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Beirut
Joined September 2016
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Synaps retweeted
Mental health concerns now surface across everyday life in Syria, from traumatized children to unemployed fathers avoiding friends because they cannot afford cafés or restaurants.
By Alex Simon, Lina Ghoutouk, Malak Shanawani and Samar Alumari.
syriauntold.com/2026/10/14/t…
Synaps retweeted
In Syria, mental health practitioners often lament how social stigma prevents Syrians from getting the help they need.
There's surely truth in this, especially in more conservative circles.
And yet, in our research, my @SynapsNetwork colleagues and I often saw the opposite 🧵
Synaps retweeted
Like its cover, "Syrians in the Shadow of War" is a collage.
It binds together 32 reports by our team @SynapsNetwork, drawing on over 3,000 interviews between 2017-24.
It orders them into six chapters, each tackling a question as relevant today as ever.
Here's a preview: 🧵
Synaps retweeted
In Lebanon, Israel's blanket evacuation orders are increasing the likelihood of large-scale casualties among civilians, not least women and children.
In theory, these orders imply that the targeted areas are mostly depopulated, but realities differ. 🧵
Synaps retweeted
One war can hide another. Indeed, Lebanon isn't a sideshow of the ongoing face-off across the Persian Gulf. It is a full-blown battlefield in its own right, where Israel has goals that are distinct and equally ambitious. 🧵
Synaps retweeted
ما السبيل لمساعدة اللاجئين السوريين في العودة إلى ديارهم؟
إن السؤال مُلحّ وبديهي: فكثير من السوريين يرغبون في العودة، والدول المضيفة تطالب بذلك بإلحاح، غير أن هذه الحكومات نفسها كثيرًا ما تضع عراقيل جديدة في طريقهم.
synaps.network/ar/post/Syria…
Synaps retweeted
Globally, migration policies appear increasingly unmoored from any logic beyond that of racist scapegoating.
Syrian refugees are in the eye of this storm. Our latest @SynapsNetwork follows as they navigate it, with limited information and even less help
synaps.network/en/post/Syria…
Synaps retweeted
Almost a year into Syria's transition, what has become of the millions who fled their country's war?
Since December, we @SynapsNetwork interviewed dozens of actual and prospective returnees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and Turkey.
A few of our takeaways: 🧵
What would it take to help Syrian refugees go home?
The question is urgent and obvious: Many Syrians would like to return, and host states are clamoring for them to do so. Yet the same governments often throw new hurdles in their way.
synaps.network/en/post/Syria…
Synaps retweeted
Syrian refugees in Lebanon currently face a bizarre predicament, which sums up the inadequate—and easily improved—state of UNHCR’s return programming. 🧵
Much of our work at Synaps consists in designing solutions that meet a very specific need for information. Our method, to grasp our end-users, comes from user-centric design, which applies just as well to social services or aid and development programs.
synaps.network/en/post/the-p…
Synaps retweeted
Orient XXI interview with @PeterHarling on Beirut. Full of truly interesting insights. Two come to mind: “Beirut is built on the Mediterranean and yet, bizarrely, it is not Mediterranean in character.” How true. And, “[p]lants tell us the story of a city whose more authentic, intimate sides are always the most difficult to reach,” in light of the fact that “[e]ven the beautiful trees that line Beirut’s streets are symptomatic of a globalized urban fabric.” Whole thing here: orientxxi.info/magazine/beir…
Synaps retweeted
إن رفع العقوبات ضروري لإحياء اقتصاد سوريا، لكنه ليس كافيا بحد ذاته. في هذا المقال يوضح الباحث في شبكة سينابس أليكس سايمون @AlexGSimon العوائق الداخلية التي يجب على دمشق إزالتها لإطلاق عملية التعافي.
#اقتصاد_سوريا #رفع_العقوبات_عن_سوريا
synaps.network/ar/post/syria…
Synaps retweeted
ماذا يمكن لسوريا أن تتوقع من رفع العقوبات الاقتصادية؟
يعتمد ذلك على مدى تعامل دمشق مع القيود الداخلية التي تعيق اقتصادها، لا سيما الفساد، والعوائق البيروقراطية، والتشريعات المتخلفة، والغموض السائد.
كما يجب على سوريا أن تعيد إطلاق عملية التعافي من الداخل.
synaps.network/ar/post/syria…
Synaps retweeted
This year, I will shed light on invisible victims in Syria and advocate inclusive justice.
I will draw on skills gained from @SynapsNetwork—an organization that shaped who I am.
I am eager to learn from the incredible TIMEP team and always grateful to my people: the Syrians.
⭐️@Linaagho is a Syrian researcher and human rights specialist with over a decade of experience in the humanitarian and research sectors. She aims to advocate for the rights of Syria’s invisible victims.
Learn more about Lina: timep.org/author/linaghoutou…
What can Syria expect from sanctions relief?
It depends how much Damascus tackles the internal shackles on its economy: corruption, bureaucratic obstruction, lagging legislation, and general uncertainty.
Syria must also jumpstart recovery from within.
synaps.network/en/post/syria…
Synaps retweeted
What's needed to restart Syria's economy? Sanctions relief, to be sure, but also:
1⃣ functioning property markets
2⃣ clear legal frameworks
3⃣ explicit policies on trade, borders, etc
4⃣ hard data, and channels for sharing it
More here, @SynapsNetwork
synaps.network/en/post/syria…
Sanctions relief is essential to reviving Syria's economy. But it's not enough.
@AlexGSimon lays out the web of internal barriers that Damascus must lift for recovery to take off.
synaps.network/en/post/syria…
Synaps retweeted
Syria now is a whirlwind of daily events: some hopeful, others ominous.
Understanding them means slowing down and looking back, not just to 2011 but decades before.
@SynapsNetwork mapped deep, structural factors shaping the transition
synaps.network/en/post/mappi…
