Bashar Assad's wife barred from UK for cancer treatment

ISTANBUL

Asma Assad, the British-born wife of ousted Syrian regime leader Bashar Assad, has been effectively barred from returning to the UK after her British passport expired, according to local media.

Without a valid passport, Asma Assad cannot return to her hometown London, according to the Sunday Times. Moscow confirmed earlier this month that the Assads had fled Damascus and been granted asylum in Russia, though their exact whereabouts are unknown.

The report further suggests she is in critical condition due to leukemia, with only a 50-50 chance of survival.

"The disclosure about her passport status came as her father, Fawaz Akhras, an eminent cardiologist, left his post at a Harley Street (London) clinic in an apparent effort to care for his daughter full-time in Moscow, where she fled before the collapse of the Syrian regime," the report said.

It remains unclear whether government officials deliberately blocked her from renewing her British passport when it expired in September 2020 or if she voluntarily allowed it to lapse, the report added.

Government sources, however, “confirmed that she is no longer in possession of a valid British travel document and made it clear that Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, will not allow her to enter the UK on the grounds of ill health," said the paper.

"David Lammy, the foreign secretary, had previously told MPs that Asma, a former investment banker in the City, is 'not welcome here'."

The expiration of her British passport means the government no longer needs to consider revoking Asma Assad's citizenship, it said.

In 2012, a year after the outbreak of the Syrian civil war, she was subjected to UK and EU sanctions, which included an asset freeze and travel ban.

Bashar Assad, Syria’s leader for nearly 25 years, fled with his family to Russia after anti-regime groups took control of Damascus on Dec. 8, ending the Baath Party regime, which had been in power since 1963.

The takeover came after Hayat Tahrir al-Sham fighters captured key cities in a lightning offensive that lasted less than two weeks.