WILLEM STAES

Willem Staes is a Middle East policy officer at 11.11.11, the coalition of NGOs, unions, movements and various solidarity groups in Flanders, Belgium, since 2016. He conducts research and policy work on the reconstruction of Syria, conditions for the return of Syrian internally displaced persons and refugees, and the role of Syrian civil society.

Together with Redhorse Reporter Roel Nollet, Willem went to Syria for ‘Rebuilding Raqqa’, a documentary about Ar-Raqqah, a city in northern Syria, that jihadist terror movement ISIS proclaimed to be their 'capital of the Caliphate'.

Willem Staes previously lived and worked in Turkey, Palestine and Egypt.