The remaining Christians under the rule of “Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham”… Horror without holidays and occasions and deprivation of the most basic rights of living

Yamen Al Khaled – Idlib / Aso News Network
Translated by: Hejar Abo
Christians (Syriacs, Chaldo-Assyrians, and Romans), along with the rest of the components in Syria, form part of the social fabric in Syria. This diversity includes the regions of northern Syria, where the Christian presence is old. Currently, although there are no official and accurate figures and statistics for the percentage of Christians in northern Syria, unofficial figures suggest that their number was about 20,000 people before 2015, distributed in the city of Idlib and its countryside, but in 2015 and after the control of extremist jihadist groups over Idlib and its countryside, a wave of displacement and emigration of thousands of Christians began, and their current number is estimated at only 400 people.

forced migration journey
The departure and emigration of Christians from Idlib began after the control of what was known as the “Jayish al-Fateh” in 2015, an organization comprising many hard-line factions, following the departure of the region from the control of the Syrian regime. Then thousands of Christians went out fearing on the their lives from violations expected to be committed against them as they were a religious minority, in the absence of any guarantee of their survival among radical factions carrying an extremist ideology, where the armed factions view Christians as “infidels”.

After the forced migration and displacement of Christians from Idlib and its countryside, Jayish al-Fateh seized their private properties, including homes, shops and agricultural lands, to give them later to those who were called “immigrants” who had settled in the area, and they are a class of hard-line jihadists of different nationalities, who entered Syria after the crisis and participated in the conflict, and most of them arrived in Syria after the facilities provided to them from Turkey, across the Turkish-Syrian border.
The violation of Christians included most of the other minorities in Idlib and its countryside, such as the Druze, Alawites and Kurds.

Survival in coercive conditions and conversion of sanctuaries for commercial uses
The Christian presence in northern Syria today represents a large proportion of the elderly, and some young men, and in total the number of the remaining present does not exceed 400 people, who are currently distributed within one neighborhood of Idlib city, and inside the neighborhood there is a church called the “Church of the Virgin” established by the “Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham” (formerly Jabhat Al-Nusra) leased part of it for the benefit of a person from the countryside of Damascus, who turned part of the church into a shop selling home furniture, and part of the Christians are also distributed in small villages in the Jisr Al-Shughur area in the western Idlib countryside (the villages of Al-Ghassaniyah, Al-Yaqoubia and Al-Qaniya). They are Christian villages, but now most of the houses have been seized and are inhabited by people affiliated with Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra), and jihadists of different nationalities such as Morocco and the Gulf states.

After Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham managed in 2018 to expel several factions that shared control over Idlib and its countryside in a body called “Jayish al-Fateh,” such as the factions of “Ahrar al-Sham Islamic Movement,” “Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement,” “Suqur al-Sham,” and others. It was unique in controlling the region, and here it began to tighten the noose more on all religious minorities, including Christians, and began to deprive them of receiving humanitarian aid, by preventing humanitarian organizations from reaching and helping them in the villages of the western countryside of Idlib, while in the neighborhood in which they live inside the city of Idlib, it is forbidden even to journalists from covering the conditions of this neighborhood, and no media activity targeting them is allowed, at the same time that the scene is not free from Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham’s attempt to show itself in the media as protecting and sponsoring Christians from time to time, but the truth is that they live in harsh conditions of marginalisation and persecution and deprivation of the most basic rights in addition to violations targeting their historical presence in the region.

The majority of Christians in Idlib and its countryside, especially the western countryside, work in agriculture, and it includes fruit trees such as olives, pomegranates and citrus fruits, where HTS imposes “zakat on fruits” on farmers, and this zakat is imposed on non-Christians as well, and it is received by the affiliated “Zakat Authority” For the Salvation Government (the civil wing of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham – formerly Jabhat al-Nusra), where the value of taxes collected under the pretext of zakat is (2.5) percent (for example, if the total value of the crop is a thousand dollars, then 25 dollars is taken as zakat) of the total crop for each season, and the bulk of these taxes go, according to exclusive information to Aso News Network, to senior employees of the Salvation Government of “Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham” and to its military leaders.

Absence of wedding ceremonies and occasions
Christians in Syria used to celebrate their holidays and occasions, especially the celebration of the New Year every year, and Idlib and its countryside witnessed in the past the Christians’ celebration of their occasions and the revival of their rituals, and their occasions such as decorating trees, ringing bells and celebrating with relatives, but after the control of “Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham” over Idlib, they were absented from such atmospheres and celebrations, due to their fear on their lives and the fear of being arrested, and local sources told Aso News Network that the villages in which Christian families live in the western countryside of Idlib did not witness any manifestations of celebration, and the ceremonies were limited to congratulating relatives residing outside Syria through social media, and contentment with narrow visits to relatives and neighbors to congratulate on New Year’s, but with caution and fear of the authority of “Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham”).

