SYRIA / BABA AMR RETURNEES

One year after fighting has stopped in Homs, Syria, only 3000 out of original 80 000 residents have returned to the neighbourhood of Baba Amr, where clashes in Homs first started in 2012. UNHCR

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:02:16
• Production Date: 22 February 2016
• Asset Language: Arabic
• Corporate Name: UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES - UNHCR
• Subject Topical: DISPLACED PERSONS; REFUGEES
• Geographic Subject: SYRIA
• MAMS Id: 1568472
• Parent Id: 1568472
• Alternate Title: unifeed160222c

Description

STORY: SYRIA / BABA AMR RETURNEES
TRT: 02:16
SOURCE: UNHCR
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ARABIC / NATS

DATELINE: 18 FEBRUARY 2016, HOMS, SYRIA

Shotlist

1. Wide shot street with damaged houses in Bab Amr
2. Various shots, Sabah, hanging laundry to dry
3. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Sabah, returnee:
“When the house was shelled we felt a huge explosion. We ran out of the house. We looked up and saw that a floor had collapsed.”
4. Various shots, destroyed buildings
5. Various shots, Sabah in rubble
6. Wide shot, destruction in main street of Baba Amr
7. Wide shot, people walking next to destroyed buildings
8. Med shot, people passing by
9. Various shots, Yousef shouting his products
10. UPSOUND (Arabic) Yousef, displaced from Aleppo:
“Spinach, cauliflower, onions, green onions.”
11. SOUNDBITE (Arabic), Yousef, displaced from Aleppo:
“When I came to Baba Amr I saw that people did not have anywhere to buy from. The residents lent me money and it was helpful.”
12. Man looking out of his balcony
13. Wide shot, people sitting on doorsteps
14. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Sabah, returnee:
“We have to have be patient and optimistic. Otherwise we won’t be able to move on. We have to be brave. We cannot be weak. So that we can rebuild our homes, make them better than how they were before.”
15. Various shots, school children in uniforms walking in rubble
16. Med shot, people on balcony
17. Wide shot, people on a street

Storyline

One year after fighting has stopped in Homs, Syria, only 3000 out of original 80 000 residents have returned to the neighbourhood of Baba Amr, where clashes in Homs first started in 2012.

Twelve out of 36 neighbourhoods in the city of Homs are now in desperate need of reconstruction. One of them is Baba Amr.

Most are living in damaged and half-destroyed homes. Sabah and her family were among the first returnees. They escaped when their house was shelled.

SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Sabah, returnee:
“When the house was shelled we felt a huge explosion. We ran out of the house. We looked up and saw that a floor had collapsed.”

Some 200 displaced families from other parts of Syria have also found shelter in this battered neighbourhood. Yousef is making do by selling produce from the back of his truck.

SOUNDBITE (Arabic), Yousef, displaced from Aleppo:
“When I came to Baba Amr I saw that people did not have anywhere to buy from. The residents lent me money and it was helpful.”

Having all been displaced at least once, the displaced and returnees are now collaborating to reclaim Baba Amr.Nearly half a million residents from Homs and surrounding areas have been displaced by heavy fighting, some multiple times within Syria, while others have fled abroad. One of the biggest challenges facing returnees is rebuilding their homes that were turned into rubble.