6 years after the liberation of Raqqa, a former Daesh stronghold, its inhabitants still plunged into an endless crisis

A commercial and agricultural city, cited in the Koran, Raqqa, whose first vestiges date back five thousand years ago, is one of the oldest cities in the world.

In March 2011, as the Syrian revolution began, it fell into the hands of Daesh (or Islamic State), which made it its world capital in June 2014. The inhabitants, administered for four years by jihadists from more than 80 countries , experienced the horror of the destructive and bloodthirsty caliphate. It was in particular from Raqqa that the Paris attacks of November 13, 2015, like that of the Bataclan, were organized.

In 2016, an American- and Kurdish-led coalition from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) undertook a military campaign for his release, dubbed “Wrath of the Euphrates”. This lasts more than a year. Thousands of bombings left the city in ruins. Founded in the summer of 2017, the Raqqa Civil Council is responsible for the reconstruction of the city.

But the Caesar Act – the arsenal of international sanctions – imposed by the Americans in 2020 against people and entities favoring the military activities of the Damascus regime, places serious financial pressure on the country. It particularly complicates imports of materials. The construction sites are therefore slowing down and only half of the city is rebuilt, salaries have plunged, social projects are becoming rarer and the economic emergency is now hitting everyone, even the children who prefer to work rather than go at school. The population is angry and the social fabric is dangerously crumbling.