Syria: Fears as UK removes HTS from terror list

Syria’s Christian population continues to face a perilous future, following the UK government’s decision to remove the ruling Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) from the Home Office’s proscribed list of terrorist factions. The decision follows the same call by the United States’ administration in the summer.

HTS - led by Ahmed al-Sharaa - remains a source of ongoing uncertainty, and there are persistent fears that Christians will face further persecution as HTS looks to establish an Islamic state in Syria.

As we reported last month, a recent round of dubious elections has done little to quell concern for the nation’s believers, and recent months have been plagued by massacres of religious minorities by HTS forces, mostly inflicted against Alawites and Druze communities, but with a handful of attacks involving Christians.