An increasing number of Syrian rights activists and dissidents are being barred from leaving the country.
Abdel Razzaq Eid was first told he could not leave Syria after returning from a conference in Paris five years ago. He was interrogated by Syria’s military security for three days and then informed he would only be allowed to travel with special permission from the security establishment.
Two years later, Eid, a Syrian dissident, writer and thinker, encountered the wrath of Syria security again when he was prevented from traveling to Paris where he was due to undergo surgery for prostate cancer.
“They wouldn’t let me go,” Eid told The Media Line. “There was a widespread campaign with petitions in the media and on the Internet in Syria and in other Arab states, until they had to give me permission to have the surgery in March 2007.”
But the travel restrictions did not end there.
“There was a spate of arrests against the authors of the Damascus Declaration at the beginning of 2008,” he said. “I escaped the watchful eyes of the security and went with my wife to the Immigration and Passport Department to inquire whether I was officially barred from leaving the country. I found that my name was registered at the border crossings and that state security was preventing me from leaving.”
“I had to leave secretly through the mountainous border with Lebanon,” Eid continued. “I spent 50 difficult days with my family trying to leave Lebanon for Paris because Hezbollah controlled the airport. This was in April 2008. Since then I have lived in Paris.”
Eid’s ordeal reflects a recent trend by which Syrian dissidents or suspected activists are being barred from leaving the country, effectively making it more difficult for their voices to be heard.
According to the Arab Organization for Human Rights in Syria (AOHRS), the number of people being blocked from leaving Syria is on a steady rise, especially in the last few months.
“Every day new people affected by this are contacting the organization,” the AOHRS said. “There are estimations that the number of people who are barred from leaving Syria has reached tens of thousands.”
“No one knows what standard or basis is applied for barring them,” the organization said. “It appears that the security establishment is not settling just for the activists but is also setting out against some of their friends and in some cases, friends of friends, neighbors and so forth. Many of these people need to travel for health reasons, family reasons, for business or for livelihood in order to support their families.”
The organization said that dozens of activists are being barred arbitrarily and in many cases they know nothing of directives against them until they reach the border or try to renew a passport, at which point they are referred to security.
Farid Ghadry, President of the Washington-based Syrian Reform Party said the motive behind this was most likely fear.
“Assad knows there is a plan to oust him from power,” he told The Media Line. “Syrians who do not support the regime and are active politically are barred from traveling, just so they do not get training or information to help with the process.”
“[Assad] very much fears the influence democratic nations could have on his fledgling regime when he threatens the world with WMD, as he has tried with Al-Kibar plant,” Ghadry explained. “Assad’s Achilles’ heel is the Syrian people who are waiting for the right opportunity to spring into action the way Iranians have in the past few months.”
Nadim Shehadi, an associate fellow at the Middle East and North Africa program at Chatham House said banning dissidents is a routine practice in Syria.
“Sometimes there is speculation that it is related to regime security and confidence,” he told The Media Line. “When the regime is secure and confident, they clamp down. When the regime feels insecure…they also clamp down.”
Shehadi noted that the treatment of Kurds, who are a minority in Syria, had also worsened recently.
“The regime just likes to remind them from time to time that they are not off the hook,” he said.
Ahed Al-Hendi, a Syrian activist with Cyber Dissidents, said the increased barring of traveling was also due to the rise in the number of people engaged in dissident activity.
“More activists are getting involved in civil society in Syria, and many foundations are offering training abroad for Syrian activists,” he told The Media Line. “The regime doesn’t want Syrian activists to be trained and to have any kind of workshops that improve their skills in activism.”
“In addition to that, many Syrian dissidents and activists are held hostage in the country and they could be arrested at any time, so the regime doesn’t want them to go out and be freed,” Al-Hendi added. “This tactic has been used by many totalitarian regimes in the past.”
Walid Saffour, from the UK-based Syrian Human Rights Committee (SHRC) said the policy of the Syrian authorities is to punish all citizens who express different points of view.
“Now they feel they are at ease from the Western pressure, therefore they apply further pressure on such citizens,” he said. “The Syrian authorities are afraid of the mounting voices calling for change, for democracy and plurality.”
According to SHRC’s records, many people were barred from leaving Syria throughout 2009, either at Damascus International Airport or at the borders with Jordan and Lebanon.
“All of them are either human rights activists, journalists or activists in general affairs,” Saffour told The Media Line.
Ammar Qurabi, chairman of the National Organization for Human Rights in Syria said banning travel is a low-level punishment and also serves as a warning to activists.
“It’s easy to ban people as a warning from the authorities to the activists,” he said. “They dislike any communication between inside of Syria and outside of Syria, be it with the Syrian opposition, foreigners or the media.”