Syrians who fear retribution from rebels flee to Lebanese border

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Mortada slept on the Syrian side of the Lebanon-Syria border for four nights in the dry, bone-chilling mid-December winter, hoping to find a way into Lebanon. The 27-year-old dentist never thought of remaining in his hometown of Nubl, in the Aleppo countryside of north-eastern Syria.

When armed rebels swept into Aleppo – defeating Syrian government forces in a flash offensive that would quickly prove to be the start of the end of 54 years of Assad dynasty rule – Mortada and others from his hometown fled to Damascus. And when the rebels took the capital, he fled to the Lebanese border, hoping to stay there until the dust settled.

“Nubl is a Shiite area. It has a lot of residents who joined Hezbollah [during the Syrian war] and I’m scared of revenge killings,” he told The National. “There are groups that have exploited the situation amid the security chaos and they’re using it to take revenge on other sects.”

Syria's new leader Ahmad Al Shara – head of rebel group Hayat Tahrir Al Sham – has moved to reassure minorities in the multi-ethnic, multi-confessional country, saying on Sunday that his government was "working on protecting sects and minorities from any attacks that occur between them” and from “external” actors.

Until they can be convinced of Mr Al Shara's ability to prevent reprisals, however, many are choosing to leave.

Mortada asked that his real name not be used because he was concerned his family may face retaliation for him speaking to the media. It makes for a bleak contrast with the millions of Syrians who, after more than 50 years of dictatorial oppression, are finally able to speak freely, unafraid to use their real names.

According to the UN, hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees have rushed back to their homeland from nearby countries since December 8, when the Syrian government was officially overthrown.

But some, like Mortada, quickly fled Syria as the rebels advanced. Lebanese officials told The National that about 44,000 people have fled the country for Lebanon since December 8, when the Syrian government was officially overthrown. Some are wary of what life under a previously Al Qaeda-affiliated rebel group will be like, fearing sectarian persecution or vigilante retribution from rebels.

Others, like Ali – a young man also from Nubl who was camped next to Mortada at the Syria-Lebanon border last week – have more reason to worry. Ali, who also declined to use his real name, admitted to having been a member of the Friends Forces – a collection of Iran-backed auxiliary militias consisting of Syrian and foreign recruits of the Shiite sect. When the order for surrender came, he laid down his weapons, shed his uniform and fled, fearing the rebel advance.

“Some of us were pressured into [joining], and some of us volunteered for the sake of money because the economic situation was so disastrous,” Ali said. “For me it was the money. It was double the army salary and the hours were better.”

While Syria’s new interim government has given a general amnesty for all conscripted Syrian military, Mr Al Shara has also said he “will not hesitate to hold accountable the criminals, murderers, security and army officers involved in torturing the Syrian people".

Factional complications

Syria’s more than 13-year civil war was multifaceted and geopolitically complicated. It plunged the country into economic destitution and caused the largest displacement crisis in the world. The deposed Syrian president Bashar Al Assad courted foreign backers Russia and Iran and allowed Lebanese Hezbollah and other Iran-supported, Shiite foreign mercenaries to fight in Syria – just as the armed opposition courted backers Turkey and the US, recruiting Sunni mercenaries from around the globe.

Many minority sects are aligned with the Syrian government. Out of self-preservation they remained loyal to Mr Al Assad’s regime, which presented itself as a secular alternative to a growing opposition. Belonging to the Alawite minority, Mr Al Assad did not hesitate to exploit sectarian division and use the fears of ethnic and religious communities to his advantage. For years, the deposed Syrian leader portrayed himself as the protector of minorities – right up until the moment he fled the country, leaving them behind.

“Jawlani has said minorities will be all right and there would be not recrimination,” said Mortada as the winter wind whipped at his face last week. He was referring to Mr Al Shara, who recently shed the nom de guerre Abu Mohammed Al Jawlani and traded militarism for diplomacy. He struck a moderate tone as his administration took over after Mr Al Assad’s fall, vowing that the country’s religious and ethnic minorities will have representation.

“To an extent I’ve seen that promise take shape on the ground,” Mortada admitted. “But the opposition has many different factions. And some of them are determined to take revenge on us at all costs.”

Ali and Mortada’s fear of retaliation is not unfounded. As HTS and other groups advanced into government territory last month, videos of summary executions of Syrian army soldiers by angry rebels – in one video, they are referred to as “Alawite pigs” – circulated across social media. In the first week of Syria’s new era without Assad rule, a rebel fighter interviewed by The National said he hoped to “take revenge on the Alawites for what they did to us”.

So far such incidents have been isolated and quickly shut down by HTS, but some of the country’s minorities remain reticent, preferring to leave until Syria’s governance becomes clearer. Most of the people at the Masnaa border crossing into Lebanon, which is closed to Syrians without a visa, were Shiite. Families, some of whom had been there for days, huddled together against the wind. On the other side, at the entrance into Syria, people streamed through freely.

Ali Khansa, 73, a grandfather, told The National he plans to go to Lebanon for now for the sake of his family and “an ordinary fear of unpredictability and what’s to come”. But he said he plans to return to his hometown – the mainly Shiite Sayeda Zainab in the Damascus countryside, which was also a base for Hezbollah and commanders in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps – “no matter what”.

“If most of the residents are too frightened of returning to Sayeda Zainab, I’ll still go back. I’m an old man and no one would bother me.”

Mortada and Ali eventually found a way into Lebanon, Mortada said in a text message on arriving in the Lebanese capital Beirut on Wednesday. “But only after we almost died from the cold,” he added. “Still, turning back wasn’t an option. At least, not right now.”