3 days ago
Islamist fighters sign a petition to obtain Syrian citizenship
Foreign fighters who participated in the Syrian civil war have recently requested Syrian citizenship from the new Islamist government in Damascus, arguing that they have earned it for the role they played in seizing power alongside the rebels who overthrew former leader Bashar al-Assad last December, Reuters reports.
The fate of foreign fighters has been uncertain since Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) took power, as few states are willing to host these individuals, often considered extremists, and whom Syrians themselves distrust.
Many fighters and their families, as well as others, including humanitarian workers and journalists who joined the rebels, do not have proper documentation. Some have been stripped of their original nationality and fear long prison sentences or even death in their home countries. However, granting them Syrian citizenship could harm Syria's relations with the foreign states in question, even as the new Syrian government seeks their support for unifying and rebuilding a country devastated by war and shaken by sectarian massacres, the agency notes.
A petition submitted Thursday to the Syrian Ministry of Interior argues that foreigners should be granted Syrian citizenship so they can settle, own land, and even travel. 'We have shared bread, we have shared pain, and we have shared the hope of a free and just future for Syria… Yet, for us, the muhajireen (emigrants), our status remains uncertain,' the letter reads. 'We respectfully request that the Syrian leaders, with wisdom, insight and fraternity, grant us full Syrian citizenship and the right to hold a Syrian passport,' it continues.
The letter was submitted to the ministry by Bilal Abdel Karim, an American actor turned war journalist who has been living in Syria since 2012 and is a prominent figure among foreign Islamists in the country. He stated that the petition aims to help thousands of foreigners from more than a dozen countries. These include Egyptians, Saudis, Lebanese, Pakistanis, Indonesians and Maldivians, as well as British, German, French, American, Canadian and people of Chechen and Uyghur origin.
It was not possible to determine how many people supported the petition for citizenship, but three foreigners in Syria — a Briton, a Uyghur and a Frenchman — confirmed that they had. A spokesperson for the Syrian Ministry of Interior said that it is up to the Syrian presidency to decide on the issue of foreign citizenship.
In the weeks following his rise to power, interim president Ahmad al-Sharaa, a former HTS leader, stated that foreign fighters and their families could obtain Syrian citizenship, but no public information has been provided on the matter since.
