The situation of Syria’s remaining Christians and other minorities — Alawites and Druze (Muslim sects considered to be apostates by the Sunni majority) — continues to deteriorate despite the passing grade that Canadian ambassador Gregory Galligan recently gave the post-Assad government led by Ahmed al-Sharaa.

Galligan’s comments were made to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade at its recent hearing on Syria.

Responding to pointed questions by MPs  Ziad Aboultaif and Rob Oliphant on the status of minorities in Syria, Galligan painted a cautiously optimistic picture and defended the removal of sanctions that were in place until the fall of Bashar Assad in 2024.  

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“They (the Al-Sharaa government ) listen to our concerns about representation of women and minorities,” he said, adding that Canada is actively “issuing grants to women’s groups and those advancing a democratic vision for Syria, measures which would not have been possible under the previous sanctions.”

Christian, Alawite and Druze activists, as well as observers on the ground, say the ambassador is viewing the government of Al-Sharaa with blurred glasses, and his comments seriously downplay the fear, uncertainty and sheer terror of extremist attacks these communities face on a day-to-day basis.

“Our partners on the ground inform us that Christian families are living in fear, and there is no stability or security for them in Syria, driving many of them to leave their homeland,” Nagui Demian, international programs coordinator with Development and Peace-Caritas Canada (D&P), the Canadian bishops’ development agency that works with partners on the ground Caritas Syria and Jesuit Refugee Services (JRS)

“The humanitarian needs are enormous, especially as thousands of Syrians are now returning from Lebanon and the Iran war is spilling over into Syria.” 

Witnesses contend that the violence against minorities is relentless, despite Al-Sharaa’s assurances to the international community that the days when the HTS (Hayat Tahrir al Sham) was branded a terrorist organization are behind them, and that he and his colleagues have turned over a new leaf.

Instances of this violence that drew widespread world attention include two massive waves in 2025 that devastated Alawite and Druze communities. In March, 1,400 Alawites were killed in the coastal areas including Latakia, while in July 17,000 Druze lost their lives and 200,000 were displaced in the Suweida area.

Nuri Kino, a Swedish journalist and leader of the humanitarian and advocacy organization A Demand for Action, has had extensive experience in political advocacy as well as coordinating humanitarian aid in Syria. He has been monitoring the human rights situation of the country’s sharply reduced Christian population — from 1.5 million before 2011 to fewer than 300,000 at present.

Kino spoke of an alarming incident: a foiled bomb plot at a Christian funeral in Aleppo on May 13. 

“We are deeply concerned, and outraged,” he told The Catholic Register. “We called our contacts in Syria immediately and spoke to two witnesses to the incident. Now we can only thank Our Lord that the bomb did not detonate.” 

This is one of several incidents of threats, intimidation and violence against Christians and other minorities that have taken place in recent months, say survivors and witnesses. 

Sara Abbas, a Canadian Syrian Alawite activist based in Regina, Sask., is co-founder and vice president of the Western Syria Alliance. She questioned ambassador Gilligan’s testimony to the Commons committee.

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“We (the Alawite community) are surprised by the ambassador’s excuses for the jihadist government in Damascus, when the reality is that there are ongoing human rights abuses of minorities,” Abbas said. “If the ambassador had made a simple visit to the coast (of Syria) and met people there, away from the eyes of government authorities, he would have discovered the truth of the massacres, the arbitrary arrests, the kidnapping of women and the denial of their cultural, economic and religious rights.”

Sana Barouki, a Druze activist based in Vancouver also had strong words of criticism for Gilligan’s testimony. 

“It is both ridiculous and tragic, what the ambassador told the committee,” Barouki said. “The situation for minorities continues to deteriorate. The Druze remain under siege, and 36 villages abandoned by their inhabitants are still under the control of the government in Damascus, which is preventing people from returning to their homes.”

Barouki echoed Demian’s comments about the urgent humanitarian needs. 

“The health-care situation is catastrophic,” she said. “There is no access to dialysis or cancer treatment. And the tragedy is not limited to Alawite and Druze regions. Girls are reportedly being kidnapped and sold into slavery. Even in Damascus, the situation is devastating, with soaring electricity prices, widespread disease and the collapse of basic services.”

Local churches and international charities such as Aid to the Church in Need and D&P are working on the ground with partners to provide material aid.

“We are working with JRS to meet health-care needs and running three clinics in Aleppo,” Demian said. “We also work with Caritas Syria on food assistance, health care and education for children. We also run social cohesion projects.”

He said this is done despite reduced funding from the Canadian government. 

“Currently all our funds come from private (mostly Catholic) donors,” he said. “We are waiting to see if the government will call for project proposals seeking financial support.” 

International advocacy efforts are led by NGOs with a global reach such as A Demand for Action and In Defence of Christians. A coalition of Canadian Syrians, including Alawites, Druze and Christians, has been lobbying the Canadian government — which has committed over $100 million in development aid to Syria — to demand human rights protection for minorities from the Al-Sharaa regime.

 In a written submission to the Commons committee on foreign affairs and international trade, the Canadian coalition expressed deep concern about Gilligan’s statements. 

“We express our deep concern regarding the assessments presented by Canadian ambassador Gregory Galligan to the March 24, 2026 meeting of the Standing Committee on International Development and Trade. In our view, he significantly minimized the scale and nature of the atrocities committed against minority communities. His statements were entirely based on the narrative of the Syrian government,” they wrote.

They urged the Canadian government to support impartial, international investigations into the ongoing massacres and sectarian crimes in Syria, to engage directly with independent civil society organizations, survivors and victims’ families rather than to rely exclusively on government narratives, and to make the lifting of sanctions conditional on concrete guarantees with accountability mechanisms for human rights protections for all Syrians.

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Kino warned that the entire Syrian Christian community might be forced to leave its ancient homeland unless the international community takes immediate action.

“What’s happening now is ethno-religious cleansing — a slow systematic removal of minorities through fear, violence and dispossession,” he said. “The world must wake up now and demand stronger protection for Syria’s religious and ethnic minorities.”