DAMASCUS: The Syrian Arab Republic’s Ministry of Local Administration and Environment has reinstated employees dismissed because of their participation in the 2011 uprising during the reign of former leader Bashar Assad.
Officials said the decision covers all ministry employees dismissed on those grounds, the Syrian Arab News Agency reported on Wednesday.
The decision was announced by Minister of Local Administration and Environment Mohammad Anjarani, who described restoring the employees to their posts as an “ethical and national responsibility.”
Speaking at a press conference, Anjarani said the returning employees have valuable experience and expertise that would contribute to rebuilding state institutions after more than a decade of conflict.
He said the ministry had adopted an institutional process to review the qualifications and professional experience of returning employees in order to assign them positions where they could contribute effectively to the work of their respective departments.
The ministry’s announcement forms part of a broader government effort to reverse politically motivated dismissals carried out during the rule of the former president Assad.
Several ministries are continuing to receive applications from former civil servants who lost their jobs because of their participation in the revolution, as authorities work to facilitate their return to public service.
On July 9, the Ministry of Agriculture ordered the reinstatement of employees dismissed over their involvement in the revolution, covering both permanent and contract staff across the ministry and its affiliated institutions.
The latest measure follows a wider campaign by Syria’s transitional authorities to restore employment rights to tens of thousands of public sector workers removed during the Assad era.
Transitional government figures estimate that nearly 50,000 civil servants dismissed for their involvement in the uprising have been reinstated since the collapse of the former regime.
In the education sector alone, official statistics indicate that more than 25,900 teachers and employees were dismissed for participating in anti-government demonstrations.
The Syrian uprising began in 2011 when protesters took to the streets demanding political freedoms, greater civil rights and an end to decades of authoritarian rule.
The Assad government responded with a sweeping crackdown that included the use of live ammunition against demonstrators, mass arrests, torture and widespread dismissals of civil servants, teachers, healthcare workers and other public employees suspected of supporting the protest movement.
The violent suppression of the demonstrations contributed to the militarization of the conflict and the outbreak of Syria’s prolonged civil war.
The Assad family’s rule of over five decades came to an end on Dec. 8, 2024, after opposition forces launched a rapid offensive that captured Damascus, prompting Assad to flee to Russia.
Following the regime’s collapse, a transitional administration headed by interim President Ahmed Al-Sharaa took office in January 2025, pledging to rebuild state institutions, draft a new constitution, facilitate the return of displaced Syrians and reverse politically motivated decisions taken under the former government.
