Speaking to CSI in early 2024 you said that the vast majority of Syrians were living below the poverty line. How is the situation now?
There are even more people living below the poverty line now. We have over a million new unemployed who have no income: members of the army and police units that have been dissolved, and 300,000 administrative employees who were dismissed by the new authorities immediately after the regime change [on December 8, 2024].
How did you react to the announcement by the U.S. that it intends to lift the economic sanctions imposed on Syria in 2011 following the Assad regime’s brutal suppression of popular protests?
My first reaction after the announcement by Trump that the sanctions will be lifted was great joy mixed with cautious optimism. First, because the president can only lift the sanctions decided by U.S. presidents by means of executive orders — there are eight of these. The other sanctions are laws, such as the Caesar Act, that were passed by Congress. The repeal of these sanctions is conditioned by many prerequisites, needs a majority vote from both chambers, and takes time. [N.B.: On May 23, the U.S. Treasury issued General License 25 “effectively lifting sanctions on Syria,” according to a press release. The Caesar Act is still law, but its enforcement has been suspended.]
You have said that the economic crisis is people’s biggest concern and the reason for them leaving Syria in droves. Do you anticipate that exodus will end with the lifting of the sanctions?
The reasons for the emigration have varied over time. From 2011 till 2024, the main reason for men was the fear of being called up for military service, which could last up to nine years; in addition, from 2011 until 2016, there was a danger of being killed by bombs or snipers, whether you were a civilian or a soldier. Then, after 2016, the main reason was the economic crisis caused by the sanctions and not seeing any hope of improvement.
Now, the first reason does not exist anymore since the new authorities abolished military service immediately on taking power, which caused huge relief among the population. However, the economic crisis is still present and even the most optimistic experts think that the economic situation will only improve three to five years after the sanctions have been lifted.
I should add that for many Christian people, the fear of the Islamization of the country is a new cause of emigration, most Christians not being willing to live under Sharia law.
Can you expand on these concerns?
I must admit that the new president Ahmed al-Sharaa [former al-Qaeda leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani] and the circle around him are no longer extremist Islamists; they want to impose a moderate Turkish-style Islamism, not an Afghan-style Islamism.
The new authorities are moderating their policy and thinking, in part due to international pressure. The big concern is the behavior of their warriors. Masked and dressed in black, these are young men, 20-25 years old, from Idlib province [stronghold of the jihadist HTS group, formerly led by al-Jolani] who lived there without any exposure to other religious or ethnic components of Syria. They were taught that only the Sunni people are good and all the others (Muslim Shia, Druze, Alawites and Christians) are “Kafir“ -infidels. Among these fighters, the worst are the foreigners – Uyghurs, Chechens, Pakistanis – who came to Syria to make jihad (holy war) and are committing the most abuses against the civilian population.
Although the Islamization of the country has not been officially proclaimed, these warriors are trying to apply it by imposing the separation of men and women in public spaces and in private cars, forbidding the wearing of short pants, etc…
Under the new government there have been major attacks on both the Alawite and the Druze religious minorities. Is there a fear among Christians that it will be their turn next?
No, fortunately, there is no fear among the Christians that they will be the next target of attacks after the Alawites in the coastal area and the Druzes. These two groups form a majority in their region and may be accused of seeking separation from Syria or at least self-government. This is not the case with Christians since we are not concentrated in one region (except in the area between Homs and Tartus) and we are small minorities in all the cities of Syria.
We are practicing our religion freely; the public Christian events during the Holy Week with processions in the streets took place without incident.
What are your personal hopes and concerns for the future?
Even though I don’t want to live in an Islamic state, I wish success to the new regime.
After 63 years of a despotic regime, Syrians aspire to live freely in a democracy, in a state of law where all citizens are equal and where human rights are respected.
However, we fear that an oligarchic tyranny could be replaced with an Islamist tyranny.
On the other hand, if the new regime fails, it will mean war between rival rebels factions, as in Libya, or a fragmentation of Syria into mini-confessional states.
My concern regarding al-Sharaa is that the words “freedom”, “sovereignty” and “equality” are repeated in his speeches but never the words “democracy,” “civil state” or “secular state.”
