USCIRF Releases Report on Religious Freedom and U.S. Policy in Post-Assad Syria

USCIRF Releases Report on Religious Freedom and U.S. Policy in Post-Assad Syria

Washington, DC – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today released the following report: 

Religious Freedom and U.S. Policy in Post-Assad Syria – At the end of 2024, over 13 years since the onset of Syria’s protracted civil war, the country’s political landscape dramatically shifted when a coalition of Islamist rebels toppled the government of President Bashar al-Assad. Since then, religious freedom remains under threat from a variety of actors, including loyalists to the transitional authorities, who have targeted civilians with mass sectarian attacks. This policy update provides an overview of religious freedom conditions since the fall of Assad, refining USCIRF’s most recent policy recommendations to the U.S. government to address Syria’s rapidly evolving religious freedom conditions.

In its 2025 Annual Report, USCIRF recommended that the U.S. Department of State name Syria to the Special Watch List for state violators of severe abuses of religious freedom, pursuant to the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA). In May, a USCIRF Spotlight Podcast episode highlighted ongoing threats to religious communities in post-Assad Syria, and the 2022 Factsheet on Religious Freedom in Syria Under HTS examined the U.S.-designated terrorist group’s abuses of religious freedom in the rebel territory it held before it led the overthrow of the Assad regime. 

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The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is an independent, bipartisan legislative branch agency established by the U.S. Congress to monitor, analyze, and report on religious freedom abroad. USCIRF makes foreign policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State, and Congress intended to deter religious persecution and promote freedom of religion and belief. To interview a Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at [email protected].