MEDirections is delighted to share a new Policy Brief from the Wartime and Post-Conflict in Syria project (WPCS).

The Islamic State’s attack, 20 January 2022, on al-Sina’a prison (al-Hasaka city) took both the international Coalition and the Syrian Democratic Forces by surprise. The Islamic In 2018, the Syrian regime expanded its control in the country’s western and southern regions. This shift in territorial control, however, did not lead to an interruption of illicit activities. The regime has fostered the creation of a favourable environment for smuggling networks to continue functioning, exploiting the post-war fragile environment in Syria and economic decay in Lebanon and Jordan. Based on rare access to state-affiliated and non-state actors involved in smuggling activities in Syria, all of which took place between December 2021 and April 2022, this paper investigates the dynamics and actors involved in smuggling between Syria and Lebanon, and from Syria to Jordan.