From Damascus, Sr. Jihan gives us a first-hand account of the current situation in Syria, where the population is experiencing serious unrest and is hoping for a peaceful end to this difficult and violent transition phase.
‘Between ancient and new Syria there is a lost Syria, disoriented and mourning Syrians are struggling, hoping for peace to dawn.
The years of waiting go by and our eyes are fixed on the sky, clinging to hope and struggling to survive.
After the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, we received good promises, the situation has improved, but in general the atmosphere is tense, people remain fearful and have doubts about the future of the country.
Most people today feel the same fears they felt under Daesh (the international paramilitary terrorist organisation that wanted to establish the caliphate of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria), due to the ongoing violence and the complete paralysis of the institutions. Nothing works in Syria anymore. Many people are out of work, without a salary. Hundreds of thousands of employees have been arbitrarily dismissed. Many parents of our students have been left without work, without any source of income. More than a third have not paid their children’s school fees… people have no money. We too, like all the people, suffer because our money is blocked in the banks. We feel as if our hands are tied.
As for the atmosphere, it’s rather negative and very worrying. When the liberation took place, all the Syrian people were happy. The Alawites were even happier than us about the end of Assad, only they didn’t dare to express it. But two weeks later, fear returned to haunt people’s minds due to episodes of violence, arbitrary arrests, forced disappearances and executions.
We remained optimistic, convincing ourselves that this was a temporary and transitory period, it’s normal that change takes time.
Ahmad el-Chareh – ‘the president of Syria for the transition phase’ – had promised the Syrians that a new chapter was beginning, but the opposite happened.
We were so happy about the release of all the prisoners, especially the political prisoners, but after just two weeks the prisons reopened for people who were also victims, who paid a price… The absence of laws, the absence of justice is the worst path this new administration could take.
All Syrians are paying the price of this regime, without exception. To give you an example, it is very difficult to accept when this new administration replaces the term ‘martyr’ when talking about martyred soldiers with ‘killed’. When a state official erases certain children of this country with a stroke of the pen, what should I feel? When they come and fire the officials, cancel their salaries, imprison them…!! Democracy starts here, when all the sons and daughters of this country come together in a constitutional state.
Unfortunately the massacres that have taken place and continue to take place on the north-western coast of Syria, the Alawite region where the former president’s family comes from, have absolutely no justification and no name. It is a crime against humanity, a real genocide. How are the simple and very poor Alawite people responsible for the Assad family’s decades of rule? Astonishment, anger and fear reign everywhere in the region of Latakia and are spreading to the rest of the country. Furthermore, the city of Latakia has been without electricity and water for five days.
This tragedy has provoked reactions and demonstrations in the country itself, but unfortunately these are quickly degenerating into violence…
Faced with such a reality, we Sisters of Charity are there as a presence that consoles, gives courage and calls for peace.
As in all cases of catastrophes and revolutions, the country is nevertheless witnessing beautiful things and peacemakers. Among other examples, Sunni, Shiite or Christian families have welcomed and protected Alawites.
Here too in Damascus several Christian families we know are hosting Alawite people who live in Mazeh 86, an area mainly inhabited by Alawites who are afraid to stay at home.
We pray that the very troubled Christians will keep the faith and continue to bear witness to the love that forgives and reconciles in our country that is in such need of such a presence…’.
Damascus, Sister Jihan, SoC
