Why a Booktrail?
2000s: The city of Raqqa is one of the most war-torn and feared in the world – but it’s also Samer’s home
The Raqqa Diaries: Escape from Islamic State
What you need to know before your trail
Since ISIS occupied Raqqa in eastern Syria, it has become one of the most isolated and fear-ridden cities on earth.
The sale of televisions has been banned, wearing trousers the wrong length is a punishable offence, and using a mobile phone is considered an unforgivable crime.
No journalists are allowed in and the penalty for speaking to the western media is death by beheading.
Despite this, after several months of nervy and often interrupted conversations, the BBC was able to make contact with a small activist group, Al-Sharqiya 24. Finally, courageously, one of their members agreed to write a personal diary about his experiences.
Having seen friends and relatives butchered, his community’s life shattered and the local economy ruined by these hate-fuelled extremists, Samer is fighting back in the only way he can: by telling the world what is happening to his beloved city.
Travel Guide
Syria
“In areas of Syria and Iran controlled by so-called Islamic State (IS), the penalty for speaking to the Western media is beheading, That fact highlights not only the courage but by the conviction of anti-IS activists like out brave diaries
When Samer (not his real name) began writing these diaries, he lived in Raqqa, the capital of IS’s self-proclaimed caliphate in eastern Syria and one of the most isolated cities on earth.
Internet cafes there are monitored closely by IS, and mobile phone lines can often be traced. It is almost impossible for foreign journalists like me to get in, and local are forbidden to leave without permission.
Much of the media coverage of Syrian has, inevitably, looked more at the political and military side of the conflict that the way it has affected people’s everyday lives.
The personal accounts of our diaries bridge that gap in an extraordinary way.”
Booktrail Boarding Pass: The Raqqa Diaries: Escape from Islamic State
Destination: Syria, Raqqa Author/Guide: Samer Departure Time: 2000s
Back to ResultsWhere Next?
