'Relief but also stress': Syrians in London on Assad's downfall
After President Bashar al-Assad's regime collapsed in Syria following a lightning-fast rebel offensive, displaced Syrians living in London share their thoughts on what this means for their country and their future.
"I feel like I'm in a dream and I don't want to wake up," says Amr Shayah, a Syrian refugee living in Greenwich, south-east London.
He calls me with a croaky voice after spending the past few days celebrating the end of Assad's brutal regime with family and friends.
"The last time I was there, I left twice because I was threatened to be killed or arrested and tortured to death," he said
For more than 50 years, the Assad family ruled with an iron fist.
But now the Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and allied rebel factions have overthrown the government, leaving Assad to flee to Russia where he has been granted asylum.
Following this, the Syrian diaspora gathered in Trafalgar Square to share sweets, dance and sing in the streets.
For more than 50 years, the Assad family ruled with an iron fist.
But now the Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and allied rebel factions have overthrown the government, leaving Assad to flee to Russia where he has been granted asylum.
Following this, the Syrian diaspora gathered in Trafalgar Square to share sweets, dance and sing in the streets.
Mr Shayah, 38, claimed asylum as a refugee in 2022 and now works for humanitarian and development projects.
Previously, he worked in an airport in Syria after studying aviation engineering. He also worked as an activist alongside his day job.
At that time, what started as a revolution in many Arab countries, also known as the Arab Spring, ended up as a civil war in Syria where Assad brutally crushed a peaceful pro-democracy uprising.
On Christmas Day in 2011, Mr Shayah was arrested.
Later released, he said he received a tip-off in 2012 saying he would be arrested again "by an intelligence branch", and it was better to leave the city.
He added his friend received the same call, so they left.
His friend's family were arrested and killed that same evening; Mr Shayah's family survived as they were not at home.
He made his way to settle down in Turkey but after facing racism, he said he decided to come to the UK.
'Beautiful Syria'
"The main goal was to survive and to protect my family," he said.
On Assad's regime ending, he said it was "something I never expected I would witness".
He added it was "really stressful" to think about as the future of the country remained uncertain but that it was the first step towards a free Syria.
He said the former leader still needed to be "held accountable".
He ended our conversation by saying that he hoped to one day see "a beautiful, joint, unified Syria, that has equity for every single person, regardless of their religion, background, colour".