Syria: After The Earthquake

By Thanaa Jebbi

Nearly three years after the devastating earthquakes of February 2023, recovery in Syria remains slow, uneven, and deeply shaped by political and structural constraints. 

While the disaster affected large parts of northern Syria including Jindiris, Afrin, Aleppo, Idlib, and the coastal areas, response and reconstruction pathways have diverged sharply across borders and governance contexts. In north west Syria in particular, survivors continue to live with the long-term consequences of delayed aid, limited reconstruction and prolonged displacement.

Survivors have drawn stark comparisons between Syria and neighbouring Turkey, where the disaster also caused widespread death and destruction. 

“Almost three years after the earthquake, the Turkish government has already provided new houses for many of the affected families,” one man from Jindiris explained. “In Jindiris and across northern Syria, most people are still living in temporary shelters and camps, still waiting.”

This contrast reflects not only differences in state capacity, but also the fragmented and under-resourced recovery environment in Syria, where emergency measures have gradually turned into semi-permanent living conditions.

The fall of the regime of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024 reshaped Syria’s political landscape, but did not translate into immediate relief for earthquake-affected communities. According to survivors, the new interim authorities have been overwhelmed by competing priorities. 

“After the fall of the Assad regime, the country entered a new phase, but the authorities are overwhelmed,” the Jindiris man noted. “There are needs everywhere: the economy, international relations, security. We don’t know if rebuilding homes for earthquake survivors is even considered urgent.” 

In this context, earthquake recovery risks being deprioritised amid broader political and economic crises, with no clear roadmap for reconstruction, compensation, or accountability.

For many women survivors, the limitations of current recovery efforts are even more stark. In Harem, a city in the Idlib governorate, a woman who lost her son during the earthquake described how material assistance alone could address the scale of loss. 

“One NGO helped us with a new shelter, and for that we are grateful. But I lost my son. A house does not replace a life,” she said, emphasising that what was missing was recognition and reparation.

“There is no compensation, no financial support, no form of reparation that makes us feel seen.” 

Her testimony highlights a critical gap in Syria’s recovery process: the absence of survivor-centred approaches that acknowledge grief, loss, and long-term harm, particularly for women.

At the same time, access to accurate information has remained a central challenge throughout the response. In the immediate aftermath of the earthquake, delays in cross-border aid delivery to northwest Syria, combined with misinformation and politicised narratives, had serious consequences for affected communities. 

Activists in north western Syria expressed frustration as aid deliveries to opposition-controlled areas were hampered by the regime’s initial refusal to open more than one checkpoint. 

Abd Alghani Shobak, head of the Free Aleppo Governorate Council, told IWPR at the time that that the Assad regime had blatantly exploited the catastrophe. 

“Although the northwestern region of Syria, which is outside its control, is the most affected by the earthquake, we saw UN and international aid reaching the airports of Damascus and Aleppo [instead],” he said.

As international attention fluctuated, independent reporting and verification became essential to document needs, expose access barriers, and counter disinformation surrounding humanitarian assistance, particularly narratives that obscured the impact of border closures and attempts to control aid flows into non-regime areas.

Three years on, Syria’s earthquake survivors remain caught between unfinished recovery and an uncertain political transition. Their testimonies underline a simple truth: rebuilding is not only about infrastructure. It is about dignity, recognition, accountability, and ensuring that those most affected, especially women and displaced communities, are neither forgotten nor silenced as the country moves into its next phase.

As Syria navigates a complex post-Assad transition, ensuring that earthquake survivors remain visible and heard will be essential to any credible vision of recovery.

• About the author: Thanaa Jebbi is Syria Programme Manager for IWPR
• Source: This article was published by IWPR