The Druze and Alawites in Syria are afraid of an escalation of violence

The Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) is alarmed by the ongoing attacks on the Alawite people in the west of Syria and the religious community of the Druze in the south. Thus, the human rights organization is calling on the new German Federal Government and the Foreign Office to advocate for an end to the violence.

“In Syria, members of minority groups are in great fear that the violence against them will escalate even further. Since al-Sharaa took power, there has been an increase in targeted attacks against the Druze, Alawites, Christians, and Kurds. They are accusing the new ruler in Damascus of instigating these attacks,” stated Dr. Kamal Sido, the STP’s Middle East consultant, who is currently on a research visit to the region, in the course of which he also visited the Druze settlement areas in the south of the country.  

“The Druze heartland in the south of the country is in fact under siege from all sides. It is becoming increasingly difficult to bring food, medicine, petrol, and diesel into the region,” the Middle East consultant warned. “When I visited the Druze settlement areas at the beginning of April, the situation was still quite stable. However, Islamist forces attacked the Druze living in the south of Damascus at the end of April. Without weapons, the Druze women and children would have fallen into the hands of the Islamists.” According to estimates, at least 100 members of the Druze got killed in the attacks. Hundreds of Druze were wounded or are now missing.

The current attacks on the Druze were carried out under a false pretext. “The militias of the new Islamist government are responsible for this. The aim of the attacks is to break the resistance of the people against the establishment of an Islamist theocracy in Syria by al-Sharaa and his militias,” Sido explained.

The attacks against the Alawite minority in the west of the country are continuing as well. At least 30,000 people have been killed, tens of thousands were wounded, and tens of thousands more are missing. Around 1,000 Alawite women are said to have been abducted. There are fears that these women were enslaved or that they will be forcibly married to foreign Islamist fighters in the ranks of the Syrian militias.

“The new leaders in Syria are still aiming to establish an Islamist regime. The fact that a suspected war criminal and leader of an Islamist militia was appointed commander of an army division is a clear warning signal,” the human rights activists emphasized. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) in Great Britain, al-Sharaa appointed Ahmad Hassan Fayyad Al-Hayes, also known as Hatem Abu Shaqra, as head of an army division in the north-east of Syria. Among other things, the leader of the Islamist Ahrar-Al-Sharqiya militia is accused of personally carrying out the execution of Kurdish politician Havrin Khalaf and her companions on October 12, 2019, in the north-east of Syria – which is why he was placed on the United States sanctions list. “Many Kurds see the appointment of Al-Hayes as a declaration of war by the new Syrian government,” Sido reported.