A new wave of violence is spreading over Syria, mainly targeting the Alawite minority, a branch of Shia Islam. Over a thousand people, most of them civilians, have been killed in the past seven days. While fake reports of Christians being killed have circulated on social media, we can only confirm the death of a father and a son killed for being Christians on Thursday, 6 March.
Christians are scared amid the violence. On Sunday, 9 March, many churches didn’t have their Sunday masses or church services. One Christian from the area says she is afraid that a period of revenge and terror might begin, as the violence reminds the many traumatised Syrians of the horrifying ISIS atrocities. “All Christians I know, now want to leave the country,” one of our sources shares.
Fighting broke out on Thursday, 6 March in Alawite-majority areas in the western coastal area of Syria. The former president al-Assad belonged to the Alawite-minority in Syria. Supporters of the old regime took up arms and attacked the security forces of the new regime, killing several of them. Syria’s new leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, sent re-enforcements to the area to end the violence.
Statement of Patriarchs
The three patriarchs of the biggest churches in Syria made a joint statement on the violence on Saturday, 8 March. “In recent days, Syria has witnessed a dangerous escalation of violence, brutality, and killings, resulting in attacks on innocent civilians, including women and children. Homes have been violated, their sanctity disregarded, and properties looted—scenes that starkly reflect the immense suffering endured by the Syrian people,” they wrote.
“The Christian Churches, while strongly condemning any act that threatens civil peace, denounce and condemn the massacres targeting innocent civilians, and call for an immediate end to these horrific acts, which stand in stark opposition to all human and moral values.”
The church leaders asked for “creation of conditions conducive to achieving national reconciliation among the Syrian people.” They ask for a “state that respects all its citizens” based on “equal citizenship and genuine partnership, free from the logic of vengeance and exclusion.”
They also stress that they stand for “the unity of Syrian territory and reject any attempts to divide it.” The statement is signed by the Greek Orthodox Patriarch John X, Mor Ignatius Aphrem II, Patriarch of the Syriac Orthodox church, and Patriarch Youssef Absi of the Melkite Greek Catholic church.
‘Extremely disturbing’
In a press release on Sunday, Volker Türk, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, stated, “Following a series of coordinated attacks reportedly launched by elements of the former government and other local armed men, we are receiving extremely disturbing reports of entire families, including women, children, and hors de combat fighters, being killed. There are reports of summary executions on a sectarian basis by unidentified perpetrators, by members of the caretaker authorities’ security forces, as well as by elements associated with the former government.”
He calls for “prompt, transparent and impartial investigations into all the killings and other violations, and those responsible must be held to account, in line with international law norms and standards. Groups terrorising civilians must also be held accountable.”
Open Doors calls for prayer for the situation in Syria.
Pray for Syria
- Please pray the recent violence will not be the starting point of another civil war in the country that has suffered so much in the past fourteen years.
- Pray for justice to be done, and pray the killing of innocent people will stop.
- Pray also for the protection of our brothers and sisters in Syria, that this situation will not lead to another exodus of Christians from Syria.
Stay updated with the latest prayer requests from the persecuted church.
