Asma al-Assad, the wife of ousted Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, will not be able to return to the United Kingdom, where she was born, because her British passport has expired.
Sources in the British government told The Times about this.
Recently, rumors have surfaced that Asma al-Assad plans to divorce her husband and return to Britain to continue her treatment for leukemia. However, according to the publication, her passport expired in 2020, making it impossible for her to return to London.
It is not known whether the British authorities deliberately did not allow her to renew the document or whether it was her own fault. In any case, the newspaper’s sources indicate that Asma no longer has a valid British passport. According to them, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper is unlikely to grant her entry even given her health condition.
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy also made it clear that Asma al-Assad is “not welcome” in the country.
Asma, who was born and raised in Acton, West London, became the first lady of Syria in 2000 after marrying Bashar al-Assad. The Assad regime itself was finally overthrown this month as a result of an offensive by rebels led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).
According to media reports, Asma fled to Moscow before the fall of Damascus. Later, she was joined by Bashar al-Assad and their three children – 23-year-old Hafez, 21-year-old Zein and 19-year-old Karim. The family currently lives in the Russian capital, where they own several luxury properties.