Lawyer Rania Arej: Missing persons, education and justice top women’s concerns in Sweida

Arej said women in Sweida governorate have a strong social and community presence that can serve as a foundation for further progress. However, the events of July 2025 created a contradictory reality for women: while they became more socially present and active, they also faced major economic and security burdens, creating a gap between their actual participation and their ability to access decision-making positions.

Speaking to ANHA agency, Arej explained that the main challenges facing women in Sweida today span several areas, foremost among them economic difficulties, including low incomes, rising living costs, limited employment opportunities and the difficulty of achieving economic independence.

She pointed to social and family-related challenges stemming from the heavy burden of household and caregiving responsibilities, which limit women’s participation. Women also face challenges in education and employment, particularly regarding the continuation of education and the availability of jobs suited to their qualifications.

She added that education, particularly following the July 2025 events, remains suspended and in a catastrophic state. More than 16,000 secondary-school students, along with a similar number of ninth-grade students, remain uncertain about their academic futures because they were unable to sit for their examinations. University students have also been unable to attend their colleges to date due to the prevailing security conditions.

On the security and human rights front, Arej said instability and displacement have become major factors affecting women’s lives, restricting their movement and access to services.

Violations During the July Events

On violations and crimes against women in Sweida during the July events, Arej said: “As a woman from Sweida who was present during the events, I can describe what happened as deliberate field killings and a deliberate indiscriminate attack against civilians and women.”

She added that the events involved “forced abductions of civilians and women,” as well as humiliation, the stripping of dignity and sexual violence. She stressed that these were “not a side incident,” and that the killing of women should not be treated as collateral damage or simply described as violations committed during clashes.

Arej said evidence submitted to the United Nations points to serious violations against women and girls, including gender-based sexual violence, abductions and ill-treatment. Some incidents, she added, may amount to war crimes and possibly crimes against humanity as part of a broader pattern.

Displacement, Loss of Homes and Breadwinners

On families forced to flee their homes and seek refuge in temporary shelters, Arej described the situation as “difficult to put into words.” She said many families from around 36 villages were forced to leave their homes and their sense of security and now live collectively in shelters.

She highlighted the difficulties associated with communal accommodation and its particular impact on women and families, noting that some women have been forced to rent private accommodation at very high costs.

Some women lost their homes as a result of displacement and burning, along with everything they had built over their lifetimes, including their possessions and memories.

Others lost what was more valuable than material property: their children and husbands, some of whom were killed or burned before their eyes. Some of those killed had been the sole breadwinners for their families, leaving a profound impact on mothers, sisters, wives and daughters in Sweida.

Arej stressed that the situation of women in Sweida is “tragic” psychologically, emotionally and socially, not only because of material losses, but also because of the fear, physical violations, displacement and loss they experienced, as well as the additional responsibilities they have been forced to shoulder amid the absence of safety and stability and the loss of the family’s sole breadwinner.

Missing Persons File

Rania said the missing persons file is the “most painful and sensitive” issue for women in Sweida, noting that many women and mothers are still anxiously waiting for news that could ease their fears about their children.

She said, “There are no words, nor any language in the world, capable of describing the condition of a mother like this,” stressing that such families cannot begin to heal while they still know nothing about the fate of their children.

She emphasized that the issue cannot be treated merely as a matter of numbers, because “behind every name, there is a mother, wife, sister or daughter living in a state of waiting.”

She called for the fate of all missing people to be revealed, names and incidents to be documented, and independent investigations to be conducted into cases of abduction and disappearance. She also called for the locations of remains, if any, to be identified and the remains returned through procedures that preserve their dignity. Most importantly, she stressed that the file must not become a bargaining chip between the parties.

Security, Justice and Economic Empowerment

On the main demands and possible solutions, lawyer Rania Arej said the priorities for women in Sweida begin with “security, dignity and justice.” She noted that the violations, killings, displacement and burning experienced by the governorate have made women’s demands extend beyond employment opportunities and basic services. Their demands are now primarily linked to their right to live in safety and to know the fate of their missing or disappeared children and relatives.

She also called for accountability for these violations through “genuine, transparent and clear accountability and reparations,” as well as women’s right to know and be reassured about their children’s educational future.

She stressed that education is “extremely important,” adding that depriving two generations so far of the opportunity to sit university entrance and academic examinations is “not something that can be taken lightly.” She described it as “another, deeper and more painful wound” that is no less significant than what happened in July 2025.

Other demands, she said, include providing healthcare and psychological support, alongside economic assistance that enables women to achieve financial independence. This should involve moving from emergency aid toward economic empowerment by creating employment opportunities, supporting women-led small businesses, providing vocational training, and facilitating access to financing and markets.

Women in Sweida and Across Syria

Asked whether the situation of women in Sweida differs from that of women elsewhere in Syria, Arej said the situation of women in Sweida “does not differ from that of Syrian women across the country,” pointing to numerous shared challenges, including economic and living difficulties and limited access to employment opportunities and services.

She added that years of war and displacement have affected women and girls across Syria, stressing that they cannot be viewed as two separate groups. Rather, different social, economic and security conditions affect women to varying degrees.

In her message to Syrian women, lawyer Rania Arej said:

“You, mother, who form the foundation of society in every country, and especially the Syrian mother, source of love and tenderness, who has contributed to building civilization and shaping awareness throughout the ages—you are an essential partner in creating justice and peace. Set your free and conscious will loose, and let the first building block of our society be a sincere cry for harmony, echoing across our homeland with love and peace.”

ANHA