Ahmed al-Sharaa wants to promote that the new Syria will be a strong force in the world [Getty]
Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa has said that the Syrian passport will be among the strongest in the world once the country’s transition is complete.
In comments widely circulated in Arabic media during a meeting then Lebanon Prime Minister Najib Mikati, al-Sharaa was talking about statecraft in Syria and the new role the country will play in the region and the world.
“A state cannot be built through factions… There must be institutions, a state, a presidency, a parliament, and an executive government,” he said.
“The Syrian passport will carry significant weight in the coming years,” he added, perhaps addressing the situation of Syrian refugees around the world.
Al-Sharaa’s comments come as Syria officially resumed issuing passports on Monday after a shutdown that lasted for over a month, following the fall of the regime of Bashar al-Assad.
The Syrian Immigration and Passports Directorate confirmed the resumption of issuing passports and the completion of printing passports that were in progress, with their appointments being rescheduled according to new dates, as reported by the Syrian Ministry of Interior’s website.
The Directorate revealed several updates regarding its services, including that the validity of passports will now be six years for all age groups without exception.
Passport issuance fees will remain unchanged, and the old platform will resume operations starting next week.
It was clarified that old passports will remain valid until their expiration date and will not be replaced. The new passport design will not differ from the previous design. Additionally, all branches across the provinces have been reopened to provide services to citizens.
