Protesters took to the streets in Idlib province carrying signs reading "we will return without Assad [in power]", expressing their will to live free from the rule of Syrian dictator Bashar Al-Assad.
Aleppo was seized by the Syrian armed opposition in July 2012, before being recaptured by Assad's régime in December 2016 after a five-month siege and battle backed by Russian air power that left the historic city in ruins and killed thousands.
"The demonstration is very important to remind the world of the criminality practiced against us by the Assad régime and its allies," said photographer and reporter Bilal al-Hammoud, who was displaced from Maarat al-Numan in the Idlib province but also attended the demonstration.
Though al-Hammoud wasn't displaced from Aleppo, he explained he "share[s] the same feelings with other protesters" due to their shared goal of returning to their homes.
"I wanted to participate... to tell Bashar al-Assad that I will return to Aleppo... we are continuing our revolution until my daughter can grow up in Aleppo," said Fateh Raslan, a man displaced from Aleppo.
“On the fifth anniversary... we decided to be present to demand the right of return without the Assad régime... we have left our city by force, but we will continue our revolution until we can return," said Bilal al-Abdullah, also displaced from Aleppo.
For many forcibly displaced Syrians, memories of the horror they experienced were embedded deep within them, fuelling their motivation to persist and fight for a free Syria.
"Aleppo is the remains of our martyrs, the remains of our children that remained under the rubble, and it is our duty to remember them always at every moment... the blood of our martyrs is our fuel” said media activist Ibrahim Radwan, also from Aleppo.
The Syrian revolution began on 15 March 2011, before the Assad régime violently cracked down on peaceful protests demanding democratic reform.'
