DAMASCUS/JABER, Jordan: Jordanians are flocking to the Syrian capital Damascus for the first time in years for tourism and trade after the reopening of a border crossing that had been closed through years of war.
The border opened to people and goods on Oct. 15, restoring a route that had carried billions of dollars in trade for the region.
“The first day that Syria opened up, I came. This is my second time since then,” said Mahmoud Nassar, 62, a flight engineer from Jordan’s northern city of Ramtha.
“This is a visit of tourism and of yearning for [Damascus],” said Nassar, who drove in with his father and son. “The road is safe and there were no problems.”
Syrian government forces retook the border region with Jordan from rebels in July during a Russian-backed offensive.
The crossing had been closed since rebels captured it in 2015, though many are making the trip for the first time since 2011, when the Syrian conflict first erupted.
The Jordanian side of the frontier was jammed with vehicles waiting to cross Friday. “What we see is the situation is good, things are fine,” said Razzan al-Hattab, a Jordanian waiting to cross. “I love Sham [Damascus], so I wanted to be one of the first to try going in a tourist group.”
The closure of the border has hit both the Syrian and Jordanian economies. “Before the border closed, our work was great,” said Jawad al-Zoubi, waiting to cross. But for “the last seven years, we’ve not been able to pay school fees,” he said.