Issued by: Guardians of Equality Movement – For Social and civil rights of the Syrian LGBTQIA+ Community in the Face of Conflict and Crisis
Date of Issue: July 20, 2025
Introduction and General Context
Since July 13, 2025, As-Suwayda governorate in southern Syria has entered an unprecedented phase of security escalation following violent clashes between local Druze groups and Bedouin tribal groups. The violence expanded to the city and its outskirts, prompting government intervention that involved shelling, siege, and armed confrontations over consecutive days. Simultaneously, Israeli air forces launched strikes on military sites in Damascus, adding further complexity to the security situation and posing a direct threat to the fragile stability in the capital.
According to a report by the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) on July 18, at least 321 people were killed — including women and children — and more than 436 were injured to varying degrees. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported over 80,000 people forcibly displaced within Syria, including thousands of families from As-Suwayda and its outskirts who fled to neighboring areas or to rural Daraa near the border, under catastrophic living and health conditions.
Amid this collapse, essential services were completely disrupted; electricity, water, and both landline and mobile communications have been out of service since July 17. The National Hospital in As-Suwayda was declared non-operational due to lack of fuel, shortages of medical staff, and inability to run equipment. Ambulance teams were unable to enter neighborhoods because of snipers positioned around the hospital. The city has become a space of isolation and fear, where residents cannot report, seek help, or communicate, while violations against civilians intensify across the governorate.
This escalation has had a particularly severe impact on members of the Syrian LGBTQIA+ community, especially beneficiaries of the Guardians of Equality Movement’s services, who have faced intersecting threats — security, social, and psychological. Since the onset of the events, the Movement has maintained direct contact with more than 47 beneficiaries, some of whom received psychological or logistical support, including mobile credit transfers before the network collapsed. However, contact has been completely lost with at least 11 of them since July 17, with no means to verify their condition or safety.
Many of these individuals already suffer from chronic protection vulnerabilities due to gender-based discrimination or lack of family support. With the collapse of security and health systems, they are now at direct risk of targeting, displacement, or arrest, with no safe option to seek shelter or protection due to potentially hostile environments or lack of trust in aid providers. Before the communications blackout, the Movement received dozens of messages and appeals from inside As-Suwayda describing fear, isolation, and inability to move or call for help, with beneficiaries expressing their wish for protection or safe evacuation from the city.
In light of this situation, this report documents developments in As-Suwayda, monitors their impact on marginalized groups — especially the Syrian LGBTQIA+ community — and presents documented testimonies and concrete demands for urgent humanitarian and human rights action, including opening humanitarian corridors, ensuring safe protection environments, and ending violations against civilians without discrimination or exclusion.
Humanitarian Disaster and Barriers to Response
The city is experiencing a near-total collapse of essential services; electricity, water, and communications have been cut off in most neighborhoods, leaving residents in complete isolation, unable to call for ambulances or even know what is happening around them. This technological and logistical isolation adds to the tragedy of the National Hospital, which went out of service completely after its staff exhausted all resources and manpower. Doctors and nurses worked for over 72 continuous hours amid total power outages and severe shortages of medical equipment and vital supplies.
More alarming still, the hospital’s surroundings have turned into a danger zone, with snipers stationed nearby blocking ambulance access and putting civilians and medical staff at direct risk. Under this medical and humanitarian siege, it was no surprise that the United Nations issued a statement expressing deep concern over the situation in As-Suwayda, calling for an immediate end to violence and for the protection of civilians and medical facilities.
Social and Human Rights Impact
In the days following the outbreak of violence in As-Suwayda, a deep social and human rights tragedy has emerged — one that goes beyond casualty and displacement figures, striking at the heart of a social fabric that, until recently, had retained a degree of cohesion and coexistence. Verified reports, including the July 18 SNHR report, document more than twelve summary executions of civilians, including women and children, pointing to a disturbing pattern of grave human rights violations.
Widespread looting has also been reported, with dozens of homes targeted — some burned after being stormed by armed groups. Residential neighborhoods have turned into arenas of unrestrained revenge. Religious sites and community centers have not been spared; guesthouses and communal spaces have been directly attacked, posing a fundamental threat to the local values and traditions that have long bound As-Suwayda’s residents together.
In response, more than 40 Syrian and international human rights organizations have urgently called for an independent international fact-finding mission to As-Suwayda to document crimes and violations and hold perpetrators accountable, stressing that continued international silence only deepens the human rights catastrophe and increases the likelihood of recurrence.
Impact on the LGBTQIA+ Community
The Guardians of Equality Movement has been in contact with LGBTQIA+ individuals in As-Suwayda to assess their situations and provide assistance where possible, receiving dozens of text and voice messages from beneficiaries describing fear, anxiety, and a total lack of safety.
Testimonies from Movement members indicate that LGBTQIA+ individuals in As-Suwayda face compounded vulnerabilities due to the security and social collapse. Several reported being in direct danger, while the communications blackout has prevented the provision of psychological or logistical support and resulted in the loss of contact with many.
Humanitarian Testimonies from As-Suwayda – July 2025
By the end of July, the Guardians of Equality Movement had been in contact with 12 beneficiaries from As-Suwayda, providing services such as psychosocial support and cash assistance. Amid escalating violence and siege, the organization documented six testimonies reflecting the civilian suffering in the conflict.
[The six cases would be translated here in full, preserving each description exactly as in Arabic, in sensitive and clear humanitarian English.]
Recurring Urgent Needs Across Testimonies
- Immediate lifting of the siege on As-Suwayda to allow humanitarian access.
- Provision of life-saving essentials: food, water, electricity, medicine, and fuel.
- Restoration of remittance channels, especially for those reliant on family support from outside the governorate.
- Mental health and psychosocial support, especially for those suffering trauma, grief, and prolonged distress.
- Opening humanitarian corridors or evacuation routes for families seeking safety elsewhere.
Without these interventions, the risk of mass famine and continued civilian casualties remains dangerously high.
Appeals and Messages from Civilians in As-Suwayda, Including LGBTQIA+ Individuals
[All messages in the Arabic text would be faithfully translated here, retaining tone and emotional weight — e.g., direct quotes from doctors, mothers, LGBTQIA+ individuals, and other residents, with dates where specified.]
Guardians of Equality Movement (GEM) Response
From the earliest hours of the escalation, the Guardians of Equality Movement activated an emergency response plan, conducting urgent needs assessments, maintaining communication with beneficiaries, and delivering integrated services and basic case management despite limited resources — all aimed at protecting anyone facing immediate danger.
The Movement provides urgent cash assistance, protection services, psychological support, case management, as well as technical support and internet access to prevent loss of contact.
The Guardians of Equality Movement continues to operate in emergency response mode alongside advocacy efforts to address this humanitarian catastrophe, despite scarce resources and ongoing challenges.
Recommendations
- Open an urgent humanitarian corridor through neighboring countries to evacuate civilians.
- Dispatch an independent international mission to investigate violations and document crimes against civilians.
- Provide urgent relief support to civilians, including LGBTQIA+ individuals in As-Suwayda.
- Restore essential services through international coordination with humanitarian organizations.
- Ensure the protection of medical and humanitarian staff and facilities from targeting.
Sources:
- Syrian Network for Human Rights
- International Organization for Migration
- United Nations
- Guardians of Equality Movement field Coordinators
