Syria
Aleppo, Syria (2011)
Full Name: Syrian Arab Republic
Date of Independence: April 17th, 1946
Capital: Damascus
Population: 18,384,172 (est. 2022)
Foreign-Born Population:
Government Structure: Semi Presidential Republic (unitary dominant party)
Leader(s): Bashar al-Assad
Primary Flow of Immigration: Sending Country, over 13 million displaced people from Syria (including IDPs).
6.8 million migrants have left the country
6.9 million migrants are internally displaced
Major Destinations of Emigrants:
Major destinations for Syrian migrant populations are located primarily in the Middle East:
Turkey (3.4 million)
Lebanon (1 million)
Jordan (660,000)
Iraq (250,000)
North Africa is another popular destination, with almost 150,000 Syrian migrants in Egypt
Primary “Push” Factors:
The Syrian refugee crisis is a result of the Syrian civil war that began in March of 2011
Following the movement of the Arab Spring, Syrian youths took to the streets calling for government reform, protesting for an end to authoritarianism and the Assad regime.
President Bashar al-Assad countered this wave of protests with mass-arrests and violence, inciting a civil war in Syria that has caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Syrians
Recent Immigration Policy:
In January of 2017, United States President Trump suspended the entry of Syrian refugees into the country and lowered the total FY 2017 refugee admissions ceiling from 110,000 to 50,000.
Under the proposed refugee admission ceiling for the fiscal year of 2022:
Syrian beneficiaries of approved I-130 immigrant visas are eligible for refugee processing
Syrian nationals who are religious or ethnic minorities are eligible for priority consideration.
Further Reading:
The Unwanted; Stories of the Syrian Refugees by Don Brown
