Residents of Sweida in southern Syria have launched a campaign to collect signatures on a petition calling for a referendum on their right to self-determination, days after a local legal body rejected a US- and Jordanian-backed roadmap aimed at ending months of unrest.
The petition, which is being circulated in towns and villages across Sweida, asks the international community to support a popular vote on whether the province should seek full independence, self-rule, or some form of decentralized administration.
Damascus has not commented on the campaign, which follows a tripartite meeting in the Syrian capital earlier this week that produced a plan endorsed by Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, his Syrian counterpart Asaad Shibani, and US envoy Tom Barrack.
Barrack said the roadmap was a step towards reconciliation and equality for all Syrians, adding in a post on X that it offered not only a path to recovery but a course future generations can build on.
The initiative builds on an earlier online petition launched by activists inside and outside Syria. Organizers say 19 centers have been set up in Sweida city alone, with more than 2,000 volunteers helping to gather signatures. Security during the drive has been overseen by a local force appointed by Druze spiritual leader Hikmat al-Hijri.
A banner hung in Sweida urged residents to sign in support of the campaign, though locals told Asharq Al-Awsat that fear and uncertainty linger. “The campaign has mobilized large numbers, but many hesitate to reveal their views openly because they see themselves faced with two bad options,” one resident said, citing fears of both renewed ties with Damascus and of being drawn closer to Israel.
Rights lawyer Ayman Sheib al-Din said the province had “moved towards determining its own fate” after what he described as “massacres” during recent clashes with Syrian forces. Activists argue the drive is meant to allow residents to voice their choice “democratically and freely.”
But opinion is far from united. Some locals insist independence is the only guarantee of safety, while others argue that reconciliation among southern Syrians is the only way to avoid isolating the Druze community.
The Higher Legal Committee in Sweida, set up by Hijri to administer local affairs, has formally rejected the Syrian foreign ministry’s statement on the roadmap. It accused Damascus of complicity in atrocities committed in July and said only an international mechanism could deliver justice. It also warned against attempts to impose “phony local councils” to sow division.
Meanwhile, Syria’s interior ministry has tasked Suleiman Abdul Baqi with overseeing security in the province as part of a broader restructuring of police and intelligence structures. The ministry said the appointments were made “with active participation from all local communities.”
