Based on the Syrian Ministry of Interior’s announcement on November 19, 2025, regarding the deletion of 4,850,719 entries from the Immigration and Passports database, and according to Interior Minister Anas Khattab, a joint committee from the Information Department, the Criminal Investigation Department, and the Immigration and Passports Department, in cooperation with the Ministries of Defense and Justice, recently deleted and removed more than 150,000 additional entries, most of which date back to the practices of the former regime (security agencies and defense institutions).
The Syrian Future Movement expresses its deep appreciation for this important step by the Ministry of Interior, which represents a clear indication of a genuine intention to remove the old restrictions imposed by the former regime on freedom of movement. We believe that the deletion of such a large number of entries accumulated over decades reflects an understanding of our new nation—a state rebuilding its institutions to serve its citizens, not burden them.
The Syrian Future Movement views this process as part of the transitional justice process, where arbitrary practices related to defection, forced conscription, or travel bans—which the former regime used as tools of repression—are eliminated. We see this type of reform as not merely administrative change, but also a symbolic and material rectification of a painful legacy of injustice suffered by citizens.
The Syrian Future Movement believes that, in the transitional phase Syria is experiencing after liberation, these initiatives should serve as a starting point for building new state institutions on the foundations of justice, transparency, and citizenship.
Removing old security restrictions restores a measure of dignity to citizens and opens up opportunities for movement, work, and travel without unjustified obstacles.
The Syrian Future Movement calls on the government to ensure the continued work of the relevant committee until it has completed the elimination of all unjust and unwarranted measures.
It also encourages citizens who have travel bans or previous restrictions to submit appeals or requests for their removal through the relevant complaints offices, with guaranteed transparent and expedited processing mechanisms.
The Syrian Future Movement affirms that simply removing names from the rolls is insufficient. It must be accompanied by holding accountable those who issued or supported these decisions within the former regime. Furthermore, the process of change must be open to civil and legal oversight to ensure that the future nation-state does not reproduce practices of repression and that it enshrines the principle of the rule of law and equality before it.
The Syrian Future Movement emphasizes that this step should be considered as part of a broader vision for building a post-regime Syria—a state that guarantees citizens’ freedom of movement, opens new avenues for social and economic advancement, and places the principle of equal citizenship at the heart of its institutions, free from security or political discrimination.
The Syrian Future Movement views this announcement by the Ministry of Interior as a positive sign on the path to building a new nation-state, a state that respects the rights of its citizens, where the practices of old repression recede, and where the rule of law is firmly established.
We call upon everyone—especially state institutions and civil society—to support this reform and cooperate to ensure that the new Syria is a homeland of equality and freedom, not a relic of the past.
