Alawites Association of the United States Madame Chair, Special Rapporteur Professor Levrat, distinguished experts, ladies and gentlemen, I will talk about the fundamental barriers to trust and religious coexistence. On behalf of the Alawite Americans of the United States, I raise concerns about targeting of Syrian minorities, especially Alawite women, persecuted by abduction and sexual exploitation. There are reportedly 125 documented cases of abducted women in Syria, 107 Alawites and others, Christian, Druze, Kurdish, and Sunni. 49 cases are verified, 11 implicated security forces. 235 Druze women are missing, and 79 Druze women were raped and 1 Christian. Systematic abductions of non-Sunni women, treated as spoils of war, expose authority, complicity. Families of the abducted face intimidation, pressured into silence or denial, reinforcing impunity. Families reporting disappearances face general security accusations, cooperation is rare, investigation blocked. Abductions, sectarian targeting, coerced denials, and silenced survivors reveal extremist strategies fracturing communities, spreading fear and consolidating power. The same concerns Syrian minorities, women, especially Alawite, Christian and Druze, fleeing in Lebanon, where they face acute risk of trafficking, exploitation, and arbitrary detention. Hence, the UN agencies and member states must first hold state and non-state actors accountable for trafficking, issue proper documentation of atrocities, protect the most vulnerable in these religious minorities, and furthermore, extend UN Special Rapporteur’s mandate to Syria, safeguard minority rights inclusive governance, and prevent further genocide.

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