At the start of 2025, Emin Özmen documented the living conditions of children in Damascus for the Washington Post during a period of change following the fall of the Assad regime. Many children are traumatized by the long-lasting war they endured.

The photographer traveled to Damascus' southern suburbs of Douma and Daraya, areas of Goutha where a chemical massacre took place in 2013, destroying many schools and causing overcrowding in those that remained viable. Children play on soccer fields as barrel bombs from the Assad regime's chemical attacks on the Syrian people are still visible, while...