Enab Baladi – Omar Alaa Eldin
The university housing in Damascus forms a diverse community of young men and women from various components and provinces, providing an opportunity to learn about different cultures and traditions, and to build long-lasting friendships.
The seeds of establishing the university city in Damascus began with the first and second units in 1962, reaching a total of 27 residential units sheltering 13,000 students, according to the latest official statistics from the University of Damascus.
Contrary to how it appears from the outside, the residential units hold many students’ stories and hopes that these students carry throughout their academic journey.
Enab Baladi entered the university city, listened to the students and their stories, and learned about their struggles due to poor services, as well as details regarding what happened after a series of tensions and events surrounding the spread of an offensive audio recording about the Prophet Muhammad, attributed to a Sheikh of the Druze sect, which was later denied by the Syrian Ministry of Interior and the Sheikh himself on April 27.
Poor services
Mohammad al-Omar, a third-year media student specializing in radio and television, expressed his deep dissatisfaction with the state of university housing before the regime’s fall on December 8, 2024, specifically regarding the technical and service situation of the first male unit he resides in.
Although his room offers a good view of the Mezzeh Highway, al-Omar told Enab Baladi that the view is the only good thing at the moment, given the poor services and difficult reality in the unit concerning cleanliness, structural integrity, and the suitability of the facilities available (toilets, bathrooms).
He added, “Our ambition is simple: to have a life worthy of a university student. Electricity improved after the regime’s fall, which used to provide male residential units with three hours of electricity every 24 hours, but now it remains for 16 continuous hours.”
Electricity is important, but it is not our only concern; the cleanliness and rehabilitation of the toilets are crucial because they have reached a state where they are unfit for human use, according to al-Omar.
The young man sent a message to the administration in the city saying that renovating the sanitary facilities is more important than the gardens, as the essentials come first and are more important than luxuries.
Enab Baladi observed repairs made by the administration of the city, as they renovated gardens and sidewalks and painted benches in cooperation with the Syria Civil Defence and the students, as part of the initiative “We’re Back, O Sham” on February 25. The administration also organized communal iftars for students during the last Ramadan.
Accommodation or security branch
Housing in the university in Mezzeh was surrounded by security branches from all sides, as narrated by Saeed al-Khalaf to Enab Baladi, a student at the Faculty of Tourism at the University of Damascus, explaining the state of terror experienced by students.
The district branch and the security square used to be about 500 meters away from the housing area, and in addition to this atmosphere, there were forces from the Baath Brigades militia at the doors roaming among the students, and there was also a detachment from the State Security Branch stationed at the entrance from the direction of al-Mowasat Hospital.
According to al-Khalaf, the detachment used to receive regular reports about students who prayed or held festive gatherings or singing events, and these reports were provided by members of the National Union of Syrian Students (NUSS) previously.
The regime’s army used to enter the housing area and take bread supplies from the bakery designated for the students, while students often remained without bread.
The oppression of students went even farther. While the previous management of the city cramped four to six students into a room, any student with connections to the former Baath Party or Student Union could get a room to themselves, according to al-Khalaf.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) states that the National Union of Syrian Students is an entity closely linked with several security agencies and is involved in numerous serious violations of human rights, including suppressing student protests against the Syrian regime and harassing and causing the detention of thousands of university students, many of whom faced systematic torture and enforced disappearance.
Additionally, the union contributed to conscripting dozens of students for the benefit of security agencies and gathering data on their fellow student colleagues active in political opposition against the Syrian regime, with the aim of pursuing, oppressing, and expelling them from their universities.
After the statue’s fall
“Whenever I looked at the statue of the former regime’s president, Hafez al-Assad, in the center of the university city in the morning, I felt it was watching me, ready to pounce on me if I made a mistake in a word or a glance. As a civil engineering student, I wondered how much that disgusting statue cost, and if that cost were used to renovate our residential unit, how different our situation would be,” said Hazar al-Darwish, a third-year civil engineering student at the University of Damascus.
Al-Darwish described the condition of female students before the regime’s fall as “miserable,” with between 7 to 9 female students in one room, in addition to some supervisors exerting authority over them and even financially extorting some of them at times to obtain a room.
However, the situation has changed slightly now, as the supervisors who harassed the female students have been dismissed, and registration for new rooms is now available without obstacles, according to al-Darwish.
The statue’s fall, which students destroyed with their own hands on March 12, was an expression of the fall of the fear that had weighed on them for years.
The situation changed after the regime’s fall, and a politically and intellectually open environment prevailed among the students, especially in the cafes within the city.
Yazan Abu Naji, a fourth-year law student at the University of Damascus, expressed his joy over the new atmosphere, as he now discusses political situations in Syria and their consequences and sensitive issues in the country with his friends.
Abu Naji told Enab Baladi, “If we had opened such a discussion before the regime’s fall, our fate would have been uncertain,” expressing optimism about the existing atmosphere, but he believes that the current situation in the country won’t improve if freedom of expression is misused like what occurred in university housing in Homs on April 27.
Decision to prevent incitement
On the evening of April 27, residents of the university dormitory in Homs witnessed an attack by some students against others, following the circulation of an audio recording on social media that contained insults against the Prophet Muhammad. The director of the university dormitory in Homs, Khaled Jumaa, confirmed to Enab Baladi that the situation has calmed down and returned to normal.
On May 8, activists shared a video on social media showing a group of students from the Druze community returning to their homes after the events that occurred at the university dormitory in Homs. This video dates back to April 28.
The director of the university city, Ammar al-Ayoubi, stated in remarks to the government-affiliated Alikhbaria channel that the video was recorded about ten days prior, on the day following the spread of audio recordings insulting the Prophet, and before the events in Jaramana and Sahnaya, and before any tensions arose.
He added, “The students who left the university dormitory did so at their own request and choice; no one forced them to leave.”
In the wake of the events at the university dormitory in Homs, the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research in Syria, Marwan al-Halabi, issued a decision prohibiting the publication, dissemination, or promotion, by any means—oral, written, or virtual through electronic networks—of any content that incites hatred or sectarianism or insults national unity or civil peace.
The ministry specified in its decision, issued on May 10, that it applies to all members of the teaching staff, students, and employees of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, as well as all public and private universities, higher institutes, and entities affiliated with or connected to the minister.
The decision states in its second article that violations will subject the offender to criminal, civil, and disciplinary accountability, and to referral to the relevant councils (disciplinary, administrative) for the implementation of deterrent penalties.
According to the decision, penalties may include expulsion or referral to judicial authorities, in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.
University city students seize chance to reconnect after years of war Enab Baladi.
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