New Year brings Syrians fresh hope - 13th January 2025

In Damascus, Syria, the New Year celebrations meant more than a different date. On 8th December 2024, fighters from different rebel forces took over Damascus. The country's leader, President Assad, was forced to leave Syria, the end of 50 years of cruel leadership.

Bashar al-Assad came to power in 2000 after his father, General Hafez al-Assad, who took control in 1970, died. Since 2011, after the civil war in Syria began, six million people have left for safety. 580,000 lost their lives, which includes 306,000 innocent civilians.

Yamamah al-Ubaid hopes people will remember what happened.

Yamamah al-Ubaid: "Today is the first day of 2025. Last year, the Syrian people witnessed an important event - the fall of the regime of Bashar al-Assad and the end of the Assad era, which lasted 54 years. However, we will not forget and we will continue to remember and demand that all officials whose hands were stained with the blood of the Syrian people be held accountable."

The Assad regime was finally broken by Hayat Tahir al-Shan (HTS). This is the main rebel group that took over Syria, which is led by Ahmed al-Sharaa. In the past, HTS was part of the organisation al-Qaeda and it's described as a terrorist organisation by many countries. However, al-Sharaa is asking for change and has promised he has no plans to let Syria become like Afghanistan.

Some Syrians are afraid HTS isn't being honest. However, many people like student Nour Haloum, hope 2025 will bring freedom and fairness.

Nour Haloum: "We are now witnessing the first moments of 2025 and we hope that the country's situation will improve and its institutions will reopen. That all things become easy for citizens and we can obtain our rights. We do not want more than that, just our basic rights."

Every step the new leaders take will be watched in the next few months, both by Syrians within the country and elsewhere.