Passenger planes of the private Syrian airline Cham Wings on the tarmac of the closed Damascus International Airport, on Dec. 11, 2024. (Credit: Omar Haj Kadour/AFP)
The Syrian Interior Ministry has canceled travel bans issued under the regime of ousted President Bashar Assad, lifting restrictions on more than 5 million people, the ministry announced Sunday.
The decision covers travel bans linked to arrest warrants, legal case reviews, official notifications, and failures to appear for mandatory and reserve military service, the ministry said in a statement. In total, 5,164,000 bans have been revoked.
Previously, the ministry estimated that more than 8 million Syrians were on lists of individuals wanted by security and judicial authorities under the former regime. Khaled al-Abdallah, director of the ministry’s office, told The New Arab that the new government has already begun removing citizens from these lists, which were part of a broad crackdown by Assad’s regime. Some individuals, he added, were wanted specifically for using foreign currencies instead of the Syrian pound.
A welcome decision
According to Arab media, the travel ban lists were stored in an electronic system connected to the immigration and passport department, which allowed authorities to detain wanted individuals and transfer them to security agencies, the armed forces command, the national security office, or the regional command of Assad’s ruling Baath Party.
On social media, users welcomed the decision and expressed surprise at the sheer number of people who had been banned from traveling under Assad’s rule.
Syria’s new authorities have taken a series of steps to engage with both the public and the international community. Several international airlines have resumed flights over Syrian airspace following the takeover by Ahmad al-Sharaa.