In one of the coastal villages of Tartous, in the early hours of the morning, someone knocked on the door. Layan, 20, entered wearing a black niqab. Her mother was not only shocked by her daughter’s return, but also by the way she was dressed. When she asked what had happened, Layan replied: “They were going to sell me to a prince for $30,000!”
Layan, who had been missing for two months, returned after videos of her mother circulated on social media pleading for information about her daughter’s fate. We had been in touch with Layan’s mother, “Layal” being a pseudonym, since the early days of her disappearance.
Her testimony was one of several included in our investigation titled: “Who Is Kidnapping Syrian Alawite Women in Broad Daylight?” The mother had reached a point of total despair. All she had managed to obtain was a security camera photo showing a car she believed had taken her daughter and the kidnappers.
At Daraj, we closely documented cases of Alawite women disappearing in various parts of Syria. The youngest was 15 years old, the oldest 36. They included girls, teenagers, students, married women, and mothers, all from villages and areas in Latakia, Homs, Hama, and Tartous — regions with predominantly Alawite populations.
Some of the women were kidnapped in broad daylight, while others simply vanished. We remain in contact with many of their families to this day. The kidnapping of women has become a phenomenon the authorities can no longer ignore, as multiple news reports have emerged. Some of these cases have seen developments: some women returned home, others got married or divorced, while many remain missing, with disappearances and abductions ongoing.
The authorities’ response to the abduction of women on the coast has been complete denial. For example, Anas Ayrouth, a member of the National Reconciliation Committee, swore three times on Syrian national TV (Ikhbariya Syria): “There hasn’t been a single case of a woman being kidnapped. I swear to God, not a single case.” During a press conference held by the Fact-Finding Committee on the Coastal Events, speakers similarly declared: “We haven’t received any reports of kidnapping — not verbally, not in writing.” They also insisted:
“The committee has not received a single report of a girl being kidnapped.”
This repeated official denial stands in stark contrast to multiple reports pointing to the abduction of women in the coastal region. Reuters published an investigation highlighting the kidnapping of several women. Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, head of the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, stated that the commission had documented the kidnapping of six women, two of whom are still missing. He confirmed that “investigations into these kidnappings have been opened by the transitional authorities.”
Similarly, a United Nations report documented the kidnapping of 38 Alawite women, observing patterns of violations including gender-based violence, threats, forced child marriages, and lack of adequate response from the Syrian Interim Government.
Amnesty International also recently published a report on the issue, confirming what it described as the Syrian authorities’ failure to stop the abduction of women and girls, protect them from physical harm, prevent forced marriages, and curb human trafficking. The report noted that in the eight cases they followed, families had filed complaints with the police or security forces, but the new evidence they provided was ignored or dismissed. In two of the cases, police and security forces blamed the families for the abductions.
The sharp contradiction between official statements and international reports conceals complex dynamics that Daraj has continued to investigate. In several cases we’ve followed, and continue to follow, these dynamics include family intimidation, extortion, forced marriages, and coerced video confessions, all intended to strip the abducted women of their victim status and recast their story as a “love affair” that is later publicly promoted.
This is in stark contradiction to the authorities’ claims that no complaints were made, especially since international reports and Daraj’s own investigations confirm that complaints were indeed filed with the General Security Directorate in Latakia and Tartous regarding multiple kidnapping cases.
Maze of Fear: What Happened to Layan?
We repeatedly attempted to contact the families of abducted women after their return, but such communication is sensitive and difficult due to security fears. Despite having maintained ongoing contact with families during the period their daughters were missing, some stopped answering our messages and calls entirely. Others gave brief, decisive replied, like the husband of one abducted woman who told us after her return: “I wish we were dead. I have nothing to say.”
However, Layan’s mother did not cut off contact with us, even though she stopped responding in the early days after her daughter’s return. With time, we were able to reconnect and learn more about what happened to her daughter.
It was noon when four masked men abducted Layan near her home in rural Tartous, while she was on her way to a local shop to buy household items. After two months of silence, her mother released a video pleading with the general security and the public to help find her daughter. The video quickly went viral.
Following its spread, Layan’s mother received a message from her daughter saying she was safe and that her captor would return her home. Then contact was cut again.
Her mother told Daraj: “Days and weeks went by without any news, so I decided to publish another video appeal.” Shortly after the second video, Layan contacted her again and returned home ten days later.
The masked men had blindfolded Layan with a cloth and put her in a car. She couldn’t identify where they took her but estimated the drive from the abduction site to the holding location was about three hours. She was held in an unknown place, a basement with four rooms. During the first five days, she slept in one room, while the four masked men stayed in the room next door.
During that period, she overheard them discussing plans to “sell her to a prince in Idlib” for $30,000, but one of them objected, saying “he didn’t want to let her go.”
In the days that followed, Layan spent her time alone in the basement. One of the men would visit every three or four days to bring her basic food supplies, rice, pasta, and vegetables. She cooked using a small gas burner in the basement. Although she was free to move inside, the main door was locked tightly.
