A growing number of Syrians are reporting that they have been barred from leaving the country at key border crossings, after long-dormant security directives from the Assad era suddenly reappeared in official databases. The complaints, flooding social media in recent weeks, describe people being stopped at land exits — especially along routes linking Syria and Turkey — and confronted with fiches d’interdiction de voyage, security and penal notices that automatically prevent them from crossing.
According to a report published by The Syrian Observer, which explicitly states it has not independently verified the claims and that responsibility for the information lies with the original author, these travel bans stem from records embedded in the databases of the General Authority for Land and Maritime Ports. The outlet’s disclaimer highlights a broader problem in reporting on Syria: opaque institutions, limited access, and competing political narratives make independent verification difficult. This environment places a particular burden on readers and journalists to scrutinize official accounts and weigh them against testimonies from affected citizens.
In response to the uproar, Mazen Alloush, Director of Local and International Relations at the General Authority for Land and Maritime Ports, issued a detailed statement seeking to clarify the situation. He argued that much of what is circulating online is “inaccurate,” and linked the recent wave of incidents to an ongoing “modernisation effort” at border points. According to Alloush, some posts had been operating for years under local internal procedures that were not fully integrated with the centralised electronic system managed by the Ministry of Interior.
He said that, in cooperation with the Ministry, the Authority has started extending this unified electronic platform to “all border crossings of the Syrian Arab Republic,” and that the process has only recently reached the crossings with Turkey. Once activated, he explained, the system triggered the reappearance of old security records for some travellers, including complaints, arrest warrants, and notices issued by former regime security branches, as well as financial or judicial summonses. Many Syrians returning from Turkey encountered this more detailed digital screening for the first time, he noted, fuelling confusion and anger.
Alloush insisted that explicit instructions have now been issued to border staff to allow unrestricted passage for travellers whose files contain only obsolete security, military, or intelligence reviews from the Assad era, without questioning or detention. He said that travel restrictions should apply solely to citizens facing active criminal, financial, or civil-rights cases. He acknowledged, however, that during the initial rollout of the system — amid heavy passenger traffic and extended shifts — “a small number” of errors occurred. In some cases, travellers were referred to now-defunct security agencies before the mistakes were “immediately” corrected, he claimed.
To mitigate delays and confusion, the Authority has increased the number of data-entry personnel operating the new system and opened additional lanes at major crossings, particularly Al-Salama and Bab al-Hawa, which serve as vital corridors between Syria and Turkey. Separately, Interior Minister Anas Khattab announced that more than 150,000 travel-restriction notices have been deleted from the Immigration and Passports Directorate, targeting cases linked to the practices of the former regime.