Category World News

One year on since the fall of Bashar al-Assad, Syria has seen new social media platforms, student movements and cultural groups emerge as spaces for debate and reform. But uncertainty over these freedoms remain, as Al Jazeera’s Osama Bin Javaid explains.

Syrians have taken to the streets to celebrate the first anniversary of the removal of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad amid renewed optimism that conditions will continue to improve as the country recovers from the effects of nearly 14 years of war.

Fireworks rang out, and flags dotted cities across the country on Monday, marking one year since the al-Assad dynasty fell after a lightning 11-day offensive by opposition forces ended its 53-year rule.

President Ahmed al-Sharaa, speaking at a press conference in Damascus, paid tribute to those who fought to overthrow the former regime.

“To those who are now present here in the heart of history, you are shaping a story of intrepidness and bravery,” he said.

“Today we mark one year of liberating Syria from the shackles of tyranny and dictatorship, restoring the country once again to greatness. Stand with your heads held high. We had lost our homeland for more than five decades, during which this gang attempted to fleece it of its civilisation, history and traditions.”

Earlier, dressed in military uniform, al-Sharaa performed the dawn prayer at the Umayyad Mosque to commemorate the anniversary. “No one will stand in our way, no matter how big or powerful they are,” he said.

“We will face all challenges, God willing. From its north to its south, from its east to its west, we will rebuild a strong Syria worthy of its present and its past, a Syria that supports the oppressed and establishes justice among the people.”

Military parades organised by the Ministry of Defence took place in Damascus and across several provinces, including in Hama, Homs and Deir Az Zor.

‘Only a part of the dream came true’

Over the last year, the new government has taken steps to provide basic services to citizens.

A presidential decree in June raised civil servants’ minimum monthly salaries.

Repair and maintenance work began on the country’s power grid, with main cities, including Aleppo, Homs and Damascus, receiving uninterrupted electricity on a trial basis for the first time in 15 years.

Prisons that left dark marks on the Syrian public, including Sednaya, the Mezzeh military prison, and Khatib, were also permanently closed.

But while the mood in the nation is joyous, with people celebrating on the streets, chanting, singing and waving flags, “there’s a lot of work to be done”, said Al Jazeera’s Assed Baig, reporting from Aleppo.

The city, which was split until 2016 between opposition fighters and pro-Assad forces, took a “real battering” that will “cost billions of dollars to rebuild and restore”, he said.

“That’s why the government is looking to international partners for investment, to help with the rebuilding of this country, especially Aleppo, because the fighting here was so fierce,” said Baig.

Meanwhile, millions of refugees and members of the diaspora are weighing the decision to return home and rebuild their lives after the fall of al-Assad, who fled to Russia a year ago.

The war started as a largely unarmed uprising against al-Assad in March 2011, but quickly morphed into a full-blown conflict that killed hundreds of thousands of people. It also led to one of the world’s largest migration crises, with some 6.8 million Syrians, about a third of the population, fleeing the country at the war’s peak in 2021, seeking refuge wherever they could find it.

More than 782,000 Syrians have returned to Syria from other countries over the past year, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

Despite the rise in returns, limited job opportunities and high living costs continue to undermine long-term resettling. Housing remains unaffordable for many, leaving returnees in damaged homes or expensive rental units.

Young people in Syria are particularly hopeful about change, but the need for more jobs and for the economy to revive is urgent.

“Only a part of the dream came true,” student Maha Khalil told Al Jazeera.

“We have victory, but we lost years, homes, children. The real story begins now. We hope we will rebuild, but the youth are thinking of going abroad. And those who are abroad are afraid of coming back.”

Focus inward

Syria received international support on its anniversary, with United Nations chief Antonio Guterres reaffirming the organisation’s commitment to ensure the success of Syria’s political transition.

“On this anniversary, we stand united in purpose – to build a foundation of peace and prosperity and renew our pledge to a free, sovereign, united and inclusive Syria,” he said.

Heiko Wimmen, International Crisis Group’s project director for Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon, told Al Jazeera that while the international legitimisation of al-Sharaa has “been a spectacular success”, his government must now shift its gaze inwards.

The government should primarily focus on rebuilding the economy after the lifting of international sanctions, “which takes time, because capital and investments are cautious, as they should be”, Wimmen said.

It should also “revive political life”, he added.

For years, Syria’s leaders were programmed to “monopolise power”, an approach that will no longer work as they attempt to include all citizens in the political mix.

Israeli forces have raided the headquarters of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in occupied East Jerusalem, seizing items and replacing the UN flag with Israel’s flag.

In a statement on X, the agency’s commissioner-general, Philippe Lazzarini, said Israeli police, accompanied by municipal officials, forcibly entered its compound in Sheikh Jarrah early on Monday morning.

“Police motorcycles, as well as trucks and forklifts, were brought in and all communications were cut. Furniture, IT equipment and other property was seized,” he said. “The UN flag was pulled down and replaced with an Israeli flag.”

UNRWA has not used the building since the beginning of the year after Israeli authorities ordered the agency to vacate all of its premises and halt operations inside Israel.

Lazzarini said this follows “months of harassment that included arson attacks in 2024, hateful demonstrations and intimidation, supported by a large-scale disinformation campaign, as well as anti-UNRWA legislation passed by the Israeli parliament in breach of its international obligations”.

Israel barred UNRWA from operating on its soil after claiming some employees had participated in the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023. UNRWA denied the allegations, while in October the International Court of Justice (ICJ) found that Israel’s allegations against UNRWA were unsubstantiated.

