Contact was lost with Ms. Farah Issa Khamis, a member of the Alawite community, on the evening of May 20, 2026, after she left her home in the village of Ein al-Fawwar in the western countryside of Homs at 7:30 PM. As of the drafting of this report, no information has emerged regarding her fate or whereabouts.
According to available information, Farah Issa Khamis is a married mother of two children. Originally from the village of Liftaya, she resides in the village of Ein al-Fawwar in the western countryside of Homs. Her disappearance has sparked deep concern and fear among her family members and local residents, amid a growing trend of disappearances and missing person incidents witnessed across several Syrian regions recently.
This incident occurs within an escalating context of events involving the disappearance of women, particularly those belonging to religious and sectarian minorities, amid continuous security degradation and the absence of effective protection measures. This raises growing fears regarding their vulnerability to abduction, enforced disappearance, or arbitrary detention.
In a similar incident, local sources reported that contact was lost with Ms. Duha Rizk Assad, 36 years old and belonging to the Alawite community, after she left her home in the Al-Sabil neighborhood of Homs city on the morning of Sunday, May 17, 2026, to buy household supplies. Communication with her has been entirely cut off since then.
According to available information, Duha is married and has children. Her family has been unable to obtain any information concerning her fate or whereabouts, deepening the distress of her relatives and local residents.
In a related context, on the evening of May 14, 2026, Zeinab Ali al-Saddam, a 15-year-old minor from the Shia community, was released from Homs Central Prison. This followed several days of detention by the Public Security forces (Al-Amn al-Aam), after she was found in deteriorating health conditions subsequent to a 45-day abduction in the western countryside of Homs.
According to local sources, Zeinab was abducted on March 14, 2026, from her village of Al-Ghour al-Gharbiya in the western countryside of Homs, before her father paid a financial ransom to the abductors in exchange for her release. On April 30, 2026, she was found abandoned by the roadside in an extremely poor health condition, amid reports indicating that she was subjected to torture and abuses during her captivity.
Information indicates that Zeinab was transferred to Homs Central Hospital for medical treatment before Public Security personnel detained her and transferred her to the Al-Waer police station, later referring her to Homs Central Prison. She was eventually released following an extensive advocacy campaign on social media platforms.
In another incident that continues to engage Syrian public opinion, the fate of Batoul Suleiman Alloush, a young Alawite woman and a student at the Medical Technical Institute at Tishreen University in Latakia, remains shrouded in mystery since her disappearance on April 29, 2026, while returning from university, as confirmed by her family.
Since Batoul’s disappearance, her mother has continuously issued appeals to the relevant authorities and human rights organizations to disclose her daughter’s fate and ensure her safety, noting that the family has faced pressures and threats due to their persistent demands for the truth.
These incidents highlight the escalating concerns regarding the targeting of civilians, particularly women belonging to religious or sectarian minorities, through abduction, enforced disappearance, and arbitrary detention. Such acts constitute a direct violation of the right to liberty and security of person, as guaranteed under international human rights law.
Furthermore, these cases underscore the urgent need for immediate action by the relevant authorities to reveal the fate of the missing individuals, ensure their physical and psychological safety, launch independent and transparent investigations into the violations committed, and hold perpetrators accountable, in accordance with the principles of justice, human rights, and the prevention of impunity.
