British newspaper: Asma al-Assad does not have valid documents to enter the United Kingdom

The British newspaper, Daily Mail, quoted British government sources as saying that Asma al-Assad, the wife of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, no longer has valid British travel documents that would allow her to enter Britain, after her passport expired.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the British government would not allow Assad's wife to return to the country, because the decision could not be based solely on health grounds.

According to reports cited by the newspaper, Asma al-Assad's condition is deteriorating due to her being diagnosed with leukemia.

These reports indicated that Asma al-Assad's chances of survival do not exceed 50%.

The 49-year-old announced in May that she was undergoing treatment after being diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, an aggressive cancer that affects the bone marrow and blood. This comes shortly after she recovered from breast cancer in 2019.

Although she holds British citizenship, Asma al-Assad remains bound by sanctions imposed on her for her association with her ousted husband's regime, with the British Prime Minister's Office confirming that the sanctions will prevent her from returning to the United Kingdom.

After the outbreak of the Syrian revolution in 2011, the European Union imposed sanctions on it, including a travel ban and an asset freeze, justifying this by saying that it “benefits from the Syrian regime to which it is linked.” Despite the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union, London has maintained these sanctions.

In early December, the Baath Party rule that took power in Syria in 1963 collapsed, with Bashar al-Assad’s regime losing control of the capital, Damascus, and it falling into the hands of the factions of the military operations room.