By Khalaf Ma’o
RAQQA, Syria (North Press) – After a decade of displacement, Syrians are beginning to return to their devastated hometowns in central Syria following the fall of the regime. Families who endured years in makeshift camps describe their return as a long-awaited dream, despite finding their homes in ruins.
After nearly ten years of displacement due to the barrel bombs of al-Assad’s regime, Ruwayda al-Haji, 40 years old, expresses her joy at the prospect of returning soon to her area in the countryside of Aleppo, northwestern Syria, after a long journey of forced displacement.
With the fall of the ousted President Bashar al-Assad’s regime on Dec. 8, 2024, dozens of displaced families have returned to their original areas.
Return
Al-Haji, a resident of the Aisha countryside in rural Aleppo and a displaced person in the Raqqa countryside, told North Press that she used to live near Aleppo Airport. When the battles intensified ten years ago, they left their homes, she added.
She adds that when the barrel bombs targeted their areas they had no choice but to flee to areas in the southern countryside of Raqqa.
Al-Haji explains that she and her family of six lived in makeshift displacement camps for ten years.
Describing her emotions about returning to her hometown, she says, “Returning feels like an impossible dream come true. It is like a new Syrian holiday where we reunite with family and neighbors after ten years of displacement and suffering.”
She notes that she never expected Syria to be fully liberated this quickly and that, throughout her displacement, she was unable to return to Aleppo due to her fear of al-Assad regime forces.
Destroyed homes
Al-Haji explains that the previous regime “used to rent out our lands to its forces and loyalists, while our homes were destroyed. They broke even the concrete blocks and stole them, leaving behind only the dirt we abandoned.”
Similarly, Abdulrazzaq Ismail, 40 years old, from eastern rural Hama, who was displaced to the Raqqa countryside, told North Press that “the regime’s forces left us with nothing but dirt, cutting down the trees and not even leaving the stones of our homes after destroying them.”
He adds, “We will return to our homeland, pitch our tents on our land, and forget the words ‘displaced’ or ‘refugee.'”
Ismail mentions that he has spent nine years in displacement at the Hawija Zahra camp, saying, “Our country has been liberated, and once winter is over, we will return to the homes we were forced to leave.”
Meanwhile, Mohammad al-Hassan, from the countryside of Aleppo, who was displaced to Raqqa, states that he has now spent over 12 years in makeshift displacement camps.
Al-Hassan says, “We fled the airstrikes and artillery shelling on our homes,” noting that their houses are now destroyed and no longer resemble their homeland as it was before the Syrian war, which began in 2011.