Still, Israel’s claims prompted the United States, historically UNRWA’s largest donor, to suspend funding.

UNRWA was forced to repatriate its international staff from Gaza and the occupied West Bank, severely limiting aid distribution at a time when Palestinians are facing extreme shortages of food and shelter amid Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip.

In October, the ICJ issued an advisory opinion reaffirming Israel’s legal obligation to support UN relief efforts in Gaza, including those carried out by UNRWA, and to cooperate with UN agencies operating in the occupied territories.

‘A dangerous precedent’

Lazzarini condemned the latest attack on UNRWA as a direct violation of international law, saying it showed “a blatant disregard of Israel’s obligation as a United Nations Member State to protect & respect the inviolability of UN premises”.

While Israel has attempted to strip the compound of its UN status, Lazzarini said its actions have no legal effect.

“However, whatever action taken domestically, the compound retains its status as a UN premises, immune from any form of interference,” he said, adding that Israel is a signatory to the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the UN.

UNRWA is the largest humanitarian organisation operating in Gaza and the West Bank, and also provides schooling, healthcare, social services and shelter to millions of Palestinian refugees across the Middle East.

For Palestinians, the agency’s existence is tied to their internationally recognised right of return to homes from which they or their families were expelled during the creation of Israel in 1948.

Damascus, Syria – In 2013, Mohamad Yamen, then nine years old, fled from the Damascus suburb of Jobar with his family.

The Assad regime flattened Jobar, making it uninhabitable. Yamen and his parents moved to the Abbasiyyin neighbourhood of Damascus, where he continued his studies and dreamed of moving to Spain.

At around midnight on December 8, 2024, the 20-year-old Yamen was on his phone as news poured in that the regime might be on its last legs. A rebel operation from the north of Syria had overtaken Aleppo, Hama and Homs, and word was that they were on their way to Syria’s capital city.

Yamen told a few friends and joined them in the streets of Damascus. His house was between two police stations, Abbasiyyin and Jobar, staffed with police who he said were corrupt and would regularly harass people.

But that evening, they were nowhere to be found. Instead, they found the uniforms of defected soldiers lying on the ground.

His phone died while he was out on the streets, so the news did not come in by phone, but the sound of gunfire echoed through the night sky.

“There was a lot of gunfire from jubilant people,” he said on Monday, a day before the first anniversary, seated in a hotel courtyard.

He looked out over the courtyard and played with a ring on his left hand as he spoke.

He described the scene that day as a kind of joy-filled chaos, until rebel forces arrived from Deraa, in southern Syria, and later fighters, led by Ahmed al-Sharaa, poured into the capital from the north.

“This was an indescribable joy, honestly,” he said. But his first thoughts were for other people suffering oppression.

“At that moment, I thought that God willing, it will happen soon for the people of Palestine, and we will celebrate in Palestine, at Al-Aqsa Mosque.”

Soon after, Yamen saw on television that al-Sharaa was entering the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus’s Old City. He jumped on his scooter and made a beeline for the mosque. When he arrived, he saw Syria’s future president emerging from the historic mosque.

‘Because of this liberation, I have hope’

Al Jazeera first met Yamen a few days later, outside that same mosque on the first Friday after the liberation of Damascus.

“Because of this liberation, I have hope,” he said at the time.

On December 7, 2025, Yamen was still filled with positivity on the eve of the anniversary of the liberation of Damascus. At 21 years old, his face was fuller than a year ago, and he spoke calmly with an intellectual air.

He listed a number of things that he felt had been improved by the new government, led by al-Sharaa.

The streets had been upgraded, infrastructure had been repaired, the exchange rate had improved, the health sector was getting better, and employees’ salaries had been raised, he said.

“What I have mentioned is just the tip of the iceberg, so there’s still more to improve, God willing, much more.”

He also pointed to the issue of freedom of expression. Under al-Assad, any criticism of the regime could end in imprisonment.

Many Syrians told Al Jazeera that having dollars or even speaking the word aloud on a mobile phone could result in punishment or imprisonment.

“The issue of freedom of expression is one of the issues that has made the most difference,” he said.

He pointed out recent antigovernment protests in Homs and the Syrian coast, where troops affiliated with the new government contributed to widespread sectarian violence in March.

“Right now, we are sitting here. For example, you might disagree with me on a political opinion. But under the old regime, you were careful with every word,” Yamen said.

On the actual anniversary, the next day, Yamen headed down to Umayyad Square to take part in the celebrations and the collective euphoria and joy.

Tens of thousands were expected to attend. By 3pm (12:00 GMT), fireworks burst overhead as helicopters and powered paragliders flew through the sky, while below the square was already full of people waving the green, black and white Syrian flag.

People continued to pour in for the processions, which the government said would start at 8pm (17:00 GMT).

‘I can help this country’

Jobar is still destroyed, and rebuilding will take years. Yamen compared the destruction of the area with the destruction Israel has unleashed on Gaza.

Under the Assad regime, dozens of areas were obliterated through barrel bombs, air raids, and siege. The World Bank has estimated the reconstruction costs in Syria will require between $140bn and $345bn.

“I will never forget the time of our forced displacement,” he said. “Our region, our people, our families in Ghouta and Jobar were displaced.”

Still, Yamen no longer dreams of Spain.

“There are things that make me want to challenge everything and stay, I mean, this is something that’s not about me,” he said. He is in his final year studying law and hopes to find work upon his graduation.

“I am ultimately a member of society. Before, corruption in the legal field filled me with doubt about working here,” Yamen said.