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My name is Claire Porter Robbins and I co-wrote the article, “A New Beginning for Syria?” online for ONE magazine. In December 2024, onlookers were shocked when the brutal Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad fled the country and left rebel leader Ahmed al-Sharaa as president. Seeing those incredibly moving and emotional celebrations online, I knew I had to visit a freed Syria.
Working with ONE magazine, I traveled to the country in January and February. We wanted to find out what a new Syria meant for a wide variety of people, including Christians. Syrian Christians are a minority. They now make up about 2 percent of the population, but, before the Civil War, they constituted about 20 percent of Syria’s population.
Under the Assad regime, their rights were largely respected as long as they refrained from dissent against the family’s rule, but they very much suffered. A year after Assad’s overthrow, our article offers insights about the direction the country’s going in and how local Christians are working together to create a more peaceful future for the new Syria.
Read more about the situation in her story, “A New Beginning for Syria?” an online exclusive for ONE magazine.