A lengthy investigation led by the Syrian government has revealed that the majority of allegations regarding the kidnapping of women from the Alawite religious minority were, in fact, untrue. These findings, stemming from a months-long probe, were announced on Sunday, November 2, 2025.
Noureddine al-Baba, spokesperson for Syria’s Interior Ministry, presented the conclusions of the inquiry, which focused on 42 reported cases of women and girls who went missing during intense violence in March across Syria’s coastal regions. The committee, established in July, directly interviewed the affected individuals and ultimately determined that only one case constituted a genuine kidnapping.
During a news conference, Mr. Al-Baba confirmed, “In the single confirmed kidnapping case, the girl was safely reunited with her family following an investigation by security agencies. Efforts are ongoing to identify and apprehend those responsible.”
Previously, in July, Amnesty International had reported receiving credible accounts of several dozen Alawite women and girls allegedly abducted from the provinces of Latakia, Tartus, Homs, and Hama.
However, the Syrian inquiry meticulously examined the remaining 41 cases and found a variety of explanations: 12 women had left with romantic partners, nine were temporarily absent with relatives or friends, and six had fled situations of domestic violence. Additionally, six cases were identified as false allegations disseminated on social media, four involved victims of extortion or prostitution, and another four concerned individuals apprehended by security agencies for criminal offenses.
This period of unrest initially flared up when armed groups loyal to former Syrian President Bashar Assad launched attacks against government security forces. This escalated into a brutal counter-insurgency, leading to sectarian revenge attacks and widespread massacres that claimed the lives of hundreds of civilians from the Alawite religious minority, a community to which Assad also belongs.
The ongoing violence has presented numerous challenges for Damascus under the interim leadership of President Ahmad al-Sharaa’s Islamist-led administration, which has been striving to restore peace and economic stability to the war-ravaged nation.
Mr. Al-Baba concluded by appealing to the public: “We strongly urge citizens, civil society, and human rights organizations to first report any such incidents or suspicions directly to the Interior Ministry.”