How life is changing in Syria

The Documentary Podcast

BBC

Society & Culture, Documentary, Personal Journals

4.3 • 2.6K Ratings

🗓️ 7 June 2025

⏱️ 23 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

For well over a decade, civil war blighted the lives of Syrians, as rebel forces battled against former President Bashar al-Assad and his brutal regime. More than 600,000 people were killed and 12 million others were forced from their homes during this time. In December last year, everything changed when Assad’s dictatorship was abruptly overthrown by his opponents. We hear from a range of people living and working in Syria as they describe how life was for them under the old regime, and how they have been affected by the country’s new leadership. They also discuss how the lifting of international sanctions has started to improve their ailing economy. Hoteliers describe how their hotels are now fully booked, and they are able to maintain and upgrade their buildings again. And three artists exchange views on organising performances now and their hopes for the future. Three students describe how having freedom of speech has transformed university life. This episode of The Documentary, comes to you from BBC OS Conversations, bringing together people from around the world to discuss how major news stories are affecting their lives

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, I'm Mark Lohen. Welcome to the documentary from the BBC World Service. In BBC OS
0:11.6	conversations, we bring people together to share their experiences and their views. This time we're
0:17.5	talking to Syrians from different walks of life as they discuss how things are changing since the Assad regime was overthrown and replaced by a new interim government.
0:27.6	For well over a decade, civil war blighted the lives of Syrians as rebel forces battled against former President Bashar al-Assad and his brutal regime. More than 600,000 people
0:40.9	were killed and 12 million others were forced from their homes during this time. Then in December
0:46.8	last year, everything changed with astonishing speed. Assad's dictatorship was overthrown by his
0:53.2	opponents. It was a new start. But the effects of
0:57.5	13 years of conflict are not easy to shake off. The impact of war on the economy has been
1:03.5	compounded by years of international sanctions imposed on the Assad regime. But now countries are
1:09.8	starting to lift those sanctions.
1:11.9	Most significantly, the United States did so last month.
1:15.5	We wanted to hear how these developments are affecting people in Syria
1:18.9	and what their hopes are for the future.
1:34.8	The future... The feeling is indescribable, unbelievable happiness.
1:40.8	The words of one joyful Syrian, as the people of Damascus took to the streets to celebrate the news that the U.S. was lifting its sanctions.
1:46.0	There is incredible happiness for all Syrians, she says.
1:49.8	It will be great for our country.
1:51.7	Construction will return.
1:53.2	The refugees will return.
1:54.8	Everyone will return.
1:56.1	The prices will drop.
1:58.6	We wanted to hear how these developments are affecting people currently living and working there,
	...

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