{"id":135497,"date":"2026-02-10T18:07:28","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T18:07:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/?p=135497"},"modified":"2026-02-10T18:07:33","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T18:07:33","slug":"us-lawmakers-discuss-syrias-future-minority-protection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/135497\/","title":{"rendered":"US lawmakers discuss Syria\u2019s future, minority protection"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) <\/strong>\u2013 The US House Foreign Affairs Committee held on Tuesday a hearing to discuss Syria\u2019s future in the post-Assad era, with participation from several experts, including Nadine Maenza, former chair of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During her testimony, Maenza focused on the situation of religious and ethnic minorities in Syria and the risks facing areas of northeast Syria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She told the committee that the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) lost around 11,000 fighters during the war against the Islamic State (ISIS), and established a governance model that includes minorities and promotes social cohesion. She added that half of the leadership positions within the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) are held by women.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Maenza said US President Donald Trump had called on the Syrian government to halt attacks on Kurdish neighborhoods in Aleppo, where Christian and Yazidi communities also live, but military operations continued toward the northeast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She stated that \u201cIslamist fighters within government forces documented themselves committing serious abuses, including beheading Kurdish fighters, executing families, throwing a woman\u2019s body from a height, in addition to rape and gouging out eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Maenza added that the United States had called for monitoring the implementation of the agreement between the SDF and the Syrian government and for sanctions if the deal is violated. She stressed that preserving local governance and local security structures is essential for the protection of minorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She also referred to violence against other communities, saying Alawites were subjected last March to mass killings that left about 1,500 civilians dead, including women and children, noting that the real number could be higher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In Suwayda, she said Druze communities faced severe violence in July that killed more than 1,600 people, with cases of abduction and rape and the displacement of about 120,000 residents. She added that four civilians were executed days ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Maenza recommended designating Syria as a \u201ccountry of particular concern\u201d unless substantial changes take place, establishing mechanisms to monitor and implement the January 30 agreement, and passing legislation to protect Kurds. She also called on Damascus to lift sieges on Kobani and Suwayda, amend the interim constitution to guarantee equal citizenship, expel foreign fighters, and address the legal status of the Yazidis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The hearing comes as US officials continue to review their Syria policy and the implementation of recent agreements affecting the country\u2019s northeast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>By Atoun Jan<\/strong><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) \u2013 The US House Foreign Affairs Committee held on Tuesday a hearing to discuss Syria\u2019s future in the post-Assad era, with participation from several experts, including Nadine Maenza, former chair of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom. During her testimony, Maenza focused on the situation of religious and ethnic minorities [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":135498,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pgc_sgb_lightbox_settings":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[39,3,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-135497","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-home","category-politics","category-syria"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>US lawmakers discuss Syria\u2019s future, minority protection<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) \u2013 The US House Foreign Affairs Committee held on Tuesday a hearing to discuss Syria\u2019s future in the post-Assad era, with\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/135497\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"US lawmakers discuss Syria\u2019s future, minority protection\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) \u2013 The US House Foreign Affairs Committee held on Tuesday a hearing to discuss Syria\u2019s future in the post-Assad era, with\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/135497\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"North press agency\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NPA.SYR\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-10T18:07:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-10T18:07:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/01APR2025_FM2-750x430-1.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"750\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"430\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"publish\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@NPA_English\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@NPA_English\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"publish\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/135497\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/135497\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"publish\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a3878bde0c368aec6b31c38f755807e5\"},\"headline\":\"US lawmakers discuss Syria\u2019s future, minority protection\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-10T18:07:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-10T18:07:33+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/135497\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":402,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/135497\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/01APR2025_FM2-750x430-1.jpeg\",\"articleSection\":[\"HOME\",\"Politics\",\"SYRIA\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/135497\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/135497\\\/\",\"name\":\"US lawmakers discuss Syria\u2019s future, minority protection\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/135497\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/135497\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/01APR2025_FM2-750x430-1.