Syria in ruins a year after regime toppled, rebuilding has barely begun

A year after the dictator fell, Syrians are returning to vast destruction across the country and there is no clear plan for reconstruction, reporters who toured Syria said. Rebels toppled the regime in December 2024, and the new government of President Ahmed al-Sharaa has barely begun the task of clearing and rebuilding after Mr.

al-Assad fled and took refuge in Russia. The reporters and a photographer found that hardly a town or city was left undamaged in the country of 23 million: entire neighborhoods and suburbs in places such as Damascus were pulverized, more than half the population had been forced from their homes, and over three million people have returned since Mr.

al-Assad fled. Many returnees are living in ruins, in tents beside them, or in partially repaired apartments. The scale of damage is acute in cities such as Aleppo, where Razan Abdulwahab of U.N.-Habitat said about 60 percent of the old city was destroyed, and Deir al-Zour, which U.N.-Habitat has described as the most heavily damaged city.

A third of all housing in Syria is damaged or destroyed, 90 percent of Syrians are living in poverty according to the United Nations, and a U.N.-Habitat survey found that 31 percent of housing stock needs to be rebuilt or restored — about 1.9 million homes for roughly 10 million people.

Key Topics

World, Syria, Ahmed Al-sharaa, Bashar Al-assad, Aleppo, Deir Al-zour