One year after Assad's fall, Syria and Damascus face severe political and economic challenges.
Damascus Without a Regime
One year after the collapse of the Assad regime, which had ruled the country for over forty years through the al-Assad family, Syria remains trapped in a phase of deep political, economic, and social instability. Between December 7 and 9, 2024, the regime formally ended, marking the fall of one of the longest-standing dictatorships in the Middle East.
However, the end of the regime did not coincide with the beginning of a genuine transition. Violence has not only persisted but taken new forms, disproportionately affecting the most vulnerable communities. On December 26, 2025, an attack on the Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib mosque in the Alawite district of Homs killed eight people and injured eighteen. Claimed by the Sunni extremist group Saraya Ansar al-Sunna, the attack is part of a broader wave of sectarian violence.
As analyst Lorenzo Trombetta has explained, “in Syria, rights are tied more to an ethnic hierarchy than to religion,” a deep-seated fracture within the national identity that, if left unaddressed, will continue to shape the country’s political future.
Alawites and Sunnis: The Roots of Hatred
Historically, the main division within Islam is between Sunnis and Shiites, emerging after the Prophet Muhammad’s death over the succession of leadership within the Muslim community. Sunnis believe the Prophet did not designate a specific successor, while Shiites hold that legitimate leadership should remain within his family.
Alawites, primarily present in Syria, are often associated with the Shiite world but occupy a theologically marginal position, having historically been rejected as Muslims by both Sunni and Shiite authorities. Certain practices, such as not observing the five daily prayers or permitting alcohol consumption, contributed to this exclusion. In Sunni religious discourse, medieval legal texts have sometimes been used to justify hostility toward Alawites, and extremist groups continue to reference such interpretations to legitimize violence today.
However, framing current violence solely as a product of ancient religious hatred would be reductive. Under Assad’s regime, the president’s Alawite identity linked an entire community to a repressive power system, even though the majority of Alawites were not part of the political or military elite. After the regime’s fall, this conflation of collective responsibility and religious identity fueled revenge, arbitrary purges, and indiscriminate violence.
Syria and Damascus: Economic Challenges
Syria and Damascus are facing devastating economic challenges after years of civil war that destroyed infrastructure, triggered hyperinflation, and devalued the Syrian pound, with GDP falling by 83% compared to 2010. In Damascus, shortages of essential goods, power outages, and skyrocketing unemployment persist, worsened by widespread poverty affecting the majority of the population.
As Lorenzo Trombetta observes, «Syria’s economic recovery increasingly depends on external funding, with the risk of becoming a new Lebanon,», where economic aid translates into political influence. For this reason, humanitarian interventions remain one of the main resources for lifting a population exhausted by violence and conflict.
Our Humanitarian Interventions
In Syria, our humanitarian action takes shape across several areas, starting with the response to basic needs. Through the “Five Loaves and Two Fish” project, we provide 1,200 hot meals every day, prepared in our canteen, and 600 kg of bread produced in the solidarity bakery and distributed six days a week. We also reach those who are unable to move independently—such as elderly people living alone, the sick, or people with disabilities—through home deliveries, and we support orphanages and nursing homes by providing more than 50 meals a day.
Alongside the food emergency, education remains a fundamental pillar of our work. In the three educational centers of Karm Dodoa, Shaar, and Myasser, we welcome over 2,700 children and young people every day, offering them a safe space, protection, and the opportunity to return to learning.
In addition, in Damascus the Social and Emergency Center supports the most vulnerable families with vouchers for essential goods, healthcare assistance, and social support. In a context of severe economic crisis and insecurity, the Center is a point of reference for many people, such as Mayada, who was left alone with her two daughters after her husband’s death: «The support I received made me feel that we had not been forgotten.» Through these interventions, we continue to offer dignity, protection, and hope.
