By Mo’ayed al-Ashqar
DARAA, Syria (North Press) – Journalists in southern Syria have been facing challenges due to the region’s instability since 2018, as those working in this field often have to conceal their true identities to protect themselves and avoid risk of being killed or arrested.
In July 2018, the opposition armed factions and the Syrian government forces agreed to halt hostilities and reached a ceasefire agreement mediated by Russia in the opposition-held areas in Daraa, southern Syria.
Under the deal, the opposition armed factions agreed to hand over their weapons in exchange for staying in Daraa. Meanwhile, those who opposed the agreement relocated to Idlib Governorate, northwestern Syria, which is under the control of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS, formerly al-Nusra Front) and the opposition factions.
After the agreement, journalists received settlements similar to those given to the militants of the opposition factions. Some of them distanced themselves from journalism to focus on their lives and businesses. However, those who chose to continue knew the difficulties and dangers involved.
Risks
Muhammad al-Rumani, 28, a pseudonym for a journalist in Daraa, tells North Press that he faces security risks while reporting news and sharing it with foreign media.
Al-Rumani avoids moving around in the city in public due to the high likelihood of being arrested, particularly in government-held neighborhoods such as al-Mahata.
He uses a pseudonym, but that is not enough to make him feel safe. He says that electronic devices are under surveillance, and does not exclude that his devices are also monitored because he uses the local internet service provided by the government.
Al-Rumani points out that extreme caution is necessary when doing journalistic work these days, unlike before the reconciliation agreement when journalists openly appeared on camera to report events to the world.
Ramzi al-Ayash, 32, one of the journalists who decided to continue his work after agreement, tells North Press that he focused on reporting news and highlighting violations and abuses committed by government forces at military checkpoints in western countryside of Daraa.
Al-Ayash adds that he was threatened of being arrested and assassinated by the security branches of the government forces due to his activities.
He says at first he did not care much about the threat, but soon fear started to overwhelm him.
After the incident, al-Ayash had to flee to Lebanon through smuggling routes and applied for asylum in a European country.
Government pressure
Yasser al-Zaalin, 52, a pseudonym for a member of the Central Committee in Daraa, tells North Press that during meeting, officers of the government forces focused on the necessity of suspending media workers and social media pages that reported local news to global newspapers and media agencies.
Daraa’s Central Committee consists of anti-government activists, lawyers, sheikhs, and former opposition leaders who engaged in Russian-brokered reconciliations with the Syrian government in 2018, aiming to negotiate the terms of the settlements under the auspices of the Russian guarantor.
Al-Zaalin emphasizes that the officers’ insistence on finding a solution to this issue indicated that journalists were a major concern for them, as they shed light on what the government did not want to be published, mainly their inability to control the region, which contradicted the official narrative presented by the government-run media.
He also adds many journalists who received settlement cards in 2018 were arrested by government’s security apparatus and their fate remains unknown to this day, while several others were assassinated by unknown individuals.
On the other hand, dozens of journalists chose to leave to northern Syria as part of the displacement convoys in 2018 out of fear for their lives and the lives of their families from arrest or killing.