The security and military services of the Syrian regime have launched a massive campaign of arrests among young men who have evaded compulsory military service in Damascus and its countryside, since the start of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

The vicinity of popular cafes, public squares and restaurants in the capital, Damascus, is witnessing a security alert for members and patrols during the hours of showing the group stage matches of the World Cup.

Local Syrian websites said that the security services target youth gatherings in public places designated for watching matches, and conduct a "security check" to find out if they are wanted for military service.

A report on the local "Voice of the Capital" website indicated that the military police and security branches affiliated with the regime have begun conducting joint foot patrols in front of large cafes in Damascus and its countryside.

The site stated that more than 30 cases of arrest and forced conscription have been monitored so far in the neighborhoods of Al-Salihiya, Al-Shaalan and Al-Hamra in the capital, Damascus.

Security alert

Boutros, 21, a resident of the Barzeh neighborhood of Damascus, told Al-Jazeera Net, "4 military checkpoints stopped me and two of my friends on our way back from Al-Jahiz Square to Barzeh, after watching the Brazil-Serbia match last Thursday, and we were searched at all the checkpoints."

He continues, "There were three (temporary) flying checkpoints affiliated with military patrols, out of the four checkpoints that we passed, and there were military buses next to the checkpoints, which appeared to be equipped to transport detainees to their detention centers."

Eyewitnesses from different regions of Damascus and its countryside confirmed to Al-Jazeera Net that they had observed a heavy security deployment of members and patrols of military and security services in the vicinity of Bab Touma, Abbasiyyin, Al-Jahiz and Umayyad squares in Damascus, and in front of cafes and restaurants carrying World Cup matches in the neighborhoods of Damascus and its countryside.

Moataz (31 years), one of the young men watching the matches in Al-Jahiz Square, told Al-Jazeera Net, "With the passage of days and successive matches, the number of girls has become more than the number of young men in the arena. The young men realized that this screen was not only intended to broadcast the matches, but to be a trap." They also have; whoever does not fear being dragged into the army fears the harassment that he might be exposed to when arrested by the security forces.”

It is noteworthy that MTN Communications, in cooperation with the Damascus Governorate, installed a giant screen in Al-Jahiz Park in Damascus days before the start of the World Cup competitions, to allow residents of the capital to watch the 2022 World Cup matches.

Opportunity for conscription

Bushra, 49, a journalist and political activist from Damascus, believes that the regime's recent moves are nothing but an attempt to take advantage of the largest sporting event in the world, to recruit the largest possible number of young men who have failed to perform compulsory service, since the widest segment of the World Cup followers is She is male.

Bushra said in her interview with Al-Jazeera Net, "These direct and provocative security measures come after the regime's failure to recruit the required numbers of young men through traditional methods, such as the annual presidential amnesty, and the periodic settlements and reconciliations that the regime forces make with young men in the areas they have regained control of."

Regarding the options of those who evaded compulsory service in the regime's army, Bushra says that they are "forced either to migrate illegally to neighboring countries, or to remain in a specific geographical area whose borders are often the borders of the residential neighborhood itself, which makes them unable to work, move or studies, and their future freezes and they become a burden on their families.”

Thousands of young men who have not completed their compulsory military service in areas controlled by the regime for 11 years suffer from their inability to move freely in the country, for fear of being arrested, compulsorily recruited, and taken to the frontlines.

The number of those who missed compulsory and reserve service in Syria reached about 53,000 in 2019, according to the head of the Hmeimim Center for the Reconciliation of Warring Parties in Syria, Sergey Solomatin.

The head of the regime, Bashar al-Assad, issued a general amnesty for "deserters" from compulsory and reserve service on January 25, a step that the regime has taken annually since the outbreak of the conflict in the country 11 years ago.