In his speech to Aso News Network, human rights activist “Khaled al-Ali” (a pseudonym for a journalist in Idlib who preferred to remain anonymous for security reasons) says that all human norms grant a person the freedom to practice his religious rituals, such as holidays, private prayers, and societal customs, “No any forces have the right to prevent human groups from practicing their religious and intellectual rituals, and in Syria every person must live within the framework of freedoms. Christians are part of Syria, and they have all rights, but this is not understood by extremist groups that build themselves on a strict radical base targeting human rights and minorities in the Syrian society, and trying to melt everyone into the crucible of its strange thought about Syrian society.”

The “Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham” had allowed the holding of ceremonies for Christians in the village of al-Ghassaniyah in the western countryside of Idlib in 2020, but it returned and banned the holidays. Khaled al-Ali says: “Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham allowed the celebrations, decorating trees and photographing the celebration, and instructed journalists to cover the celebration, but it returned to prevent it.”
He continues, “Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham has tried, during the past two years, to show that it operates in a civilian nature, but the truth is contrary to that.”

From the point of view of journalist Khaled al-Ali, Syria at the present time and in the future should be for all its citizens, and he expresses his regret for what is happening in Idlib under the control of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, which gives a bad perception of the opposition areas, as he said. Al-Ali says: “Christians are marginalized in Idlib and violations occur against them. They are deprived of celebrations and the practice of their religious rites. They are clearly marginalized by the local authorities, and they are not granted their full rights within their villages and towns. Unfortunately, this includes the majority of minorities.”

“Abbas Al-Ahmad,” a displaced person from the southern countryside of Idlib and residing in the village of Al-Yaqoubia in the western countryside of Idlib (preferring not to reveal his real name for security reasons), told Aso News Network that the atmosphere of the New Year for this year lacked symbolism for the Christians of the village, ” the village did not witness any religious ceremonies, with the exception of simple decorations on the doors of some houses, in order not to reveal the rituals, as publicizing them may cost their owners arrest by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham.”

Jihadists settle Christian homes
In the village of Al-Yaqoubia in the western countryside of Idlib, the original Christian population used to live their lives with its rituals, joys and sorrows, but the village, as described by “Abbas Al-Ahmad”, lives today at the mercy of jihadists of different nationalities, some of whom are defectors from “Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham”, and they are known for their extremism. More than “Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham” itself, so their hard-line mind and presence in the village prevents Christians from their religious freedom, despite the fact that the number of Christians does not exceed tens of people, after many of them were displaced and their homes and agricultural lands were seized. Some jihadists plant it and steal its crops.

The geographical distribution of the remaining Christians in Idlib and its countryside
The geographical areas inhabited by the remaining Christians in Idlib and its countryside are distributed as follows:
There are about 70 Christians in the city of Idlib, and this is an approximate number due to the lack of official statistics, obtained by Aso News Network from field sources on the ground. Most sources indicate that the number of Christians in Idlib and its countryside does not exceed 400.

Christians live in the neighborhood in which they reside in Idlib, historically, and it is considered one of the oldest neighborhoods in the city, and its residents migrated after the control of “Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham” to various countries in Europe and to Turkey, Lebanon and others, and some of them went internally to areas under the control of the Syrian government.

The remaining Christians constitute a large segment of the elderly, as they decided to stay on the grounds that “Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham” will not be exposed to them and does not pose a threat to them, but most of them pay the tribute imposed on them by “Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham”, and they also suffer marginalization in terms of service. In the Christian neighborhood and their villages, services are absent from the local authorities, in addition to the absence of support from humanitarian organizations, and they are prevented from granting press permits to any journalist or covering their living conditions.

As for the only church in the neighborhood, which was established in 1886 during the “Ottoman Caliphate”, it contained beautiful and civilized art and paintings, in addition to a cemetery on its western outskirts, but with the entry of the extremist factions into the city represented by what is known as the “Jayish al-Fateh” in 2015 and its control over it completely, the church was vandalized and its furniture and archaeological contents were stolen. During the battles, it was subjected to several air strikes by the Syrian regime and Russia, which caused the demolition of part of it, and since 2015, the church has been completely suspended, prayers are not held and its bells are not ringing, and “Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham” proceeded to allowing Christians to perform their prayers in their homes without publicizing them. As for the church, part of it is currently being invested as a commercial store, and its revenues are being stolen by the Commission.

It is worth noting that religious minorities in Idlib regions and its countryside, including Christians and Druze, suffer from violations and deprivation of the most basic rights, and their villages and towns suffer from the absence of all services and their lack of access to humanitarian aid, and they are prevented from practicing the rites and ceremonies of their religions by “Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham”. Which controls all the outlets of life in the region.