A knock on the door, a muted threat and then they made the decision to leave the country
asserted
they → make → country
, says Layla, a math teacher and mother-of-three in her 40s.
asserted
Layla → say → 40s
Until recently, Layla — who didn't want DW to use her full name for security reasons — was living in Damascus, Syria's capital.
asserted
DW → want → Damascus
She and her family are Alawites, the same religious sect as former Syrian dictator Bashar Assad, who are often targeted because they're seen as Assad's allies.
asserted
they → target → allies
"But we never supported him, his father killed members of my family.
asserted
father → support → family
We hated him actually," she told DW.
asserted
she → hat → DW
Still, she describes feeling fearful when rebel groups entered Damascus in 2024 for the first time after the fall of the Assad regime, calling them "extremists.
asserted
groups → describe → them
At first, she and her husband decided to stay in Syria.
asserted
she → decide → Syria
But then a stranger came to the door.
asserted
stranger → come → door
"He told me 'we know your daughter plays piano and has dance lessons.
asserted
daughter → tell → lessons
You should stop that.
asserted
You → stop → that
If you don't, maybe we will take her to the house of the sisters,"
asserted
we → do → sisters
Layla recounts.
asserted
Layla → recount → ?
In conservative Islamic circles, women playing music and dancing for an audience is frowned upon.
asserted
women → play → audience
And Layla had heard about the so-called "house of the sisters" — she had read online it was a place where Syrian women from other sects were forced to convert to Islam.
asserted
women → hear → Islam
A few days later, the family decided to leave the country.
asserted
family → decide → country
"I just don't want my children to grow up that way," Layla explains.
What is the 'house of sisters'?
asserted
house → want → sisters
Headlines about the "house of sisters" first really made waves in Syria in May after an Alawite university student Batoul Alloush, 21, was reported missing by her family, possibly kidnapped, only to turn up later wearing religious clothing and saying she left her family in order to convert to Islam.
uncertain
she → make → Islam
Reham Suleiman, a psychologist who works for the United Nations and with the Alawite community, told DW she has firsthand knowledge of several cases of kidnapping.
asserted
she → work → kidnapping
"And it’s not just one incident or coincidence," she says.
asserted
she → ’ → ?
It is clear some of women were kidnapped for ransom money, revenge or forced marriage.
asserted
some → kidnap → money
But other cases were apparently resolved when, for example, the women said they had been visiting friends, wanted to escape their families or had run away to a lover.
asserted
they → resolve → lover
Alloush herself said she wished to convert to Islam and leave her family.
asserted
she → say → family
Her parents insist she's been drugged or coerced.
asserted
she → insist → ?
Organizations like Amnesty International and the UN's Commission of Inquiry on Syria say the cases — which number between 40 and 60 — have not been fully investigated.
asserted
which → say → 40
A political football
Syrian authorities did look into the "house of sisters."
asserted
authorities → look → sisters
A spokesperson for Syria's Minister of Social Affairs, Hind Kabawat, told DW that the ministry has not licensed any facility with that name and that any unlicensed centers of this nature would be shut down.
asserted
centers → tell → nature
Syrian fact-checking organizations like Verify-Sy found that pictures of the supposed "house of sisters" building were created with AI.
"
asserted
pictures → check → AI
A constant stream of unverified claims circulates on a daily basis concerning alleged kidnappings and killings, arrests and cases of torture in detention facilities," a spokesperson from Verify-Sy told DW.
uncertain
spokesperson → circulate → DW
"Verifying many of these is challenging when evidence available through open sources is scarce, contradictory or otherwise insufficient.
asserted
evidence → verify → sources
So whether the "house of sisters" exists in some form is unclear.
uncertain
exists → exist → form
But real or not, some groups appear to have instrumentalized it for their own agenda anyway, independent media outlet Shaam News Network, or SNN, wrote recently.
asserted
Network → appear → agenda
"Despite the absence of any physical evidence … social media platforms and pages began circulating 'the house' as an established fact," SNN wrote.
asserted
SNN → begin → fact
"And it gradually became the focus of broader narratives about the 'organized kidnapping' of Alawite women."
asserted
it → become → women
A private organization called the Syrian Investigation Mechanism, or SIM, founded in May 2026, links the "house of sisters" to a Muslim organization that proselytizes to gain new converts.
uncertain
that → call → converts
SIM claimed the missing women were coerced into converting and held in "the house."
asserted
women → claim → house
In an interview on YouTube, SIM director Yasser Shalati, who is based in Brandenburg, Germany, claims this is evidence of "demographic engineering."
uncertain
this → base → engineering
SIM did not reply to DW's requests for further comment.
asserted
SIM → reply → comment
A Berlin-based organization, the Union of Syrian Alawites in Europe, or USAE, has also repeatedly posted about the "house of sisters."
asserted
organization → base → sisters
On his personal Facebook page, Muaiad Ibrahim, who is listed as USAE's deputy director in official court documents, regularly criticizes the new Syrian government and recently expressed support for Syria's highest religious scholar under the Assad regime, Ahmed Hassoun.
asserted
who → list → regime
…and 24 more, not listed.
The Aporia
