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The fate of 50 women from the Alawite religious minority remains unknown after they disappeared under mysterious circumstances since the beginning of the year, in a series of different incidents in several Syrian governorates, including Homs, Tartous, Lattakia, and Hama, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights warned in a report released on April 18.
The disappearances caused widespread concern, especially amid rising violence, crime, and the lack of deterring law, the London-based monitoring group said.
The Alawites are Syria’s largest minority. The family of former president Bashar al-Assad belongs to the group. Due to this Alawites have been facing increasing violation by the forces of the Islamist-led interim government since the fall of the regime.
According to SOHR, the women were kidnapped in different circumstances, some of which vanished from their own houses, while others disappeared while going to work.
No group has officially or unofficially claimed responsibility, and the identity of those behind the disappearances remains unknown.
The government has not yet addressed the disappearances and it’s unclear if any of the ceases were being investigated.
Alawite activists warned that the women may have been taken to other parts of Syria to be sold as “Sbaya, the Islamic term for female sex slaves.
More than 1,600 civilians, mostly Alawites, were killed during a government crackdown on the coast that began on March 6. After facing international pressure, the government announced that all operations on the coast were over by March 10 and formed an investigation committee.
The killings displaced more than 20,000 Alawites to northern and eastern Lebanon with around 10,000 others taking shelter at Russia’s Khmeimim Air Base near the city of Jableh in the southern countryside of Latakia. The numbers of refugees continue to grow.
War monitors and activists have repeatedly warned since the crackdown that Alawite civilians were still being targeted by government forces.
On April 15, SOHR said that 42 Alawites lost their lives due to sectarian violence blamed on government forces in the past two weeks, with incidents occurring from Latakia to Tartus and extending to Hama and Homs.
So far, the government has shown no interest in addressing the concerns of the Alawites, or in establishing any meaningful communication with them. As a result, the group appears to have lost all trust in the state.
Sheikh Ghazal Ghazal, head of the Supreme Alawite Islamic Council in Syria and Diaspora, and several other prominent leaders of the group renewed calls for international protection earlier this month.
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this is why erdogan aliyev netanyahu and al julani all need to be exterminated. they are pro zionist terrorists who commit crimes against humanity they have enabled the zionists to murder thens of thousands of palestinians in gaza its time muslims wake up and take out the real enemy israel and its helpers aliyev al julani and erdogan.
that’s 70% of the population. 60% of the population wants to kill 15% of the population, without secession this cannot end well.
and russia is not part of the solution, but is cooperating with terrorists.
what’s wrong with the plan that worked in south sudan and croatia?
russia and iran should secede this part of the country from syria, just as you seceded croatia from milosevic. the druze will annex to israel.