8, 2024, mentioned.
“From its north to its south and from its east to its west, we are going to rebuild a powerful Syria with a construction befitting its current and its previous, and we are going to rebuild it to help the oppressed and to ascertain justice among the many individuals.”
Navy parades organised by the Ministry of Defence came about in Damascus and throughout a number of provinces, together with in Hama, Homs and Deir Az Zor.
‘Solely part of the dream got here true’
Over the past 12 months, the brand new authorities has taken steps to offer fundamental providers to residents.
A presidential decree in June raised civil servants’ minimal month-to-month salaries.
Restore and upkeep work started on the nation’s energy grid, with foremost cities, together with Aleppo, Homs and Damascus, receiving uninterrupted electrical energy on a trial foundation for the primary time in 15 years.
Prisons that left dark marks on the Syrian public, together with Sednaya, the Mezzeh army jail, and Khatib, have been additionally completely closed.
However whereas the mood in the nation is joyous, with individuals celebrating on the streets, chanting, singing and waving flags, “there’s plenty of work to be carried out”, mentioned Al Jazeera’s Assed Baig, reporting from Aleppo.
Town, which was break up till 2016 between opposition fighters and pro-Assad forces, took a “actual battering” that can “value billions of {dollars} to rebuild and restore”, he mentioned.
“That’s why the federal government is seeking to worldwide companions for funding, to assist with the rebuilding of this nation, particularly Aleppo, as a result of the combating right here was so fierce,” mentioned Baig.
In the meantime, hundreds of thousands of refugees and members of the diaspora are weighing the choice to return house and rebuild their lives after the autumn of al-Assad, who fled to Russia a 12 months in the past.
The battle began as a largely unarmed rebellion in opposition to al-Assad in March 2011, however rapidly morphed right into a full-blown battle that killed a whole bunch of 1000’s of individuals. It additionally led to one of many world’s largest migration crises, with some 6.8 million Syrians, a couple of third of the inhabitants, fleeing the nation on the battle’s peak in 2021, searching for refuge wherever they might discover it.
Greater than 782,000 Syrians have returned to Syria from different nations over the previous 12 months, based on the Worldwide Group for Migration (IOM).
Regardless of the rise in returns, restricted job alternatives and excessive residing prices proceed to undermine long-term resettling. Housing stays unaffordable for a lot of, leaving returnees in broken properties or costly rental models.
Younger individuals in Syria are significantly hopeful about change, however the want for extra jobs and for the economic system to revive is pressing.
“Solely part of the dream got here true,” pupil Maha Khalil advised Al Jazeera.
“Now we have victory, however we misplaced years, properties, youngsters. The actual story begins now. We hope we are going to rebuild, however the youth are considering of going overseas. And people who are overseas are afraid of coming again.”
Focus inward
Syria obtained worldwide help on its anniversary, with United Nations chief Antonio Guterres reaffirming the organisation’s dedication to make sure the success of Syria’s political transition.
“On this anniversary, we stand united in function – to construct a basis of peace and prosperity and renew our pledge to a free, sovereign, united and inclusive Syria,” he mentioned.
Heiko Wimmen, Worldwide Disaster Group’s undertaking director for Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon, advised Al Jazeera that whereas the worldwide legitimisation of al-Sharaa has “been a spectacular success”, his authorities should now shift its gaze inwards.
The federal government ought to primarily give attention to rebuilding the economic system after the lifting of international sanctions, “which takes time, as a result of capital and investments are cautious, as they need to be”, Wimmen mentioned.
It also needs to “revive political life”, he added.
For years, Syria’s leaders have been programmed to “monopolise energy”, an strategy that can now not work as they try to incorporate all residents within the political combine.
“Everyone in Syria must be satisfied that, within the nation that’s being constructed, they’ll have a say in the way it’s being constructed – and a spot,” Wimmen mentioned.
