According to a report by Christian Solidarity International (CSI), Christians and other minorities are at greater risk of being killed or abducted under the Syrian Transitional Government led by Ahmed al-Sharaa.

The transitional government replaced the 54-year-old-dictatorship of Bashar al-Assad when it collapsed in December 2024. The collapse ended an era of widespread state terror and mass violence, but al-Sharaa--a former member of al-Qaida--committed numerous horrors against religious minorities in Syria during the uprising against the prior regime, CSI says. The al-Sharaa regime has continued to threaten and kill Christians.

In fact, four Christians were killed from July through September, and six were abducted, arbitrarily arrested, or remained detained from previous arrests. Killed were:

• George Nemeh, whose body was found murdered at his farm in Qaya village, Latakia Governorate on Sept. 30.
• Nader Tannous was killed by gunmen on Aug. 15 while returning home from work at a hair salon he had opened. Tannous had recently been released from refugee status in Sweeden.
• Fadi al-Shaer, a Christian from Kafr Buhum, was abducted at gunpoint with his daughter on July 8. His daughter was released, and his body was found with gunshot wounds, CSI said.
• The body of Rani Halawa, a Christian, was discovered several hours after he went missing near Jaramana, a Druze majority town with a large Christian population surrounded by Sunni towns on the outskirts of Damascus.

Most of the victims have been Alawites, which is an Arab ethnoreligious group living primarily in Syria, and Druze Shiites, the report says.

Although the Syrian Transitional Government has publicly committed to protecting the rights of all Syrians, regardless of ethnic or religious background, Syria's new security forces are largely composed of former Islamist fighters drawn from Syria's Sunni majority.

"Government and government-aligned forces carried out large-scale massacres of Alawite Muslim civilians in March 2025 and Druze civilians in July 2025," CSI said.

Arrests and Abductions Those abducted and arrested were captured after criticizing corruption and complaining about the Assad-era cybercrime laws. Some were tortured, including two Christian men--one who went missing on the Damascus-Saidnaya Road, and another who was kidnapped in Sweida in southern Syria. Suleiman, a former mayor of the Syriac Orthodox town of Sadad who organized its defense against the Islamic State in November 2015, was detained without charge and no access to a lawyer.

And gunmen from Qalaat al-Mudig stormed the neighboring Christian town of Suqaylabiyah on July 27 and opened fire near a café, CSI's report states.

"This is only the latest incident of harassment against the Christian town by its Sunni neighbors, including a violent program in March and the forced closure of its main church, which has prompted consistent emigration," the report said. "Residents continue to protest for the release of young men detained by the security forces."

Christian communities in Saidnaya and Marmarita in the central province of Homs cancelled public celebrations related to religious feasts in August for the second year in a row, citing insecurity and sensitivity to families impacted by violence and detentions.

Syria was ranked No. 6 on Open Doors' 2026 World Watch List, a dramatic spike from its ranking the previous year at No. 18, largely due to a significant rise in violence against Christians.