Damascus Airport as you did not know before Varieties

Damascus- The first thing that draws the attention of the arrivals to Damascus airport is the absence of the image of Hafez al -Assad – or the “immortal leader” as his supporters like – who remained for decades the first thing that receives travelers. The images of his son, the ousted President Bashar al -Assad, also disappeared, and replaced by the flag of the Syrian revolution, which has become the adopted flag of the state, in a scene that summarizes a new chapter in the history of Syria.

Transformations at the passport point

Passports point, which was a day surrounded by an aura of tension and fear, no longer. In the past, this gate was a nightmare for some travelers, as it is not without the mute supplications and Quranic verses that were repeated in a faint voice, as if it were a talisman to pass in peace. I have always heard passengers who muttered the noble Qur’anic verse.

The mere presence of a wanted near security was a reason to summon the traveler to investigate his relative “Al -Mutawari from view”, not to mention the malicious reports that “good citizens” may write against the expatriates, making them receive a summons to the intelligence branches before they left the arrival hall.

As for the virgins from performing compulsory military service, they do not venture to travel to Syria at all, so that the “retarded from the market” is not arrested, and hand them over to the people of their recruitment, which in turn sort them to the service points. The service here means turning them into “slaves” for Assad officers at the best, but it may mean directing their guns towards their citizens in most cases.

Today, all of this anxiety has been dispersed. No one is muttered by the passport officer, and the phrases are no longer, “What do we bring with you, Habib?” Hear. Her place was a simple and direct official welcome, “Welcome, Professor … Favorite.”

The “Archives” office – the archive – also disappeared that office, which served as the rear gateway to the intelligence, as it receives your passport from the passport officer, to bring it back to you, accompanied by the “facilitated” security summons.

At the time of the lion, these summons were not just official papers, but rather signs of warning, as they mean a hard investigation, or to prevent travel, or even arrest without warning.

Non -Syrians may ask: What if the traveler ignores these summonses and decided to return from where he came? The answer is simple and frightening: he cannot. Every security branch summarizes you, it must give you permission to leave, and if you do not obtain all approvals, you are simply prohibited from leaving what has become known as the “large prison”.

Psychological comfort despite the delay

After exceeding the passport point, travelers reach the luggage receipt. There are no longer the looks of apprehension or urgency to get out of the airport, as was the case in the past. A new spirit of comfort and fun filling the place, as people laugh and exchange jokes even when the luggage is late. Everyone looks understanding of the situation, as the infrastructure left by the previous regime is completely collapsed and barely operated.

Goodbye to bribes and royalties

In the past, the customs department was the first “informal collection point” in the country for many corrupt regime officers, unlike the passports that did not accept bribery, because the security issues are “with it a joke.”

Opening bags, exhuming their contents, and confiscating goods under the pretext of “violating the regimes”, all of which was a familiar scene. Perfumes and cigarettes were at the top of the “spoils,” where if the traveler had several perfume boxes, one of which was confiscated by the customs officer on the pretext of “your need is this As a tip to ensure smooth traffic.

As for the electrical appliances, from electrical television, and other foreign commodities that are not available in Syria, the precious hunting was “for you is customs!” A key phrase that opens two options in front of you, either you pay the value of customs in the hard currency of the state treasury, or to be subject to the price of “the customs of the officer”, which will condone the devices in exchange for a bribe.

Even if you choose the first option, the officer will stop you to advise you with innocence to pay the bribe to him instead of going to his money to “the pocket of the state … you have your cheapest!”

All of this ended today, and only passengers are required to pass through the inspection device, as is the case in the rest of the world’s airports.

Upon leaving the airport building, “Al -Aradah Al -Shamiya” receives some of the coming, as their relatives resort to celebrating their coming after a forced absence of decades in some cases, even if some of them were born in exile and did not see Syria before.

As for the airport building from the outside, it has changed a lot, as all the signs that glorified the lion (Hafez), the son (Bashar) and Brother (Basil al -Assad) disappeared, and replaced by the new revolution science.

Road

Despite the manifestations that suggest a new start, the effects of war are still present in some places. On the way from Damascus Airport to the capital, you will find war scars on the walls of areas such as Aqraba and Beit Sahm, and you will notice the destruction buildings and their residents have deserted for years.

Damascus, which was exhausted by the grip of the security regime and destroyed some of its neighborhoods and most of its countryside, returned to life again after the page of the Baath regime and the Assad family was folded, and the features of a new country led by “people from us and us and resemble us,” said the taxi driver who took me from the airport to the capital to the capital. Syrian.