In a scene reminiscent of the early days of the Syrian uprising, a man waved the tricolor flag of the revolution as hundreds of protesters marched through the streets and chanted for the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. “We want our homeland to be free,” they shouted. 

The ongoing demonstrations in Suweida, a government-held province populated mostly by the Druze religious minority, marked a rare display of defiance against Syria’s longtime dictator, who protesters blame for the country’s rapidly deteriorating living conditions. 

“What is happening in my city is what should have happened a long time ago,” said one Suweida activist who spoke on condition of anonymity when reached via phone. “It is a natural extension of the Syrian revolution in 2011.” 

Fueled in part by a financial crisis in neighboring Lebanon, Syria’s currency has hit all-time lows as the lira’s value came crashing to 3,000-to-one US dollar last week. The deepening currency collapse is just the latest hardship for the population, an estimated 83% of which lives beneath the poverty line.