Amid the jubilation unleashed inside Syria and around the world by the fall of the Assad regime Saturday night, one community in the country that probably isn’t in such a festive mood right now would be Syria’s Christian minority.
Prior to the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War in 2011, Christians represented roughly 10 percent of the population, which translated to around 1.5 million people. Today that number stands at around 300,000, many of whom left due to constant fighting and economic stagnation, i.e., the same reasons millions of other Syrians have fled. Others, however, have abandoned Syria because of persecution and violence at the hands of radical jihadist groups that make up a significant part of the rebel coalition.
