“While Chancellor Friedrich Merz welcomes the leader of the Syrian Islamists as a state guest, Christian communities are being attacked in Syria. Amid his zeal for deporting people to Syria, Merz must not forget the plight of Christians in Syria,” emphasizes the STP’s Middle East consultant, Dr. Kamal Sido, on the occasion of al-Sharaa’s reception in Berlin. The STP also appeals to the major churches in Germany to advocate for the protection of persecuted religious minorities and to call on the federal government to rethink its Syria policy. The brutal attacks on Christians and other minorities by the Islamist regime of Ahmed al-Scharaa (Islamist nom de guerre: Mohammed al-Golani) must be stopped.
“The recognition of al-Sharaa as interim president and his state reception in Germany are a mockery of the victims of his regime. The German government must reconsider its cooperation with this regime; otherwise, it is supporting the crimes,” warns the human rights activist. “The Syrian Islamist government will continue its brutal attacks on minorities. It intends to Islamize the country by any means necessary and silence all those who advocate for the separation of religion and state.” At the beginning of the year, the Syrian Kurds, who had fought against the Islamic State (IS) for years, were faced with a cruel choice: to integrate into the ranks of the new government’s Islamist structures in Syria and disband, or to be brutally murdered. “The suppression of Kurdish autonomy in the north of the country seems to be encouraging the Islamists to launch new attacks on Christian communities,” said Sido. The pattern of attacks on minorities follows a set formula: First, there are provocations or fabricated pretexts that are used to legitimize attacks on those with different views and beliefs.
Attacks on Syrian Community in Sqailbiyya
Last Friday (March 27), the Christian community in the small Syrian town of Sqailbiyya was attacked. Homes, shops, cars, and property belonging to Christian residents were vandalized or set on fire by an Islamist mob. “The government in Damascus speaks of isolated incidents, but the attacks reveal a systematic pattern,” Sido emphasizes.
Sqailbiyya (also Al-Suqaylabiyah or As-Suqailabiyya) is a historically significant town in the central Syrian governorate of Hama. It lies on the edge of the fertile Ghab Plain and is one of the most important centers for Greek Orthodox Christians in the region. An estimated 18,000 to 20,000 people live in the city. The city’s most striking building is the Church of St. Peter and Paul. It was built in 1994 in the Neo-Byzantine style. The Hama Governorate is an important center of the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood.
The number of Christians in Syria has fallen dramatically since the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011. Before the war, approximately 1.5 to 2 million Christians lived in the country (about 10 percent of the population). Current estimates for the year 2026 suggest that there are still about 300,000 Christians in Syria. This represents only one to two percent of the total Syrian population and marks a decline of over 80 percent since 2011. Most Syrian Christians belong to the “Rum Orthodox Church” (officially: Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East). Worldwide, approximately 4.3 million people are said to belong to this ancient Eastern Church.
You can reach Dr. Kamal Sido by phone at 0173/6733980.
This press release was translated from German to English using AI. If you come across errors or ambiguities, please contact us at 65]G378o6DD6CA.
Contact: Dr. Kamal Sido, Middle East consultant