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Damascus – The Syrian Network for Human Rights:
The European Union Asylum Agency has issued its Interim Country Guidelines for Syria. The report provides a comprehensive assessment of the current situation in the country following the political transformations that followed the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime, based on information available up to March 2025.
The report relied on multiple human rights sources, most notably the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the Syrian Network for Human Rights, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), and Human Rights Watch, in addition to a number of other local and international organizations, as well as newspapers and media outlets.
SNHR reviewed the 73-page report, which summarizes its key contents below:
The report indicated radical changes in the power structure in Syria, with armed factions led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham seizing control of the capital, Damascus, and major cities. A transitional government headed by Ahmed al-Sharaa was announced. The 2012 constitution was abolished, and institutions of the former regime, including the army and security services, were dissolved. A five-year transitional period was declared, including the drafting of a new constitution and the formation of a transitional government composed of 23 ministers, some of whom include representatives of religious and ethnic minorities. However, the majority of the government remains in the hands of figures affiliated with Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham.
The report noted new waves of displacement. The UN estimates that more than 1.1 million people have been internally displaced since the offensive began in November 2024, while the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) reached approximately 1.2 million by May 2025. More than 480,000 refugees have returned from abroad, most of them from Lebanon and Turkey. However, conditions for return remain precarious, with returnees facing a lack of basic services, a lack of legal and security guarantees, and difficulties in obtaining official property and housing documents. UNHCR confirms that Syria remains unprepared for safe, voluntary, and dignified return and recommends against forced returns to any area of the country.
The report emphasized that the perpetrators of persecution are no longer limited to the former regime, but include the Transitional Administration, the Syrian Democratic Forces, the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army, ISIS, and local actors such as militias, tribes, and irregular armed groups. These actors have committed widespread violations, including arbitrary arrest, enforced disappearance, torture, extrajudicial killings, extortion, and looting of property. The report noted the continued killings and arrests of those suspected of belonging to or collaborating with the former regime. The Syrian Network for Human Rights also documented summary executions in March 2025, most of them against civilians on the Syrian coast.
The report also indicated that journalists and human rights defenders remain subject to persecution, particularly by the Syrian Democratic Forces, the National Army, and ISIS, groups that have shown no change in their stance on civil liberties. As for the transitional administration, there is not yet sufficient data available to determine its position on this group, according to the report.
The report revealed that women and girls suffer from multiple violations, including forced marriage, sexual violence, legal and social discrimination, and deprivation of healthcare and education. According to the Syrian Network for Human Rights, these violations are committed by armed groups and within families, with victims denied protection or access to justice, increasing their social and legal vulnerability amid the disintegration of state institutions. Children face serious threats, including forced recruitment by militias, especially in areas controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), physical and psychological abuse, early marriage, forced labor, and exposure to death or injury as a result of attacks or mines. The report documented the continued recruitment of children by the Revolutionary Youth Movement, affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
The report noted that the Syrian Network for Human Rights continues to document cases of killing under torture, poor prison conditions, and the absence of fair trials, making detention centers hotbeds of systematic violations against detainees.
The report concluded by emphasizing the lack of effective protection in Syria. The transitional administration cannot be considered a provider of protection according to international standards, given its unclear human rights record and the ongoing violations in its areas of influence. Furthermore, the possibility of providing an internal alternative to protection in Damascus, for example, remains extremely limited and applies only in exceptional circumstances. The agency emphasizes that the condition of “the disappearance of the reasons for asylum” does not yet apply to the Syrian situation, and that the risk of persecution remains in the post-regime phase, especially for specific groups such as journalists, women, children, and those suspected of belonging to any party to the conflict.
It is worth noting that the Syrian Network for Human Rights has, over the past years, been a primary source for the European Union Asylum Agency regarding the human rights situation in Syria, thanks to its daily work in monitoring and documenting various types of violations and archiving them in its database. This provides statistics based on cumulative data that accurately reflect the extent and continuity of violations.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights affirms its commitment to continuing cooperation and coordination with UN and international bodies, by providing them with data and information that contributes to strengthening victims’ rights and exposing perpetrators of violations.
To view the full EU Asylum Agency report, please visit the link.
