Syria May Have Granted Citizenship To Ukrainian Jihadists

File image.

The Islamist-led Syrian Transitional Government (STG) may have begun to grant citizenship to foreign jihadists in secret.

The first evidence of the naturalization process surfaced on February 14, with a photo of a “statement of civil status” document that was granted by the Syrian Interior Ministry to a Ukrainian named “Abdullah”. The document was issued on October 22 of last year, and was valid until January 22.

Interestingly, the name of Abdullah’s father was listed as Pavel, or Pawel, his surname was listed as Ivleev, and the name of his mother was listed as Alexandra. His religion was also listed as Islam. All of this suggests that he was not born a Muslim, but converted to Islam.

A statement of civil status document is granted exclusively to Syrian nationals, to Palestinian refugees who were born in Syria, or to those who have applied for Syrian citizenship but are still in the process. It serves as an alternative to a national identity card for use in official transactions or for obtaining a passport.

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Thousands of foreign jihadists fought with the Islamist rebels who overthrow the regime of former president Bashar al-Assad late in 2024, then went on to establish the STG last year.

They were all quickly integrated into the new military and security forces, with many even holding some of the most senior positions.

Many of these jihadists came from Ukraine, Russia, Central Asian republics, and even from the Uyghur Xinjiang region of China.

The STG has not yet openly stated that it will grant Syrian citizenship to these jihadists, although they did make an appeal last year to get the citizenship.

In the appeal, submitted to Syria’s Interior Minister Anas Khattab by Islamist journalist Bilal Abdul Kareem, a citizen of the United States, in August, the Jihadists demanded Syrian citizenship so that they could settle down, own land and even travel aboard using Syrian passports.

There was no public response from the STG at the time. However, the document that leaked recently suggests that a naturalization process is ongoing, at least to some extent.

In addition to the thousands of the jihadists who were already present in Syria when the Assad regime fell, many more have been pouring into the country since.

During the government-led attack on al-Suwayda last July, two Russian jihadists were captured by Druze fighters. One of them arrived in Mary, while another arrived sometime between March and April earlier in the year. Both were quickly integrated into the new military.

Granting Syrian citizenship to foreign jihadists — who all adhere to the radical ideology of al-Qaeda and ISIS — is a serious threat to Syria, and even more so to other countries.

Within a few years, or maybe even months, these jihadists will be able to get Syrian passports, very possibly with different names. This will give them the ability to travel abroad undetected, and this, in turn, could fuel a whole new wave of global terrorism.

Syria has, without a doubt, turned the main global hub for jihadism under the rule of the STG, even beating Afghanistan which is far harder to reach.

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