Christian Syria. A Syrian Christian man holds up a cross and shouts slogans in Damascus, Syria, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024, during a protest march after a Christmas tree was set on fire in Hamah city. Hussein Malla/AP Photo
One of the oldest and largest Christian communities in the Middle East faces renewed threats in a cycle of violence that has forced millions of Christians to flee the region over the past half-century.
Although most of the thousand or so people reported killed in recent violence on the Syrian coast were Alawites — members of a Syrian religious minority which follows a branch of Shia'a Islam — rights groups say that Christians were also among those killed in a crackdown by the Sunni Muslim-led factions of Syria's new government.
"We are entering a dangerous new phase," Deputy Leader of the Assyrian Democratic Organization (ADO) Bashir al-Saadi, a Christian, told Newsweek. He warned of an escalating push toward hardline Islamic rule with crackdowns on alcohol sales and gender mixing.
"There is a fear of identity-based killings, not only for Christians but for other religious minorities as well... Christians face constant provocation, and there is a widespread sense of insecurity," he said.
Syria's leading churches — including the Greek Orthodox, Syriac Orthodox, and Melkite Greek Catholic communities — have expressed concern over the recent violence. While Christians were not the primary target, they remain vulnerable, with reports of extremists broadcasting jihadist messages in Christian neighborhoods and burning Christmas trees.
Newsweek has reached out to the Syrian government for comment.
Where Are Christians in the Middle East?
According to 2024 data from the International Christian Concern (ICC), an advocacy organization raising awareness about the persecution of Christians worldwide, the Christian populations of both Iraq and Syria have dwindled by approximately 75 to 85 percent over the past two decades, while the Palestinian Christian community is increasingly under threat, with Gaza's Christians facing near disappearance in the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Islamists Consolidate Power
Rights groups, such as the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), have reported that recent killings on the coast were carried out by forces linked to the Syrian government as they cracked down on supporters of ousted President Bashar al-Assad, who was toppled in December 2024.
Syria is now led by interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa of the Sunni Muslim Haya'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) rebel group, formerly the Al-Nusra Front, and proscribed as a terrorist group in the West.
Early on, he met with church leaders in a show of tolerance towards other religions. HTS also condemned the burning of a Christmas tree in Hama, central Syria. In a New Year's greeting message, Al-Shara'a said Christians are "an essential part of the fabric of Syrian society. The bond between the Syrian people, with its various components, reflects the strength of our unity and diversity," media reported.
But many Christians are worried at what they see as increasing Islamist influence. Father Rami Elias, a Syrian Orthodox Priest said al-Sharaa spoke of implementing a civil legislative governance but expressed uncertainty. "It is ambiguous — we cannot discern his true intentions," he was quoted as saying by the Catholic News Agency in January.
Syria's new leadership
While al-Sharaa's government established a fact-finding committee to investigate the recent violence, few arrests have been made.
Religious minorities also fear a constitutional declaration could usher in a new form of dictatorship without either meaningful political reforms or protections for minorities.
Al-Saadi, who accepted an invitation to join Syria's national dialogue in February, called it a "token participation." A political opponent of the former regime and a participant in the 2011 anti-Assad protests, he said that while past Syrian constitutions declared Islamic Sharia as the basis of law, the Assad family never enforced it, and religious freedom was greater during that time.
What People Are Saying
Deputy Official of the Assyrian Democratic Organization (ADO) Bashir al-Saadi told Newsweek: "There is a fear of identity-based killings, not only for Christians but for other religious minorities as well, because al-Sharaa dismisses their rights. The rhetoric of declaring others infidels, marginalization, and violence continues. No Syrian Christians have returned to the country since Assad's fall. Christians face constant provocation, and there is a widespread sense of insecurity."
Amnesty International: "The horrific images emerging from Syria's coast, with bodies lying in the streets and grieving families mourning their loved ones, are a grim reminder of the past cycles of atrocities Syrians have endured and risk inflaming sectarian tensions and fueling further deadly violence."
Mina Thabet, human rights defender and expert on minority issues told Newsweek: "As extremist Islamic groups continue to rise, the Christian exodus, which has accelerated since the Arab Spring, intensifies. The lack of democratic governance, political and civic spaces across much of the Middle East further endangers Christian communities who already struggle to find spaces that can voice their concerns. The absence of free and open political and civic spaces risks most efforts to combat extremist ideologies, limiting interventions to pure security approaches which in most cases fail to address root causes of the issues."
What Happens Next
The growing tensions and Islamist ascendancy in Syria raise the potential for increased departures of Christians from the country, as seen in other parts of the Middle East such as Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon and Palestinian territories.
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This story was originally published March 25, 2025 at 5:00 AM.