Macron announces France to return over 50 million euros seized from Assad clan to Syria

France will return more than 50 million euros seized from the assets of Rifaat al-Assad, the uncle of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, to benefit the Syrian population. French President Emmanuel Macron announced the decision during a visit to Damascus.

The funds, amounting to 51 million euros according to a document signed by the foreign ministers of both countries, were confiscated by French justice due to illicit enrichment. Macron stated the money will finance concrete development projects within Syria.

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More than 50 million euros from the seizure of ill-gotten assets by the family of the former dictator (...) will be returned to the Syrian people to finance concrete development projects on the territory.

Rifaat al-Assad, who died in exile in early 2026 at age 88, was infamously known as the "Butcher of Hama." He played a significant role in the brutal suppression of an insurrection in the Syrian city in 1982, which resulted in an estimated 10,000 to 40,000 deaths. He left Syria in 1984, living in Switzerland and later France, before returning to his home country in 2021 to evade a four-year prison sentence in France for organized crime and embezzlement of Syrian public funds.

Macron emphasized France's commitment to pursuing such legal actions, stating, "We are the first to have pursued this legal action and taken it to the end. And we will continue wherever it is possible."

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We are the first to have pursued this legal action and taken it to the end. And we will continue wherever it is possible.