Journalist Returns to Syria, Reports Freely After Past Threats from Assad Regime

Eleven years ago, I departed Damascus, unsure if I would ever return. At that time, the city was consumed by war. Intense violence, which ensued after President Bashar al-Assad’s brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protests, had engulfed the capital. One faced the constant threat of being shot dead on the streets. I covered the initial protests in 2011 for the BBC from within Syria. My reporting encompassed the “day of rage,” followed by accounts of shootings, killings, disappearances, air strikes, and barrel bombs, until I personally became desensitized and despaired. I experienced multiple arrests. The regime restricted my mobility and issued threats, leading to my departure in 2013. Throughout the last decade, I have experienced fluctuating emotions of hope and despair, observing my country’s fragmentation from outside its borders. The period was marked by death, destruction, and detention, with millions fleeing and becoming refugees. Similar to numerous Syrians, I perceived that the international community had overlooked our nation. A sense of hopelessness prevailed. When individuals demonstrated in the streets at that time, advocating for the regime’s overthrow, I never anticipated its actualization, considering President Assad’s influential supporters in Russia and Iran. However, on Sunday, events transformed with remarkable speed. The previous week, I was in Beirut covering the capture of Aleppo and Hama by anti-Assad militants, yet I did not genuinely believe this would instigate change. My expectation was that Syria would be divided, with Damascus and the coastal cities remaining under Assad’s control. Following midnight on Saturday, the situation abruptly reversed. By 04:00, the fall of the regime and Assad’s departure were announced. As I compose these words, I continue to find this reality difficult to comprehend. Over the weekend, I had been attempting to obtain clearance to enter the country from the Palestine Branch, one of Syria’s most feared secret police organizations. An arrest warrant had been issued in my name, stemming from my reporting on the protests. I could not forget my detention during the first week of the 2011 uprising. I had witnessed men lined up for beatings, fresh blood on the floor, and screams of torture. A security officer grabbed my mouth and stated he would “cut it for [me]” if I spoke a word. On Sunday, I hastened with my colleagues to the Syrian border. The Palestine Branch was now deserted – neither the security officers nor the investigator who had threatened me during my last attempt to enter Syria in January were present. He had previously informed me he could bury me seven floors underground and no-one would know. I pondered his current whereabouts and his sentiments regarding the thousands he had interrogated and threatened, or those tortured to death in Assad’s prisons. I crossed the border into Syria, devoid of apprehension regarding detention. While broadcasting for the BBC from Damascus, I reported without concern for my personal safety. A feeling of joy is palpable in Damascus, notwithstanding concerns about Islamist rebels assuming control and their capacity to guarantee national safety. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) fighters have safeguarded public institutions from looting following mobs storming the presidential palace, and prisoners have been released. A group from HTS convened with Christian residents of Bab Touma, a Damascus neighborhood, to provide assurances that they were not intending to restrict their freedoms. Members of the Alawite community, who historically supported Assad, express apprehension about their future, but to date, no reports of sectarian violence have emerged. Since Sunday, friends and family members who had previously fled have been contacting me via text, indicating their intent to return. It appears there is a widespread desire to go back home. My apartment in central Damascus was destroyed in 2013 upon my departure, after authorities labeled me a traitor and prohibited my residency there. Security forces and local officials forcibly entered and demolished its walls and ceilings. Last month, I succeeded in regaining ownership of it after paying thousands of dollars in bribes. Rebuilding it will require time, but I intend to undertake this task. And perhaps once it is prepared, Syria will be ready for all of us to return.