Fear and mistrust in the new Syria

Available for over a year

Pascale Harter introduces dispatches from Syria, Poland and Germany. After the fall of Assad, Syria's new leadership promised to protect the rights of all the country's religious and ethnic minorities. But a wave of sectarian violence in March this year is fueling division between communities, while long-held grievances are proving hard to resolve. Lucy Williamson travelled to Syria's coastal region, where minority Alawite communities recently came under attack after some Assad loyalists attacked the new government's forces. Bordering both Ukraine and Russia, Poland has its own concerns over safety and security. The government has pledged to up its military spending this year, and is also rolling out military training for civilians. Will Vernon visited a training camp - but found not all Poles keen to enrol. And 80 years after the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany was liberated, Amie Liebowitz has been to a reunion of people whose lives were marked forever by the place. While there, she heard stories of the weddings and births among the community of displaced people housed in a nearby camp just after the end of World War Two - and also traced her own family's histories of survival. Producer: Polly Hope Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith Production Co-ordinator: Katie Morrison Image: A member of Syria's new General Security Forces handles hand grenades in the coastal region of Latakia, Syria - April 2025. Image Credit: Fred Scott/BBC