ICC Note: Homs, Syria has recently been liberated from Islamic fighters at some point during the almost six  year civil war. A faded message written on a church wall speaks of the occupants returning to their home and their land, and now they have. As the Syrian government has reclaimed many areas, residents have slowly been returning to their homes in Homs.

 11/19/2016 Syria (WWM): Time has almost faded the message written on a church wall in Homs by someone who, like thousands of others, presumably had to flee the city quickly for safety or survival.

The Syrian city, 166km north of Damascus, was soon taken over by Islamic fighters. Fierce fighting made living in the city virtually impossible.

The unknown writer, inspired by a famous Syrian poem by Nizar Kabani, marked the wall with the words, “Here is my land. Here are my roots. Here is my language. How it …” as the writing then fades away.

But back they have come. Gradually they have been returning to their homes in Homs as the Syrian government has been claiming back more areas of the province by the same name over this autumn.

Those who came back have found homes struck by explosives and almost completely destroyed, while other houses were damaged but not beyond repair.

Nesreen* lost her husband to cancer before the war – which has been going on for five years now since 2011. During the war her son was kidnapped and later killed. Grief is etched on her face, and her voice strains under the stress of sorrow and loss. Her house was almost totally destroyed by fire.

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