Mercenarism in Syria: Predatory Recruitment and the Enrichment of Criminal Militias

This report draws from new field research on the recruitment of Syrian mercenaries for combat in foreign conflicts in 2020. It discusses the relationship between the war economies and human rights violations in Syria and foreign conflicts by documenting three phenomena evident in Syrian mercenarism: predatory recruitment, labor exploitation, and the defrauding of families. It serves as an update to previously published analysis regarding the foreign recruitment of Syrian mercenaries by both Syrians for Truth and Justice (STJ) and the Syria Justice and Accountability Centre (SJAC).