After Assad's fall, Syria's Kurds are left in limbo, feeling abandoned by the U.S.

Key developments are emerging from the global stage. Middle East After Assad's fall, Syria's Kurds are left in limbo, feeling abandoned by the U. May 2, 2026 5:02 AM ET By Jane Arraf , Sangar Khaleel Children play outside a vacant school that is now being used to house displaced people in Qamishli, Syria. Claire Harbage/NPR hide caption toggle caption Claire Harbage/NPR QAMISHLI, Syria — The children running through the courtyard of a school in this northeastern city are a blur of motion.

But they're not students at recess — they are members of displaced families living here since public schools were turned into shelters in January. Instead of a school bus, there is an ancient red Nissan pickup truck with black flames painted along the sides. export, evidently — according to the large sticker of the American flag depicting 14 states and the year 1791 when the Bill of Rights was enacted.

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On the windshield above the green faux fur glued to the dashboard, "Allah" (God) is written in flowing white Arabic script. Sponsor Message Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad was toppled in late 2024 by Turkish-backed opposition fighters. But the repercussions are still rippling through Syria, particularly here in the Kurdish-led breakaway region where Syrian government forces retook territory amid fighting in January.

The pickup truck brought two displaced families — 15 people in all — to safety in January when Syrian forces advanced near the Kurdish city of Afrin. Children play in a stairwell of the vacant school that is now housing displaced families. Claire Harbage/NPR hide caption toggle caption Claire Harbage/NPR "We squeezed all the children on top of us and in the back of the truck and I put all our stuff on top," says the displaced father, a former shopkeeper.

For most of the families here who came from the Tabqa displacement camp, it was at least the third time they have been uprooted. This Kurdish region in northeastern Syria , which ran its own autonomous territory for 12 years after breaking away from the Syrian regime in 2012, is now in play again. -brokered ceasefire halted the fighting this year but the terms of the ceasefire — the Syrian government taking over Kurdish-held borders, security and oil fields in exchange for promises of Kurdish rights still have not been fully implemented.

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Hassan Biro (left) stands at the entrance to a vacant school as children play. Claire Harbage/NPR hide caption toggle caption Claire Harbage/NPR The owner of the red pickup holds a 2-year-old girl wearing a fuzzy pink jacket. Her blonde hair is tied in a ponytail spout on top of her head.

Sponsor Message "We nicknamed her Trump as a joke because she's blond," he says of the toddler, whose real name is Barfi. The shopkeeper was afraid to give his because of the risk of retaliation by government security forces. Near the entrance to the school, he has set up a small table selling snacks.

"I used to like Trump but not anymore," he says of the U.

The development has drawn wide international attention, with diplomatic circles watching closely.