- The UK has deproscribed HTS, citing closer engagement with the new Syrian administration.
- In a bid to counter Daesh and eliminate remnants of Assad’s chemical weapons programme, the UK aims for closer ties with Syria.
The UK has removed Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham from its list of proscribed terrorist organisations.
In a bid to build closer relations with the Syrian government and counter Daesh while also eliminating remnants of Bashar Al Assad’s chemical weapon programme, the UK has followed the US in deproscription HTS, the same organisation once led by Ahmad Al Sharaa, the current president of Syria, before its official disbandment.
HTS was officially disbanded in January 2025 in a bid to integrate all armed factions into Syrian state institutions, but many countries had kept the group on their terrorist designation list, as a lack of trust marred by suspicion of the new administration was still prevalent.
The UK Home Office and Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office said: “The government’s decision to remove Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) from the list of proscribed terrorist organisations will mean closer engagement with the new Syrian government and support UK foreign and domestic priorities, from counter-terrorism to migration and chemical weapons destruction.”
“Daesh remains a significant threat in Syria. The deproscription of HTS will support this government’s engagement on the counter-Daesh mission in Syria, in turn reducing the threat to the UK.
“Deproscription will also support closer working with Syria to eliminate the Assad regime’s chemical weapons programme.”
Although HTS had officially been disbanded, its proscription made it difficult for investment and aid distribution in certain areas of Syria.
The United States deproscribed HTS in July 2025, after normalising ties and suspending crippling sanctions on Syria.
The UK is now the second major Western country to deproscribe HTS after the United States.
The European Union, along with its 27 member states, still has the group listed on its terrorist designation list, and time will tell if they follow the UK in deproscripting.
Will deproscription help rebuild Syria?
With the deproscription of HTS, communication with the new Syrian administration, along with transferring humanitarian aid into areas once associated with HTS, becomes easier and less daunting.
It also encourages other nations to restore diplomatic ties and make investments in Syria.
Under terrorism-financing laws, it becomes difficult and daunting for aid organisations to transfer humanitarian aid to former HTS strongholds, but with the deproscription, that fear is removed, along with companies that seek to invest in those same areas.
The UK’s deproscription will mean that proscription offences set out in the Terrorism Act 2000, including the offences of membership and inviting support for proscribed organisations, will no longer apply to HTS.
The UK Foreign Office said in their statement: “The deproscription of HTS will mean that the proscription offences set out in the Terrorism Act 2000, including the offences of membership and inviting support for proscribed organisations, will no longer apply to HTS.
“On completion of this deproscription, a total of 83 organisations will be proscribed by the UK.”
It is not yet clear if members associated with HTS in the past who have been charged or convicted will be pardoned, or if this statement means that only everyone in the present and future who associates with HTS will no longer be charged or convicted of terror offences.
