SYRIA: Mass emigration and displacement in Holeb (Aleppo) causes Syriac, Armenian, and other Christian population to drastically decline from 36% to 4%

HOLEB, Syria — Since the beginning of the uprising against the Syrian Ba’ath regime and the subsequent war in Syria from 2011 onwards, Holeb (Aleppo) has experienced mass emigration and displacement of Christian communities of various Syriac denominations, Armenians, and Catholics. The exodus increased after armed opposition factions took control of neighborhoods in the city. According to North Press Agency citing research conducted in 2020 by the Arab Reform Initiative, the percentage of Oriental and other Christians has decreased from 36% to only 4%.

One of the main causes of emigration by Syriacs, Armenians, and other Christian communities was the dramatic insecurity and widespread aggression against minority peoples by armed factions and extremist militias during the war in the city, the continuing dire economic and living conditions, and the inability of the Syrian Ba’ath regime which has taken over full control of the city to provide a decent livelihood for its population. The fear is that the once thriving and multicultural city will be completely without Christian peoples in the near future if conditions remain as they are under the regime. This fear extends to many other minority and Christian communities throughout the country.

Holeb neighborhoods, like the old-town of al-Jdayde, Sulaimaniyah, Awjat Jub, Midan, Aziziya, Siryan Qadima, Siryan Jadida, Bawabt Qasab, and Telal, were almost entirely Christian, with tens of Armenian and Syriac Christian churches and schools. Now, almost no Syriacs, Armenians, and other Christian communities remain.

Read More: The bishop that Syria still goes without by Alfred Hackensberger

In related news, videos released by media sites belonging to the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) revealed the use of internationally outlawed weapons and the shelling of citizens’ homes and farms in the city of Tel Rifaat and Mabbug (Manbij). The videos show SNA fighters shelling the town of Tel Rifaat with rockets, causing material damage and threatening the lives of civilian children and women in the area.

For the article in Arabic, see SyriacPress Arabic