Viral video sparks outcry over alleged Syrian Druze student evictions

A video widely circulated on Syrian social media showing Druze students from Suwayda leaving Damascus University dormitories has reignited concerns over sectarian tensions following last week's clashes.

While the footage has been presented by some as evidence of forced expulsion, university officials deny any such claims.

Ammar al-Ayyoubi, director of Damascus University’s student housing, dismissed the suggestion that Druze students had been forcibly removed, saying the video was recorded ten days earlier and misrepresented.

"The clip that was circulated and claimed to show students being expelled from Suwayda was filmed at the time of the offensive recordings targeting the Prophet Muhammad, and before any unrest occurred in Jaramana or Sahnaya," he told Syrian state news outlet Ikhbariya.

"Students left voluntarily and at the request of their families. No violence took place," he added.

Sectarian clashes between Druze fighters and mainly Sunni pro-government militias broke out last week, when a video, reportedly fabricated, claimed to show a Druze man making offensive remarks about the Prophet Muhammad.

Speaking separately to Syria TV, al-Ayyoubi emphasised that the administration had tried to convince the students to remain. "Security accompanied them to ensure their safety," he said, noting that some have since expressed a desire to return.

He also stressed that the dormitories are safe and that internal regulations criminalise any sectarian incitement or social media violations. "Anyone who breaches the rules is referred to a disciplinary committee," he added.

But student testimonies paint a more fractured picture. Leen a medical student at Damascus University, told Syria TV that while she believes the situation is being exaggerated online, anxiety is widespread.

"The road to the university is unstable, it opens and closes intermittently," she said, adding that rumours of a student from Suwayda being killed were "completely false". 

She acknowledged that some students feel hated and unwelcome. "This creates self-imposed isolation and feeds division," she said. "Unfortunately, students themselves are contributing to escalating the situation."

Other accounts are more alarming. Amjad al-Barbour, a second-year medical student at Aleppo University from the Druze-majority province of Suwayda, described an atmosphere of growing hostility. He said that sectarian incitement began in Homs, where several students were assaulted "for no reason other than their regional identity".

Following that, all Suwayda students were evacuated from the Homs dormitories, prompting similar moves in Damascus, Latakia, and Hama.

In Aleppo, al-Barbour reported a dormitory protest featuring anti-Druze sectarian chants, followed by direct threats on social media and the stabbing of a student from Suwayda.

The university administration later relocated students to a secured unit under continuous guard. "Universities must remain places of learning, not battlegrounds for sectarian conflict," he said.

A female student from Suwayda, speaking anonymously, said her brother had faced repeated harassment at Aleppo University. "These may be individual violations, but they’ve become too frequent to ignore," she said. Many families, she added, had withdrawn their children out of fear.

"Sectarian rhetoric has become a daily reality, especially from areas around Damascus and parts of Daraa.”

Families also told Syria TV they received WhatsApp recordings urging them to retrieve their children and warning, “Every family is responsible for the safety of its children if they stay."

Journalist Nawras Aziz said the evacuations began after the Homs incident and were accelerated by incitement on social media. "Students are still leaving," he said. "What’s happening reveals just how fragile university life has become in the face of hate speech."