Afro-Syrians

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Afro-Syrians
سوريون أفارقة
Total population
Between 30,000 and 60,000 [1] [2] [3]
Regions with significant populations
Daraa, Golan Heights, Damascus [1] [2] [3]
Languages
Arabic [4]
Religion
Islam (mostly Sunni; with a significant Shia minority) [5]
Related ethnic groups
Syrians, Sudanese Arabs, Afro-Jordanians, Afro-Palestinians, Afro-Iraqis, Afro-Saudis, Al-Akhdam, Afro-Omanis

Afro-Syrians are Syrian citizens of either full or partial Black African descent. There are at least four major groups of Black Syrians: The Yarmouk people, a group of Afro-Iraqi origin, the Shia group in Damascus, and the Sudanese-Syrians. The Black people of Yarmouk Basin are living in southwestern Daraa Governorate.

Contents

History

There are many different origins of Afro-Syrians, the most common ones are the Arab slave trade, African Muslims settling in Syria during the Islamic Golden Age, [6] African refugees that received Syrian citizenship, [7] Syrian refugees in Africa who mixed with the local Africans, Syrian refugees in Brazil who mixed with Afro-Brazilians, [8] and interracial marriages between Syrians and black people. Sudan is listed as the most common place of ancestry for Afro-Syrians, with Sudan and Syria having connections since the spread of Islam and the rapidly-growing number of Syrian refugees in Sudan and Sudanese refugees in Syria. [2] Most Afro-Syrians fell under ISIS rule during the Syrian Civil War. [1] A community of Shia Afro-Syrians exists in Damascus. [3] A lot of Afro-Palestinians also reside in refugee camps in Syria. [3]

Though their exact origin is unknown, some local stories report Sudan as ancestral homeland of the Yarmouk Basin's black people; in any case, they have lived in the area for a long time, and are culturally and linguistically assimilated into the local Arab population. While the number of black people in the basin is considered relatively large by locals, their existence is little known throughout wider Syria. In course of the Syrian Civil War, most of the black population of the Yarmouk Basin came under control of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant through first the Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade and then the Khalid ibn al-Walid Army. [1]

Population

Geographic distribution

While a few villages and towns in the Yarmouk Basin have larger black populations, smaller numbers of the ethnic group can be found throughout the whole area. [1]

Known clans

Social condition

The existence of Afro-Syrians is very little known in Daraa, and basically unknown in other parts of Syria. Afro-Syrians are highly concentrated in southwestern Daraa. They are the smallest Afro-Arab group. [9] On top of war and occupation, Afro-Syrians experience severe racism and discrimination, including not being given any representation at all. Their population is unknown and has never been recorded. [10]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Clans and extended families are normally termed as "bayt" (literally, "house") in the Yarmouk Basin. [1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi (19 January 2017). "Black Syrians: The Case Of The Yarmouk Basin" . Retrieved 20 January 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 Al-Tamimi, Aymenn Jawad (4 March 2020). "Sudanese-Syrians: Interview". Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Al-Tamimi, Aymenn Jawad (9 May 2019). "The West African Shi'a Community of Damascus: Interview". Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi.
  4. ↑ "Syrian Colloquial Arabic alphabet, pronunciation and language". omniglot.com.
  5. ↑ "Syrian Culture - Religion". Cultural Atlas. January 2016.
  6. ↑ Liebich, Don. "What Can the Islamic Golden Age Teach Us about Migration and Diversity?". boisestate.edu/. Archived from the original on 2022-01-24. Retrieved 2021-10-09.
  7. ↑ Bahati, Linnete (6 September 2017). "African refugees seeking safety in war-torn Syria". Africanews. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
  8. ↑ "Fleeing Syrians lament the loss of their final refuge in Sudan". the Guardian. March 14, 2021.
  9. ↑ al-Tamimi, Aymenn Jawad. "Black Syrians: The Case Of The Yarmouk Basin". Middle East Forum.
  10. ↑ "Yasser Abdul Latif: The Syrian Sudanese … the marginal and rebellious". Saudi 24 News. 1 October 2020. Archived from the original on 25 August 2021. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
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