TUNIS, March 21. /TASS/. Syria’s new authorities intend to strip foreign mercenaries of Syrian citizenship that was granted to them by the previous authorities, Director General of Civil Affairs in Syria, Abdullah Abdullah, told the Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper.
According to Abdullah, the authorities "will soon begin the procedure of revoking citizenship granted by the [former president] Bashar Assad regime to Arab and foreign mercenaries" who took part in hostilities in Syria "in the past 14 years." The decision doesn’t apply to those who received citizenship "under legal procedures, such as marriage to Syrian nationals," he explained.
However, he acknowledged that it is difficult to say how many people received citizenship this way due to the loss of civilian records.
According to Syria TV, at least 20,000 foreign mercenaries, mostly from Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Lebanon, were granted Syrian citizenship under the previous regime.