2025-03-25T21:59:34+00:00
font
Enable Reading Mode
A- A A+
Shafaq News/ On Tuesday, Syria’s newly appointed civil affairs chief, Abdullah Abdullah, announced that the transitional government, led by President Ahmad Al-Sharaa, will soon begin revoking the citizenship granted by former President Bashar al-Assad to foreign fighters.
The decision targets those who obtained Syrian nationality for political or military reasons, particularly individuals who fought in the country’s civil war since the 2011 uprising, Abdullah stated. However, the process will take time as authorities work to restore the damaged civil registry database.
“The decision will not apply to those who acquired citizenship through legal means, such as marriage to Syrian nationals,” he clarified.
According to Abdullah, most foreign fighters naturalized under Al-Assad have since fled Syria, with Iraq believed to be their primary destination. He acknowledged that providing an exact figure remains difficult.
Reports estimate that Al-Assad granted citizenship to between 20,000 and 740,000 foreign fighters, many recruited under the supervision of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Since 2011, local sources have documented the regime’s recruitment of thousands of combatants from Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Lebanon.
In 2015, Al-Assad famously declared that “Syria belongs to those who defend it,” paving the way for the naturalization of foreign fighters and granting them special privileges, including the right to purchase property in Damascus.