The embassy warned in a post on X that because the US mission in Damascus was closed in 2012 due to the civil war, it could not provide direct assistance and that US citizens should “prepare contingency plans for emergencies and be prepared to shelter in place for extended periods.”
“The U.S. government is unable to provide any routine or emergency consular services to U.S. citizens in Syria,” the ambassador’s office said. “U.S. citizens in Syria who are in need of emergency assistance to depart should contact the U.S. Embassy in the country they plan to enter.”
We advise Americans attempting to cross into Jordan to use the open Nabil-Jaber border crossing, and we should allow U.S. citizens with valid, unexpired U.S. passports to cross for limited hours.
However, US citizens with expired, missing, or damaged passports must contact the US Embassy in Amman for assistance in gaining entry to Jordan. U.S. citizens with family members who have pending immigrant visa appointments should also contact the embassy.
“If you are in Syria, be ready to shelter in place if the situation worsens.” Ensure that you and your family have your travel documents (an unexpired US passport) in order and are ready to travel,” the US Embassy in Syria advised.
“Review your personal security plans. Keep your cellphone charged in case of an emergency. Exercise caution, monitor the news for significant developments that could affect internal security, and integrate new information into your travel plans and activities.
Americans should also prepare an emergency plan and review the United States Department of State’s Traveler’s Checklist for dealing with crises and disasters abroad.
On July 10, the State Department issued a Level 4 Do Not Travel advisory for Syria, warning of grave personal risk to US citizens from both terrorist groups and President Bashir al-Assad’s now-defunct regime.
The advisory cautioned that terror groups were active in Syria, with an increase in bombings, IEDs, and assassinations in some areas, and an ongoing risk of kidnapping for U.S. citizens and other foreign nationals across the country.
The advisory also cautioned about the extremely limited ability of the State Department to provide consular assistance to individuals injured or kidnapped, or to the families of those who die in the conflict.
It warned of the Assad government’s aggressive tactics to suppress dissent, routinely detaining protesters, activists, and political opponents without access to legal representation and holding them incommunicado.
The government strongly warned private US citizens against traveling to Syria to engage in armed conflict, stating that the US government opposed it and that Americans who did so faced “extreme personal risks, including hostage-taking by armed groups, wrongful detentions, injury, or death.”
“Fighting on behalf of or providing other forms of support to designated terrorist organizations, including ISIS and al-Qaeda affiliates, can constitute the provision of material support for terrorism or a foreign terrorist organization, which is a crime under U.S. law that can result in penalties including prison time and large fines,” according to the warning.
Travelers were warned that only the Assad government could issue a valid visa to enter Syria, and that failing to obtain a legitimate entry visa directly from the Syrian government could result in being held in a filthy government detention center, where “widespread cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment of detainees has been documented, as well as torture and extrajudicial killings.”
On Thursday, rebels who had taken the capital and overthrown the Assad dictatorship found Travis Timmerman, a missing American from Missouri, trying to escape the country on foot without shoes.
Timmerman claimed he was on a pilgrimage to Syria, a significant center of early Christianity, when border guards detained him for seven months after he fled Hungary in May.
He assured US and Middle Eastern media that he had received no mistreatment.
More than 100,000 people are believed to have “disappeared” under the Assad regime, including medical and humanitarian workers, journalists, human rights activists, and political opponents. The regime also targeted the associates and relatives of these individuals.
