Syria: Return to ruins
Half Syria's population was forced to move during the civil war. How many will return home now? And what will they find?
Thirteen million Syrians - half the population - left their homes during their country's 13-year civil war. Seven million were internally displaced. Six million fled abroad. Bringing them home is perhaps the biggest challenge facing Syria's new rulers. But many cannot return, because their homes are in ruins, and jobs and essential services are lacking.
Tim Whewell follows a variety of returnees back to Homs, Syria鈥檚 third city, which saw some of the worst destruction of the war. A private charity organises convoys of families wanting to return from camps in the north of the country. But once returnees like Fatima Hazzoura get back, they are left to cope on their own. Some who came back earlier have managed to repair their homes. But others find their houses are just empty, burnt-out shells.
Meanwhile, some in Homs who stayed throughout the war - members of the Alawite minority, whose neighbourhoods remained intact - are thinking of leaving now, fearful that the new government of former Islamist rebels will not protect them. And Homs people who made new lives abroad are hesitant to return permanently while the situation is so unstable, and the economy still crippled by international sanctions. Can the fabric of an ancient and diverse city be rebuilt?
Producer: Tim Whewell
Researcher/location production/translator: Aref al-Krez
Translation: Maria Mohammad
Security/photography: Rolf Andreason
Sound mixing: James Beard
Production co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman
Editor: Penny Murphy
(Image: Yasir al-Nagdaly has returned to his shattered home in Homs, Syria. Credit: Rolf Andreason)
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