“The regime has fallen, and I need to transition to civilian life,” says former opposition fighter Omar Halaby, 29, who lost his right leg during a 2017 attack by Syrian forces loyal to then-President Bashar al-Assad. “Part of that process is seeing my late friends one last time, to give them a dignified reburial.”
Lauren Frayer/NPR
hide caption
toggle caption
Lauren Frayer/NPR
DAMASCUS, Syria — Omar Halaby hobbles through the ruins of his old neighborhood on one leg, with a crutch.
A freckled former teen fighter, Halaby lost his right leg in a 2017 air and artillery attack by Syrian forces loyal to then-President Bashar al-Assad. With Assad’s ouster in December, Halaby, now 29, returned to his neighborhood of Jobar, on the edge of Damascus, to watch a backhoe unearth the remains of at least eight of his comrades from a mass grave.
“The regime has fallen, and I need to transition to civilian life,” Halaby says. “Part of that process is seeing my late friends one last time, to give them a dignified reburial.”
Jobar elders first called the White Helmets, wartime Nobel Peace Prize nominees who are Syria’s most skilled first responders. But the group is overstretched, having lost its U.S. funding, and its dispatcher told Jobar residents they would have to get on a waitlist for help excavating mass graves.
support for Syrian civil society groups have been a major setback in the efforts to uncover and seek justice for past atrocities in the country. This has left many experts warning that reliable partners are needed to collect DNA samples from survivors and excavate mass graves in Syria. Former U.S. ambassador-at-large for war crimes, Stephen Rapp, emphasizes the enormity of the task at hand and the importance of having the necessary resources to carry out these crucial activities. With funding cuts affecting groups with expertise in this area, the future of transitional justice in Syria remains uncertain. The White Helmets, a nonprofit volunteer first responder group, have been vilified by Assad as terrorists. They used to operate only in rebel-held areas, where they were celebrated for risking their lives to aid civilians during the Syrian civil war. Their heroic efforts were captured in a 2016 Oscar-winning documentary.
Following Assad’s ouster on Dec. 8, the White Helmets entered the Syrian capital and established new headquarters in a central Damascus fire station. Their founder, Raed Saleh, has been appointed to Syria’s Cabinet, and their team of roughly 3,300 members is working to extend their services throughout the country to become Syria’s main civil defense force.
Despite their expanding mission, the White Helmets have faced a setback as their biggest contributor, the U.S. Agency for International Development, has pulled funding. The Trump administration’s dismantling of USAID, citing waste and fraud, resulted in the White Helmets losing a $30 million contract, with more than half already spent. This loss has hindered their survival, as their annual budget is around $50 million.
Although their funding has been reduced, the White Helmets still have two forensics teams supported by a smaller U.S. State Department grant. The group relies on donations from private U.S. citizens, with almost one-third of their global donations coming from Americans. They also receive funding from other governments and individuals in countries such as Britain, Germany, Denmark, and Canada.
Documents and files remain in the infamous Intelligence Building in Damascus, Jan. 7. The building had a prison underneath it and is associated with memories of torture for Syrians.
Osama Al Maqdoni/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images
hide caption
toggle caption
Osama Al Maqdoni/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images
The process of gathering evidence for possible war crimes trials has slowed
When Assad fell, the doors of Syria’s prisons and government offices swung open. Government archives were looted; documents littered the streets. Human rights investigators rushed to collect those documents and preserve them as evidence for possible future trials. But they need help sorting through what they have.
“We have thousands and thousands of documents, with lots of details that could help families reveal the fate of their loved ones,” says Fadel Abdulghany, executive director of the Syrian Network for Human Rights. “Because those documents often contain the names of those who were arrested [under Assad], the date of when they were killed or moved to a grave — and even the names of the perpetrators as well.”
Abdulghany budgeted to hire a new researcher this year, dedicated to those documents. After operating from the United Kingdom and Qatar during Syria’s civil war, he’d also been looking forward to opening a new office in Damascus.
But his organization’s USAID funding was cut too, hindering both of those things.
“All of our activities have been limited, including testimonies we’ve been taking from people released from Assad’s prisons,” Abdulghany says. “The U.S. used to be a reliable partner. But the mentality of how U.S. soft power is used around the world is changing.”
It’s not just Syria. The Trump administration has cut aid that funded schools, vaccination programs, medication and medical equipment, media organizations and literacy programs around the world. President Trump has expressed his desire for foreign spending to better reflect his foreign policy objectives and his “America First” approach. This shift aims to prioritize American interests and values in overseas expenditures.
In a bid to align spending decisions with his administration’s priorities, Trump has emphasized the need for a more strategic allocation of resources. This focus on “America First” underscores a commitment to putting the interests of the United States at the forefront of international engagements.
The proposed realignment of overseas spending has significant implications for various global initiatives and aid programs. By ensuring that resources are directed towards initiatives that align with American foreign policy goals, the administration seeks to maximize the impact of U.S. investments abroad.
This shift towards a more targeted approach to overseas spending underscores the administration’s commitment to advancing American interests on the global stage. By prioritizing projects that support key foreign policy objectives, Trump aims to strengthen the United States’ position and influence in international affairs. The car was parked in the driveway.