Her mother explained that Layan wore the niqab upon her return to hide her identity. Whenever security checkpoints stopped her captor, he claimed she was his wife.
Layan’s mother told us: “If I hadn’t published those videos, Layan wouldn’t have come back home.”
Forced Marriage Attempts
Maya, a 15-year-old girl, disappeared for two months in the Awqaf area of Latakia. During her disappearance, her family received multiple threatening and blackmail messages, including photos showing signs of bruising and beatings on Maya’s face. Daraj obtained and verified these images.
As concern grew, her family released a public video appeal asking for information about her whereabouts. After it circulated, Maya appeared in a video posted by an unknown source on Facebook. In the video, she wore a white headscarf and walked alongside a young man, claiming he was her going to marry her, though he, too, was underage.
Sources close to the family confirmed that no legal marriage took place, as it violated Syrian law. According to Personal Status Law No. 59 of 1953, amended in 2019, the legal age for marriage is 18 for boys and 17 for girls (Article 16).
Hashem, a human rights activist, has followed 75 abduction cases and documented 34, including Maya’s. He told Daraj:
“Maya’s family received videos, photos, and messages from unknown individuals. She appeared in miserable condition. The kidnappers initially demanded a large ransom, later negotiating down to $30,000. They threatened to return Maya dismembered if the amount wasn’t paid. This pushed the family to try gathering the money by selling many of their possessions.”
He added: “Maya’s mother was pressured to delete the video plea she had posted. Then suddenly they were told Maya was in Aleppo, married to a 17-year-old boy. Just like that, the case shifted, from abduction and ransom to a story of an underage marriage. How did that happen? How did the ransom demand disappear and get replaced by this charade?”
Hashim continued: “Does the so-called love Maya mentioned in the video justify the staging of her kidnapping and ransom? What about the threats her family received? Maya is a minor: international and Syrian law prohibit her marriage. No law, no custom, no religion accepts such a marriage. Even if she ran away, who pressured her? Who arranged the marriage? Who threatened her family? Why are all these details being erased?”
“It’s Over – We’re Divorced”
“Do you see how far I’ve fallen? I’m debating the idea of another man getting close to my wife, the one who wants a divorce, through an international number,” says Saeed (a pseudonym), who shared with us a photo of his wife taken the day before she disappeared, along with another image she sent him showing bruises on her face. “Everyone loves her. Everyone misses her!” he added.
Months passed, but Saeed’s wife and mother of two never returned. Instead, he received a copy of a divorce petition filed by an appointed lawyer. The proceedings ended in divorce. Saeed stopped responding to our calls and deleted the earlier video he had posted pleading for information about his wife’s whereabouts. A friend of his told us that Saeed is in a terrible emotional state and has received threats involving his children.
In short, the friend said: “He surrendered to his fate. It’s over.”
“There Were No Marital Problems Between Us”
“There were no marital problems between my wife and me.”
This was the very first thing that Asaad, the husband of missing Lina, told us when we contacted him directly after a video circulated of Lina’s mother appealing for help in finding her daughter and granddaughter, both missing since June 10.
The last contact with them was at 11 a.m. that day. “My wife went out to collect a money transfer, and since then, she’s had no activity on WhatsApp. I’ve sent her many messages, but I haven’t been able to reach her,” he said.
He added: “General Security promised to review the cameras at the money transfer office she went to, but later informed me that the office was closed and there were no cameras.”
“We Don’t Trust a Government That Swears There Are No Abductions”
As the abduction of Alawite women continues with no apparent end in sight, and the government takes no serious action, human rights activist Inana Barakat, who has been documenting kidnapping cases in Syria since January 2025, stresses the urgent need for international and human rights organizations to intervene.
Speaking to Daraj, she emphasized: “It is unacceptable to cover up or justify these violations. Independent investigations must be conducted without government interference, to ensure perpetrators are held accountable and victims are protected.”
Barakat stated she has documented around 70 abduction cases, some of which ended with the girls eventually returning home, while the fate of many others remains unknown. She also documented cases in which ransom payments were made to secure the release of abducted women. These abductions often happened in silence, and the women were returned in silence, after the cases were closed. Some victims were in their 20s or 30s.
What concerns Barakat and many families is that legal cases involving abduction are completely ignored by security agencies. In several instances, investigations were either never opened or carried out superficially. When families submitted complaints, they were often ignored—or worse, threatened.
One example she cited involved an underage girl who was abducted and then claimed to have “run away with her lover” despite not having any identification or money on her. This raises serious questions about the credibility of the official narrative.
Barakat also noted that official police reports are often filed under the name “Abu [Someone]”, without including the real names of the security personnel involved. Meanwhile, Anas Ayrouth, a member of the National Reconciliation Committee in Tartous, appeared on television swearing and insisting that there were no cases of kidnapping.
“We don’t trust a government that denies kidnappings by swearing on TV,” she said.
She concluded: “Security agencies do not respond to families’ complaints. They turn the victim into the accused, in a shameful, illogical charade. What’s happening today is a haunting reminder of the former regime’s approach to human rights cases.”
