Syria Monthly Report

Executive summary

International engagement

The United States and the European Union moved decisively in May to relax certain economic sanctions against Syria. These moves reflect a cautious and limited shift in Western policy toward the new Syrian government and provide new space for economic and humanitarian engagement. These measures, however, remain legally complicated, politically reversible, and are far from a complete relaxation of sanctions. Key questions remain around conditionality, implementation, and the durability of this new opening. 

The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) formally declared its dissolution and the end of its armed struggle on 12 May and urged Kurdish political parties to embrace a new democratic and political path. For northeast Syria, where the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are viewed as having long-standing ideological and operational ties to the PKK – despite repeated denials by SDF leadership – the move could have major consequences. However, it remains to be seen how fully and quickly this decision will be implemented, and how it will shape the political and security landscape in northeast Syria in the months ahead. 

Security, governance, and political stability

Recent tensions between Damascus and Syria’s Druze community threaten to tear apart Syria’s social fabric. A series of events that transpired throughout May, following the circulation of a fabricated voice recording, led to intense clashes in Rural Damascus that resulted in casualties. Many members of Syria’s Druze community have come to mistrust the Syrian government and are not confident in its ability to protect them from armed groups. Druze students have left their university campuses for fear of being attacked, while many of the Druze residents of Jaramana, Ashrafiet Sahnaya, and Sahnaya left to As-Sweida and Jabal al-Sheikh and are refusing to return. If the Druze community’s isolation continues, then this division threatens to become ingrained in Syrian society over time.   

On 17 May, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa issued two presidential decrees establishing the National Commission for Transitional Justice and the National Commission for Missing Persons. Damascus presented these new commissions as a means of advancing human rights reform and national reconciliation in Syria’s post-Assad transition. Although the establishment of these commissions marks formal recognition of past atrocities, their capacity to administer justice is undermined by major structural, political, and social challenges. Ignoring these issues runs the risk of the commissions being perceived as merely symbolic. 

In May, the General Security launched a security operation across Dar‘a governorate, aiming to crack down on criminal networks and drug traffickers. The operation focused on key flashpoints in Dar‘a al-Balad, Jasim, and Nawa. However, its implementation varied by location, with General Security officers adapting the intensity of their approach to local dynamics. This suggests that the new government and its security agencies are now pursuing a more assertive policy in the governorate than the ousted Assad regime. 

The Syrian Interior Ministry announced that it restructured its hierarchy after consulting with Syrian experts and allied countries. Ministry departments were merged, overhauled, or established to promote efficiency and responsiveness. However, the ministry faces significant challenges that can only be resolved by bolstering resources and manpower.  

Economic stability

The 2025 wheat season in northeast Syria is characterized by one of the most significant declines in production since 2018, posing major concerns for food security, rural livelihoods, and regional stability. CA–SYR published a full report on the upcoming 2025 wheat harvest season, examining the drivers and implications of a likely production collapse across northeast Syria and beyond. The analysis draws on remote sensing, field observations, and a review of procurement and trade patterns. While NDVI data hints at dramatic yield losses due to rainfall shortages, the crisis is not only ecological. It is also determined by shifting political dynamics between Damascus and the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, fractured procurement channels, and increased fragility of Syria’s wheat value chain.