Recent demonstrations across much of Syria have raised questions about growing public frustration in areas that played a central role in the uprising against Bashar al-Assad .
According to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), a conflict-monitoring organisation, 41 demonstrations demanding transitional justice and accountability took place during the first half of June, accounting for 40 per cent of all protests recorded across Syria during that period from Idlib in the northwest to Der Ez-Zor and Hasaka provinces in the east, via Damascus .
While many of the protests have been framed as calls for justice over crimes committed during the Assad era, analysts say the unrest is also being driven by economic hardship, poor services and a growing sense among former opposition communities that they have been left behind. The revolution's heartlands The geography of the protests is striking.
Recent demonstrations have been concentrated in Aleppo, Hama, Homs and rural Damascus, areas that endured years of bombardment, siege and displacement during the war and which once formed the backbone of the opposition to Assad.
For Muaz Al Abdullah, Middle East Research Manager at ACLED, this is no coincidence.
"If you notice, most of the protests in Syria took place in areas that were previously under opposition control," he told The New Arab .
"The people taking to the streets are from the same communities that supported the revolution and suffered heavily during the conflict," he added.
According to Al Abdullah, many protesters are between 27 and 45 years old - Gen-Z and Millennials who experienced the uprising, war and displacement first-hand and is now grappling with the gap between Syria's new political freedoms and its continuing economic hardships What protesters mean by transitional justice While recent demonstrations have often been described as demands for transitional justice , protesters are using the term in a much broader sense than its conventional meaning.
Traditionally, transitional justice refers to mechanisms such as prosecutions, truth commissions and accountability processes aimed at addressing past abuses. In Syria, however, the phrase has increasingly become a catch-all expression for a much wider set of grievances.
"It's now a very broad term," Al Abdullah said. "They are not using it only for the prosecution of criminals."
"Instead, demands for transitional justice have become intertwined with calls for jobs, better public services, economic opportunities and an end to the perceived rehabilitation of figures associated with the former regime."
The return of businessmen who prospered under Assad has become a particular source of anger.
While the new Syrian government appears to view their return as beneficial for investment and economic recovery, many residents in former opposition areas see it as evidence that those who benefited from the old system are being welcomed back while communities that suffered during the war continue to struggle. Feeling left behind At the heart of the protests is a growing perception among many former opposition supporters that they have been excluded from the post-Assad Syria emerging order.
Al Abdullah pointed to Aleppo as the clearest example.
"Aleppo is literally divided into eastern and western Aleppo," he said.
The city's eastern districts, which witnessed some of the war's most intense fighting, remain scarred by destruction and poor infrastructure. Many neighbourhoods continue to suffer from inadequate public services, while residents in some areas reportedly receive water only once a week.
"Eastern Aleppo, which used to be under the control of the rebels, has almost no services, basic services, the streets are dirty, many of the neighbourhoods are destroyed, and water is available only for one day per week."
By contrast, western Aleppo appears significantly better off.
"If you move to the western part of Aleppo, you feel that you are completely in a different country," Al Abdullah said.
The disparity has fuelled a sense among some residents that the communities which endured siege, bombardment and displacement have not received the attention or investment they expected after Assad's fall.
"People who supported the revolution are continuing to face the same reality of poverty they suffered under Assad," as Al Abdullah put it.
For many protesters, the issue is not simply whether former regime figures are held accountable, but whether the people who endured the conflict are seeing any meaningful improvement in their own lives. An economic protest movement Although accountability remains a major theme, Al Abdullah argues that economics is the primary driver behind the current wave of demonstrations.
"The main part is driven by the economic situation," he said.
The issue was particularly evident in May, when farmers across parts of northeastern Syria protested government-set wheat procurement prices, arguing that the rates failed to cover production costs and were lower than those offered in neighbouring countries.
"This led to a wave of protests in northeastern Syria," Al Abdullah said. "Eventually, the prices stayed at the lowest level compared to the neighbouring countries."
While authorities later promised compensation measures, many farmers remained dissatisfied.
Beyond agriculture, protesters have also voiced frustration over unemployment, low salaries, inadequate public services and the slow pace of reconstruction in areas devastated by the war.
For many Syrians, demands for transitional justice and economic improvement have become inseparable. Organised but leaderless Despite the spread of demonstrations across multiple governorates, there is little evidence of a central leadership structure.
Al Abdullah said the protests appear to be organised at the local level, citing reports of leaflets being distributed in some communities ahead of demonstrations.
"Until now, I can confidently say that they are leaderless," he said. "But they are organised."
"The economic situation is nationwide," he added. "When the people in Daraa are seeing the people in Aleppo protesting, in order to put more pressure to get their demands, they are also protesting." A challenge, not a crisis While the protests highlight growing frustrations, Al Abdullah does not believe they pose an existential threat to Syria's new authorities.
Rather, he sees them as an attempt by former opposition communities to pressure the government to accelerate reforms and deliver improvements that many believe have come too slowly.
He argues that the government faces a genuine dilemma. On one hand, it must attract investment and revive an economy devastated by years of conflict. On the other hand, it must convince communities that suffered under Assad that their sacrifices have not been forgotten.
Despite the recent wave of demonstrations, Al Abdullah believes the government will ultimately seek to defuse tensions through a mixture of concessions and promises of future reforms.
"I think the government will take steps in order to reach a point with the protesters that they will get their demands, and we will see a sudden drop in the number of protests," he said.