Syrian refugee still fearful after regime collapse

A Syrian refugee has described how he is fearful for the future despite the recent regime change in his homeland.

Mohamed, who left Syria in 2016 and now lives in Hull, said: "People are really happy because they have got rid of the al-Assad regime. But they are not sure what will happen next."

The regime of long-time ruler Bashar al-Assad collapsed within a period of 12 days earlier this month with rebel forces in Damascus declaring the city "free" of Assad.

However, Mohamed said, despite the political change, there was still a lot of uncertainty for people living in the country.

In an interview with the BBC, Mohamed, who had previously lived in a Syrian refugee camp before fleeing to Turkey with his family, and later to Austria, said news of al-Assad's downfall felt like a dream.

"The previous regime was very rooted, and we didn't imagine it would go any day [soon]," he said.

But he added: "The situation right now is not clear. We don't know what is going on."

Thousands of Syrians took to the streets of cities across the country to celebrate the downfall of Assad's regime earlier this month.

Rebel leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, who has now started using his real name, Ahmed al-Sharaa, had urged Syrians "to go to the streets to express their joy" to mark "the blessed revolution".

In an interview with the BBC, he said the country was exhausted by war and was not a threat to its neighbours or to the West.

Mohamed said he hoped the new regime would work with other governments to bring about change, but added he was concerned that remnants of the old regime would try to destabilise the country.

"The whole country is destroyed," he added.

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