Asma Al-Assad has been deemed "no longer welcome" in the UK by officials, citing sanctions imposed in 2012 due to her association with her husband's regime.
Asma, a British citizen, has been declared "no longer welcome" by UK officials.
In December 2010 and the months that followed, waves of demonstrations against corruption, poverty, and political repression swept through Egypt, Libya, Yemen, and Syria. Amid this backdrop, Vogue magazine published a profile in 2011 on Asma al-Assad, the wife of then-Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, titled "A Rose in the Desert." Written by Joan Juliet Buck, the piece portrayed Asma as “the freshest and most magnetic of first ladies.”
Fast forward to 2024, the Assad dynasty has crumbled. Asma, once hailed as the "rose" of a brutal regime that oversaw the deaths of 580,000 people—nearly half of them civilians—has now filed for divorce. In a recent piece, Buck referred to her as the "first lady of hell."
Turkish and Arab media report that Asma has been living in Moscow with her husband and their three children. She is said to have sought special permission from Russian authorities to leave the country and return to the United Kingdom.
However, Asma, who holds British citizenship, has been declared “no longer welcome” by UK officials. This decision stems from sanctions imposed in 2012 due to her association with her husband's regime. Her reputation has been tarnished for standing by Bashar al-Assad during Syria's devastating civil war, with accusations of war profiteering and benefiting from foreign aid through her charity further damaging her image.
Asma Akhras: From London Roots to Syria’s Controversial First Lady
Asma Akhras, born on August 11, 1975, in London to Syrian parents from Homs, holds dual British-Syrian citizenship. Before her marriage to Bashar al-Assad, she pursued an impressive academic and professional career.
She attended Twyford Church of England High School and Queen's College in London, later graduating from King’s College London in 1996 with a degree in computer science and French literature. Asma went on to work as an analyst at Deutsche Bank and later at J.P. Morgan.
Life as Syria’s First Lady
As Syria’s First Lady, Asma initially garnered praise for championing women’s rights and social development initiatives, including her involvement with the Syria Trust for Development. However, these efforts came to an abrupt halt with the onset of the Syrian civil war in 2011.
Asma’s close ties to the Assad regime subjected her to EU sanctions, restricting travel and financial assistance. She also faced scrutiny for her alleged complicity in war crimes, including supporting acts of torture and the use of chemical weapons. Investigations in the UK explored potential terrorism charges against her.
Despite the controversies, Asma is a cancer survivor. Diagnosed with breast cancer in 2018, she underwent chemotherapy in Syria. Recently, in May, she was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia at age 48.
How Asma and Bashar Met
Asma and Bashar al-Assad’s paths first crossed during her childhood holidays in Syria, as her family frequently visited from the UK. Their relationship deepened in 1992 when Bashar moved to London to train as an ophthalmologist at the Western Eye Hospital. The couple married in 2000, shortly after Bashar became president following his father’s death. Together, they have three children: Hafez, Zein, and Karim.
The Fall of the Assad Dynasty
Bashar al-Assad’s reign, rooted in over five decades of Alawite dominance in a majority-Sunni nation, came to a dramatic end. His rule, supported by a tight-knit circle of family members, collapsed after rebel forces breached Damascus. The breach forced Assad to flee, marking the end of the Assad family’s long-standing grip on power in Syria.
0 Comments