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-10T18:07:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-10T18:07:33+00:00\",\"description\":\"QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) \u2013 The US House Foreign Affairs Committee held on Tuesday a hearing to discuss Syria\u2019s future in the post-Assad era, with\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/135497\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/135497\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/135497\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/01APR2025_FM2-750x430-1.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/01APR2025_FM2-750x430-1.jpeg\",\"width\":750,\"height\":430,\"caption\":\"US House Foreign Affairs Committee session\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/135497\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"US lawmakers discuss Syria\u2019s future, minority protection\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"North press agency\",\"description\":\"North press agency\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"North press agency\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/08\\\/npasyria.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/08\\\/npasyria.jpg\",\"width\":682,\"height\":388,\"caption\":\"North press agency\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/NPA.SYR\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/NPA_English\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/northpressagency\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/channel\\\/UCyGMim0bdq_6W-ryV9WI29A\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a3878bde0c368aec6b31c38f755807e5\",\"name\":\"publish\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/302003c22d3515dc5e8ae2f2b4862ce5a2f063ac3423add06dffecf9c8f2e2e6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/302003c22d3515dc5e8ae2f2b4862ce5a2f063ac3423add06dffecf9c8f2e2e6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/302003c22d3515dc5e8ae2f2b4862ce5a2f063ac3423add06dffecf9c8f2e2e6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"publish\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/author\\\/publish\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"US lawmakers discuss Syria\u2019s future, minority protection","description":"QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) \u2013 The US House Foreign Affairs Committee held on Tuesday a hearing to discuss Syria\u2019s future in the post-Assad era, with","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/135497\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"US lawmakers discuss Syria\u2019s future, minority protection","og_description":"QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) \u2013 The US House Foreign Affairs Committee held on Tuesday a hearing to discuss Syria\u2019s future in the post-Assad era, with","og_url":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/135497\/","og_site_name":"North press agency","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NPA.SYR\/","article_published_time":"2026-02-10T18:07:28+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-02-10T18:07:33+00:00","og_image":[{"width":750,"height":430,"url":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/01APR2025_FM2-750x430-1.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"publish","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@NPA_English","twitter_site":"@NPA_English","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"publish","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/135497\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/135497\/"},"author":{"name":"publish","@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/a3878bde0c368aec6b31c38f755807e5"},"headline":"US lawmakers discuss Syria\u2019s future, minority protection","datePublished":"2026-02-10T18:07:28+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-10T18:07:33+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/135497\/"},"wordCount":402,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/135497\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/01APR2025_FM2-750x430-1.jpeg","articleSection":["HOME","Politics","SYRIA"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/135497\/","url":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/135497\/","name":"US lawmakers discuss Syria\u2019s future, minority protection","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/135497\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/135497\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/01APR2025_FM2-750x430-1.jpeg","datePublished":"2026-02-10T18:07:28+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-10T18:07:33+00:00","description":"QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) \u2013 The US House Foreign Affairs Committee held on Tuesday a hearing to discuss Syria\u2019s future in the post-Assad era, with","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/135497\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/135497\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/135497\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/01APR2025_FM2-750x430-1.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/01APR2025_FM2-750x430-1.jpeg","width":750,"height":430,"caption":"US House Foreign Affairs Committee session"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/135497\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"US lawmakers discuss Syria\u2019s future, minority protection"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/","name":"North press agency","description":"North press agency","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/#organization","name":"North press agency","url":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/npasyria.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/npasyria.jpg","width":682,"height":388,"caption":"North press agency"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NPA.SYR\/","https:\/\/x.com\/NPA_English","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/northpressagency\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCyGMim0bdq_6W-ryV9WI29A"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/a3878bde0c368aec6b31c38f755807e5","name":"publish","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/302003c22d3515dc5e8ae2f2b4862ce5a2f063ac3423add06dffecf9c8f2e2e6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/302003c22d3515dc5e8ae2f2b4862ce5a2f063ac3423add06dffecf9c8f2e2e6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/302003c22d3515dc5e8ae2f2b4862ce5a2f063ac3423add06dffecf9c8f2e2e6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"publish"},"url":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/author\/publish\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135497","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=135497"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135497\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":135499,"href":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135497\/revisions\/135499"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/135498"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=135497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=135497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=135497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}