Political activists, Assad-opposition party members, protesters, and civilians originating from areas associated with opposition by the Assad regime

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COMMON ANALYSIS
Last update: June 2025

Individuals under this sub-profile had been subjected to persecution by the Assad regime (e.g. detention, torture, killing). As mentioned above, the risk related to the Assad regime has vanished.

Nevertheless, depending on the topics they advocate for, some political activists and protesters could potentially be seen as critical by the Transitional Administration and/or other actors such as the SDF [see for example Country Focus 2025, 4.3].

Should a well-founded fear of persecution be substantiated for applicants under this sub‑profile, this would highly likely be for reasons of (imputed) political opinion.

For practical guidance on how to assess claims related to political opinion, including sur place claims and claims based on social media activities, please refer to ‘EUAA jointly with Member States, Practical Guide on Political Opinion, December 2022’, and to ‘EUAA, Practical Guide on Evidence and Risk Assessment, January 2024', Publications on social media, pp.118-120.

Also, the CJEU has ruled in ‘CJEU, S and A v Staatssecretaris van Veiligheid en Justitie, C-151/22, Third Chamber, judgment of 21 September 2023’ (1) on the assessment of the well-founded fear of persecution on account of political opinions developed in the host Member State.

See other topics concerning 'Persons perceived to have opposed the Assad regime':