Compulsory Military Service Prompts Migration of Youths in Southern Syria

Crowds of youths are seen outside the Department of Immigration and Passports in Daraa. (Daraa 24 Network)
Crowds of youths are seen outside the Department of Immigration and Passports in Daraa. (Daraa 24 Network)
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Compulsory Military Service Prompts Migration of Youths in Southern Syria

Crowds of youths are seen outside the Department of Immigration and Passports in Daraa. (Daraa 24 Network)
Crowds of youths are seen outside the Department of Immigration and Passports in Daraa. (Daraa 24 Network)

Syrian youths seeking to avoid mandatory military service by the regime usually flee to the southern provinces of Daraa and Sweida where some regions are still outside the control of the regime.

The regime tried to take advantage of the situation by issuing in April 2021 a law in Daraa that grants men between the ages of 19 and 42 a one-year grace period, during which they may obtain an “administrative postponement” of their conscription.

It followed that with contradictory decisions against those exempted, such as a travel ban in May and later, an order to obtain a “travel permit” from military recruitment centers.

A member of the negotiation committees in Daraa told Asharq Al-Awsat that the youths soon rushed to obtain passports, allowing the regime to reap direct and indirect revenues from its decisions.

This, according to the source, led to an unprecedented crisis that, as always in Syria, created a black market and rampant corruption in the country’s Department of Immigration and Passports.

Youths wishing to obtain a new passport as soon as possible paid millions of Syrian pounds to flee the country.

People seeking to avoid conscription usually have two choices: flee the country through legal or illegal means, or escape to regions outside regime control.

One man in Daraa, who has rejected compulsory military service, said such practices emerged with the eruption of the anti-regime protests in the province back in 2011.

The phenomena even extended to officers who refused orders to quell the protests, he revealed.

Now, the circumstances have changed, he went on to say. He compared joining the military to one throwing himself into the unknown.

They may spend years in the military, he added, citing examples of service that stretched to ten years given the ongoing conflict in the country.

Given the situation, he said, it is understandable for youths to be at a loss. No future awaits them after spending years in mandatory service, “that is if they stayed alive.”

People seeking to flee Syria would need anywhere between USD 10,000 to 16,000 to reach countries of asylum. Some have taken the risk of selling their properties, cars and homes to raise these funds.

Activists in Sweida said mandatory conscription has created tensions between the regime and the people.

The tensions have reached such an extent that locals Daraa and Sweida are confronting regime forces that are calling up youths to enlist.

Armed groups that remain active in southern Syria are still to this day preventing the regime forces from forcibly taking youths to join the military.



What to Know About the Flash Floods in Texas That Killed over 100 People

 Firefighters from Ciudad Acuña, Mexico, transport a recovered body on the flooded Guadalupe River days after a flash flood swept through the area, Monday, July 7, 2025, in Ingram, Texas. (AP)
Firefighters from Ciudad Acuña, Mexico, transport a recovered body on the flooded Guadalupe River days after a flash flood swept through the area, Monday, July 7, 2025, in Ingram, Texas. (AP)
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What to Know About the Flash Floods in Texas That Killed over 100 People

 Firefighters from Ciudad Acuña, Mexico, transport a recovered body on the flooded Guadalupe River days after a flash flood swept through the area, Monday, July 7, 2025, in Ingram, Texas. (AP)
Firefighters from Ciudad Acuña, Mexico, transport a recovered body on the flooded Guadalupe River days after a flash flood swept through the area, Monday, July 7, 2025, in Ingram, Texas. (AP)

Flash floods in Texas killed at least 100 people over the Fourth of July holiday weekend and left others still missing, including girls attending a summer camp. The devastation along the Guadalupe River, outside of San Antonio, has drawn a massive search effort as officials face questions over their preparedness and the speed of their initial actions.

Here's what to know about the deadly flooding, the colossal weather system that drove it in and around Kerr County, Texas, and ongoing efforts to identify victims.

Massive rain hit at just the wrong time, in a flood-prone place

The floods grew to their worst at the midpoint of a long holiday weekend when many people were asleep.

The Texas Hill Country in the central part of the state is naturally prone to flash flooding due to the dry dirt-packed areas where the soil lets rain skid along the surface of the landscape instead of soaking it up. Friday's flash floods started with a particularly bad storm that dropped most of its 12 inches (30 centimeters) of rain in the dark early morning hours.

After a flood watch notice midday Thursday, the National Weather Service office issued an urgent warning around 4 a.m. that raised the potential of catastrophic damage and a severe threat to human life. By at least 5:20 a.m., some in the Kerrville City area say water levels were getting alarmingly high. The massive rain flowing down hills sent rushing water into the Guadalupe River, causing it to rise 26 feet (8 meters) in just 45 minutes.

Death toll is expected to rise and the number of missing is uncertain

In Kerr County, home to youth camps in the Texas Hill Country, searchers have found the bodies of 75 people, including 27 children, Sheriff Larry Leitha said Monday morning. Fatalities in nearby counties brought the total number of deaths to 94 as of Monday afternoon.

Ten girls and a counselor were still unaccounted for at Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp along the river.

For past campers, the tragedy turned happy memories into grief.

Beyond the Camp Mystic campers unaccounted for, the number of missing from other nearby campgrounds and across the region had not been released.

Gov. Greg Abbott on Sunday had said that there were 41 people confirmed to be unaccounted for across the state and more could be missing.

Kerrville City Manager Dalton Rice said during a Monday news conference he couldn't give an estimate of the number of people still missing, only saying “it is a lot.”

Officials face scrutiny over flash flood warnings

Survivors have described the floods as a “pitch black wall of death” and said they received no emergency warnings.

Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly, who lives along the Guadalupe River, said Saturday that “nobody saw this coming.” Officials have referred to it as a “100-year-flood,” meaning that the water levels were highly unlikely based on the historical record.

And records behind those statistics don’t always account for human-caused climate change. Though it’s hard to connect specific storms to a warming planet so soon after they occur, meteorologists say that a warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture and allow severe storms to dump even more rain.

Additionally, officials have come under scrutiny about why residents and youth summer camps along the river were not alerted sooner than 4 a.m. or told to evacuate.

Rice said Monday that he did not immediately know if there had been any communication between law enforcement and the summer camps between 1 a.m. and 4 a.m. on Friday. But Rice said various factors, including spotty cell service in some of the more isolated areas of Kerr County and cell towers that might have gone out of service during the weather, could have hindered communication.

Rice said officials want to finish the search and rescue and then review possible issues with cell towers, radios and emergency alerts.

Officials noted that the public can grow weary from too many flooding alerts or forecasts that turn out to be minor.

Kerr county officials said they had presented a proposal for a more robust flood warning system, similar to a tornado warning system, but that members of the public reeled at the cost.

Monumental clearing and rebuilding effort

The flash floods have erased campgrounds and torn homes from their foundations.

"It’s going to be a long time before we’re ever able to clean it up, much less rebuild it," Kelly said Saturday after surveying the destruction from a helicopter.

Other massive flooding events have driven residents and business owners to give up, including in areas struck last year by Hurricane Helene.

President Donald Trump said he would likely visit the flood zone on Friday.

AP photographers have captured the scale of the destruction, and one of Texas' largest rescue and recovery efforts.