This year’s International Workers’ Day finds Syrians facing one of the most critical professional crises in the country’s modern history. Behind the “reform” slogans promoted by the de facto authorities led by al-Jolani, a systematic policy of “Driving Out” has emerged.
This policy has led to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of employees and workers from their jobs, turning national expertise into a massive army of unemployed in a comprehensive re-engineering of Syrian institutions.
Deconstructing the State: 200,000 Employees Victim to the “Driving Out” Policy
In a precise diagnosis of the institutional reality, strategic analyst and researcher Dr. Samir Al-Taqi stated that the current approach adopted by al-Jolani relies fundamentally on a policy of “Driving Out.” Al-Taqi confirmed that approximately 200,000 employees, who form the essential core of the Syrian state, have been “thrown out of their homes” (rendered jobless) after being completely sidelined. These mass dismissals were not the result of administrative inefficiency, but rather a political decision aimed at emptying institutions of their long-standing staff and replacing them with cadres whose primary qualification is absolute loyalty to the new authority.
Sectarian Sorting: Systematic Targeting of National Identity
Arbitrary dismissal decisions have transcended professional standards to take on a dangerous exclusionary character based on identity and sect. Field data indicates that “professional purging” campaigns have systematically targeted employees from the Druze and Alawite communities, along with other Syrian components, under flimsy pretexts. This identity-based dismissal has not only deprived thousands of families of their livelihoods but has also deepened social divisions. Instead of competence being the criterion for retention, identity has become an obstacle preventing a teacher from staying in their school, a doctor in their hospital, or a worker in their port.
Draining Expertise: Paralysis in Vital Sectors and Ports
This depletion policy has struck vital sectors essential for national recovery. In the education and health sectors, thousands of academics and veteran medical personnel have been excluded, leading to a sharp deterioration in basic services. Similarly, Syrian ports and major service facilities have witnessed mass layoffs of skilled workers, replaced by faction-affiliated elements. This has coincided with the clearing of ministries of “Technocrats” and technical experts who maintained institutional cohesion for decades, leaving the country in a state of disguised administrative paralysis.
A Homeland Accommodating Loyalty.. While Narrowing for Workers
The hundreds of thousands of Syrians spending their holiday today away from their offices and factories are the true victims of a governance model that views national competence as a threat and Syrian diversity as a hindrance. The policy of “Driving Out” analyzed by Dr. Samir Al-Taqi confirms a deliberate process of emptying the country of its human potential. This May 1st passes not to glorify labor, but to document the tragedy of turning national cadres into “strangers” within their own institutions, expelled from their natural right to build a homeland that embraces all its citizens, regardless of narrow affiliations.