Months after the regime of former President Bashar al-Assad fell, many Syrians are still waiting – and worrying – about what’s next. But in the small village of al-Nayrab, the residents of a place famous for its olive groves are mostly grateful they can tend to their trees in peace.
Lying just to the east of Idlib city, a centre for the rebel forces that now control Syria’s interim government, al-Nayrab often came under heavy bombing by al-Assad’s forces and his Russian allies during Syria’s 14-year war.
“This area was constantly under heavy bombardment,” says Mohammad Mustafa al-Khatib, a farmer in his thirties who lives in the village. “The trees and olives were severely damaged, and we were barely able to come out and pick the olives or look after the trees. It was too dangerous.”
Farmers were forced to abandon olive groves, fig trees, and fields of wheat. But some refused to completely leave their crops. During periods of particularly heavy bombing, farmers and villagers worked with rebel fighters, forming what they called "battalions" to try to protect each other and their trees during the olive harvest. They communicated by walkie talkie and by shouting, even firing back at war planes and drones with whatever weapons they had.
“Our priority was to keep taking care of our crops,” says al-Khatib, admitting that the farmers suffered massive losses despite their best efforts.
But now, the people of al-Nayrab feel safe in their olive groves again, although they know the threat of the war’s weapons remains. “We mostly feel relaxed and happy out in the fields again, but we have found some shrapnel and munitions on our lands,” says al-Khatib. In those cases, the farmers call hotlines set up by deminers from the White Helmets and the HALO Trust.
Mustafa Ali al-Hasan, another farmer from al-Nayrab, was displaced for more than six years, spending time in Idlib and Türkiye. As soon as al-Assad fell, he went straight to the village. After finding his home in good shape and his fields only slightly damaged, he is now doing some basic repairs and preparing for the next growing season.
“Thank God I didn’t find anything in my home or fields, but I know how dangerous war remnants can be,” al-Hasan says. He recently attended a HALO Trust awareness-raising session with other men from the village, and says he learned useful information about landmines and cluster bombs.
Both al-Hasan and al-Khatib see plenty of challenges ahead: from the mines and other war remnants, to the costs of restoring houses and fields. But if the war has really stopped for good, they are optimistic. “People just want to come back and fix up their places,” says al-Hasan. “We feel safer now.”
Edited by Annie Slemrod.
