News Center- On February 6, 2025, Syria’s Prime Minister Mohammad al-Bashir ordered the dissolution of the General Assembly of the Syrian Journalists’ Union (SJU) and the appointment of a temporary office from outside the SJU’s union representatives.

On Tuesday, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) sent a letter to Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa and the Prime Minister, urging them to reverse the decision.

“The dissolution of the journalists’ union is a severe incident of political interference in the work of trade union organisations and violates international agreements and conventions ratified by Syria, including International Labour Organisation (ILO) conventions,” the IFJ said in a statement on Wednesday.

“Following the decision, the IFJ sent a letter to Syria’s President and Prime Minister on 11 February to express its strong objection to the dissolution and to call on the authorities to revoke it.”

“We sincerely hope that your government is not using the old law [...] to set up a journalists’ trade union movement that aims to serve the new Syrian government’s policies and agenda, rather than defending journalists’ social and professional rights. By using this old law, you are sending a dangerous message to the world that your government is ready to employ the arsenal of very bad laws adopted by the previous regime, which aimed to restrict freedom of expression and independent journalism in Syria,” the IFJ said in the letter.