The Syria I came back to is not the one I left
But few of the people coming in were Syrians. Most were religious tourists from Lebanon and Iraq, though some others may have come to shop in Damascus’s souks.
Travelling towards the city, the checkpoints begin. Over the past decade, many people have disappeared here. It is enough to have voiced views critical of the regime, or even to have liked a social media post sympathetic to the opposition.
Almost nothing seems to have changed in President Bashar al-Assad’s Syria, yet it is a country transformed by war.
More than a decade after the protests began in Syria, the regime’s agenda has shifted. Its main concern today is the economy, not politics.
Arriving in Damascus at night, the city lies in darkness. Even the fanciest neighbourhoods are blacked out. This has been the case for years. Nearly everything is in short supply, forcing Syrians to stand in long queues to secure their basic needs.
You need a smart card with your data on it to get your subsidised bread or allocation of fuel or gas – a text tells you when it’s time to join the queue.
