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Early in 2011 millions of protesters took to the streets across the Arab world to demand greater freedom and an end to corruption. Long-standing authoritarian leaders in Egypt and Tunisia were swept from power. Syrians hoped their country would be the next to bring in a new government to deliver political reform but there was no simple overthrow and a bloody war ensued. Today Bashar al-Assad remains in control of a country which has seen nearly half a million people killed and where five million people are refugees and seven million are internally displaced.

Middle East Correspondent Lina Sinjab – who grew up in Damascus – explores how the initially peaceful protests six years ago have left a country without hope and a society that’s deeply fragmented. Many of the people who ignited the uprising are either dead, in prison or outside of Syria but Lina hears from some of the activists who remain free and asks them what went wrong, whether they have regrets and how their country can rebuild itself.

Producer: Ben Carter

(Photo: Protesters shout slogans during an anti-regime demonstration in the rebel-controlled side of Aleppo, Syria, 2016. Credit: Getty Images)