6Syria

The situation in Syria for Christians has grown more dire in the last year. Since the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024 – after ruling Syria for more than 50 years – the country has been controlled mainly by forces led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). This is an Islamic extremist group with roots in Al Qaeda. The group has made overtures towards moderation and held talks with representatives of Syria’s traditional Christian communities. Still, it is too soon to know what will come of the new leadership.

Since the regime change, widespread instability has led to deadly clashes that have affected other religious minorities, particularly Druze and Alawites, with Christians caught in the crossfire. The resurgence of military operations by the Islamic State group since October 2024 reinforces a sense of insecurity. These include a deadly attack on a church in Damascus in June 2025.

Meet Mourad

“The trauma of what happened hit us all hard. We have mixed feelings of anger and question why this had to happen again. We thought getting rid of the previous regime would give us some sense of freedom, yet it seems there are still people who only believe in killing.”

Mourad* (name changed). He is responsible for the work of Open Doors’ local partner in Syria, after the June 2025 Damascus church attack.

What does Open Doors do to help?

Open Doors works through local partners and churches in Syria to help strengthen believers by distributing Bibles and Christian literature, providing discipleship training, trauma care, relief aid, microloans, and other socioeconomic help.