{"id":8472,"date":"2025-12-08T15:07:04","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T15:07:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/readtrends.com\/en\/voices-returning-syrians-assad-fall\/"},"modified":"2025-12-08T15:07:04","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T15:07:04","slug":"voices-returning-syrians-assad-fall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/readtrends.com\/en\/voices-returning-syrians-assad-fall\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I escaped like a criminal and came back as a hero\u2019: Voices of returning Syrians"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Lead:<\/strong> In the months after what some interviewees described as the end of Bashar al\u2011Assad’s rule, Syrians who fled during the conflict have begun returning. Chef Imad Alarnab, who left for London in 2015, went back to Damascus in November and found a city undergoing visible reconstruction. Academic Ammar Azzouz returned in March after 14 years overseas and encountered the stark human legacy of war in Homs. Their accounts mix relief at being able to revisit hometowns with warnings about erased records, damaged services and rapid commercial interest in rebuilding.<\/p>\n

Key takeaways<\/h2>\n
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  • Imad Alarnab fled Syria for London in 2015 and returned to Damascus in November; he described a public atmosphere that felt more open and focused on rebuilding.<\/li>\n
  • Ammar Azzouz, an Oxford lecturer and research fellow, returned in March after 14 years abroad and reported seeing pervasive traces of violence in Homs, including buildings linked to forced disappearance and torture.<\/li>\n
  • Interviewees report cemeteries marked by numbers rather than names and a medical system they describe as effectively collapsed after roughly 14 years of conflict.<\/li>\n
  • Visitors and returnees note active reconstruction in Damascus and other cities, with visible investment and new government projects creating what locals call an image of renewal.<\/li>\n
  • Several returnees and academics warn that international firms are rapidly pursuing reconstruction contracts \u2014 characterised by one returnee as seeking a \u201cslice of the cake.\u201d<\/li>\n
  • Some returnees view formerly dangerous activities \u2014 such as filming \u2014 as less risky now, citing a shift in how authorities treat dissenting voices.<\/li>\n
  • Voices collected emphasise the need to document wartime abuses even while participating in reconstruction, to balance memory with prospects for a hopeful future.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Background<\/h2>\n

    More than a decade of conflict transformed Syrian cities, displaced millions and scattered families across Europe, the Middle East and beyond. Many who left in successive waves \u2014 activists, professionals, students and tradespeople \u2014 built new lives abroad while relatives remained. Over recent months a number of those exiles have started to travel back for visits, academic work or to assess reconstruction prospects. Return journeys are shaped by practical considerations such as security, travel logistics and the status of property and public services, as well as by political narratives about legitimacy and control.<\/p>\n

    Reconstruction in urban centres has become both a symbol of recovery and a battleground for influence: domestic authorities, wealthy regional actors and multinational contractors are all jockeying for projects and access. For returnees who documented or opposed abuses, coming back can reopen personal and collective questions about accountability, commemoration and what constitutes safe civic life. At the same time, diaspora professionals and students are weighing opportunities to contribute to rebuilding institutions \u2014 from hospitals to universities \u2014 against the risk that rapid commercialisation may sideline local needs and justice processes.<\/p>\n

    Main event<\/h2>\n

    Imad Alarnab, a chef who left Syria in 2015, made a high\u2011profile return to Damascus in November and visited sites including the Cathedral of St George. He told interviewers he had feared returning to an unchanged city but instead saw active rebuilding and public displays he described as projecting freedom and renewal. Alarnab also said that under the previous regime carrying a camera could be seen as more dangerous than carrying a weapon because it threatened official narratives \u2014 a reflection of how tightly information was policed.<\/p>\n

    Ammar Azzouz travelled back to Syria for the first time in 14 years in March to visit family and continue academic research. His account focused on Homs, where he reported pervasive reminders of violent years: entire streets where forced disappearance and torture left indelible marks, and cemeteries catalogued by number rather than name. He described local health facilities as having effectively collapsed, complicating recovery for communities dealing with long\u2011term trauma and injury.<\/p>\n

    Both returnees noticed an influx of external commercial interest in reconstruction work. Local conversations recorded by interviewers suggest a mix of optimism \u2014 jobs, reopened shops, visible repairs \u2014 and anxiety about who will profit and who will control the narrative about the conflict’s legacy. For some visitors, personal reconnection with family and place was paired with an insistence on documenting past abuses so memory and justice do not disappear beneath new development.<\/p>\n

    Analysis & implications<\/h2>\n

    The wave of returns raises immediate political questions about legitimacy and reconciliation. If returnees and the state present reconstruction as a marker of normalisation, that framing may bolster the governing authorities\u2019 claim to stability. However, normalisation without transparent processes for truth\u2011telling and accountability risks deepening grievances among victims and their families. International actors deciding whether to fund or contract reconstruction projects must balance urgent humanitarian and infrastructure needs against calls for oversight and conditionality linked to human rights safeguards.<\/p>\n

    Economically, rapid inflows of private and state\u2011linked capital can accelerate visible repairs but also skew benefits toward well\u2011connected firms. Local economies may see a short\u2011term boost in construction and services, but without equitable planning, displacement of informal residents and loss of local control over land and resources are possible. Returnees with professional skills could play constructive roles in rebuilding health, education and cultural institutions \u2014 but that requires institutional frameworks that encourage participation while protecting civic freedoms.<\/p>\n

    Memory and documentation are central to the longer term: cemeteries described as numbered rather than named, and widespread reports of enforced disappearances, point to a persistent accountability deficit. Scholars and rights groups argue that reconstruction should include investment in archives, forensic investigations and memorialisation to prevent erasure of wartime harms. Absent such efforts, social reconciliation will remain fragile and contested, even amid visible urban repair.<\/p>\n

    Comparison & data<\/h2>\n
    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n
    Name<\/th>\nYear left<\/th>\nReturn month<\/th>\nSites visited<\/th>\nKey observation<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
    Imad Alarnab<\/td>\n2015<\/td>\nNovember<\/td>\nDamascus (Cathedral of St George)<\/td>\nVisible reconstruction and a sense of public renewal<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    Ammar Azzouz<\/td>\n~2011<\/td>\nMarch<\/td>\nHoms<\/td>\nWidespread traces of violence; medical services collapsed<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/figure>\n

    The brief table highlights contrasting returns: one focused on urban renewal in the capital, the other on the human costs still visible in provincial cities. These examples are not a statistical sample but illustrate two common return narratives \u2014 reconstruction optimism and remembrance of wartime trauma \u2014 both of which are likely to shape policy debates about reconstruction priorities and transitional justice.<\/p>\n

    Reactions & quotes<\/h2>\n

    Officials, scholars and returnees offered varied responses to these visits, reflecting competing priorities.<\/p>\n

    \n

    “I escaped like a criminal and came back as a hero \u2014 Assad’s blacklist is now our honour list,”<\/p>\n

    Imad Alarnab, returning chef<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    Imad used the phrase to express how public perception of former dissidents had shifted for him; he also contrasted risks to journalists and amateur filmmakers under prior governance with the atmosphere he encountered on return.<\/p>\n

    \n

    “Death was everywhere in Homs. In my street in every building there’s a story of forced disappearance or torture,”<\/p>\n

    Ammar Azzouz, Oxford lecturer and research fellow<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    Azzouz framed his return in terms of documentation: he stressed the need to record wartime abuses as a foundation for any hopeful reconstruction and institutional rebuilding.<\/p>\n

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