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Country of Origin Information Report Syria June 2021

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Country of Origin Information Report Syria June 2021 Country of origin information report Syria June 2021 Page 1 of 102 Country of origin information report Syria | June 2021 Publication details City The Hague Assembled by Country of Origin Information Reports Section (DAF/AB) Disclaimer: The Dutch version of this report is leading. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands cannot be held accountable for misinterpretations based on the English version of the report. Page 2 of 102 Country of origin information report Syria | June 2021 Table of contents Publication details ............................................................................................2 Table of contents ..........................................................................................3 Introduction ....................................................................................................5 1 Political and security situation .................................................................... 6 1.1 Political and administrative developments ...........................................................6 1.1.1 Government-held areas ....................................................................................6 1.1.2 Areas not under government control. ............................................................... 11 1.1.3 COVID-19 ..................................................................................................... 13 1.2 Armed groups ............................................................................................... 13 1.2.1 Government forces ........................................................................................ 14 1.2.2 Security services in areas under Syrian government control ................................ 14 1.2.3 Security services in areas under the control of other groups ............................... 16 1.2.4 IS ................................................................................................................ 17 1.3 The security situation ..................................................................................... 17 1.3.1 North-west (Tartous, Latakia, Idlib, Aleppo) ...................................................... 21 1.3.2 North-east (Raqqa, Hasaka, Deir ez-Zor) .......................................................... 25 1.3.3 Central (Hama, Homs, Damascus, Rif Dimashq) ................................................ 27 1.3.4 South-west (Quneitra, Daraa, Sweida) ............................................................. 28 1.3.5 Reconciliation agreements .............................................................................. 31 1.3.6 Civilian casualties .......................................................................................... 32 1.3.7 Freedom of movement ................................................................................... 33 1.4 Military service .............................................................................................. 36 1.4.1 Legislation and regulations regarding military service ......................................... 37 1.4.2 Reservists ..................................................................................................... 38 1.4.3 Length of and discharge from military service ................................................... 39 1.4.4 Conscripts from former opposition territory and conscripts who left Syria illegally .. 39 1.4.5 Deferral and exemptions ................................................................................ 40 1.4.6 Buyout options .............................................................................................. 41 1.4.7 Evasion of military service and desertion .......................................................... 41 1.4.8 SDF ............................................................................................................. 42 1.5 Recruitment of minors .................................................................................... 43 2 Identity, nationality and documents .......................................................... 46 2.1 Identification obligation and identifying documents ............................................ 46 2.2 Documents ................................................................................................... 47 2.2.1 The passport ................................................................................................. 47 2.2.2 Identity cards ............................................................................................... 48 2.2.3 Personal status ............................................................................................. 48 2.2.4 Document fraud ............................................................................................ 52 2.3 Nationality .................................................................................................... 53 3 Human rights ............................................................................................. 55 3.1 Introduction .................................................................................................. 55 3.2 Judicial process ............................................................................................. 55 3.3 Compliance and violations .............................................................................. 58 3.3.1 Freedom of expression ................................................................................... 59 3.3.2 Freedom of religion and belief ......................................................................... 61 3.3.3 Arrests, custody and detentions ...................................................................... 62 Page 3 of 102 3.3.4 Disappearances and abductions ....................................................................... 66 3.3.5 Maltreatment and torture ............................................................................... 70 3.3.6 Extrajudicial executions and killings ................................................................. 71 3.3.7 The death penalty.......................................................................................... 74 3.4 Position of specific groups ............................................................................... 74 3.4.1 General ........................................................................................................ 74 3.4.2 Members of opposition parties/political activists ................................................ 75 3.4.3 Journalists and human rights activists .............................................................. 76 3.4.4 Health workers and members of the civil defence .............................................. 78 3.4.5 Palestinians in Syria ....................................................................................... 79 3.4.6 Stateless Kurds ............................................................................................. 80 3.4.7 Conscripts, conscientious objectors and deserters .............................................. 80 3.4.8 LGBT ........................................................................................................... 81 3.4.9 Women ........................................................................................................ 82 3.4.10 Minors, including unaccompanied minors .......................................................... 84 4 Refugees and internally displaced persons ................................................ 87 4.1 Internally displaced persons ............................................................................ 87 4.2 Refugees ...................................................................................................... 88 4.3 Repatriation .................................................................................................. 88 4.3.1 UNHCR’s position ........................................................................................... 95 5 Annexes..................................................................................................... 96 5.1 Sources consulted ......................................................................................... 96 5.2 Map of Syria ............................................................................................... 102 Page 4 of 102 Country of origin information report Syria | June 2021 Introduction This country of origin information report is based on the questions and points of focus in the Terms of Reference (ToR) drawn up by the Ministry of Justice and Security. The ToR for this report was adopted on 14 December 2020. An anonymised version of it, together with the country of origin information report, is available on the website of the Dutch Government. This country of origin information report describes the situation in Syria insofar as this is important for the assessment of asylum applications from persons originating from this country, and for decision- making regarding the repatriation of rejected Syrian asylum seekers. It is an update of the country of origin information report of May 2020 and supplements the thematic country of origin information report on documents in Syria of December 2019 regarding certain points.1 The report covers the period from June 2020 to April 2021. Developments of relevance for answering the questions asked in the ToR have been taken into account in outline up to the date of publication. This report is a factual, neutral and objective representation of the findings for the period under consideration and does not offer
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