The Aramea Foundation, a humanitarian and cultural preservation organisation led by Syrian-born author and public intellectual Siwar Al Assad, is expanding its advocacy work on behalf of Syrian refugees and the protection of Levantine cultural heritage at a moment of continued global urgency. The Foundation, which operates from London, United Kingdom, works at the intersection of humanitarian need and cultural memory, advancing the case that preserving a people’s heritage is as essential as securing their physical safety.

Founded by Al Assad in 2016, the Aramea Foundation takes its name from the ancient Aramaic-speaking civilisations whose legacy is embedded in the cultural DNA of the Levant. The organisation operates on a foundational conviction: that the displacement of people and the destruction of cultural heritage are twin crises that must be addressed together. When communities are forced from their homes, they carry their culture with them. When that culture is also under assault, the losses compound in ways that no humanitarian intervention alone can repair.

The scale of displacement that the Foundation addresses is significant. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that more than 6.8 million Syrians remain displaced outside their country, with millions more internally displaced within Syria itself. These communities face not only the practical challenges of rebuilding lives in unfamiliar environments but the deeper, often invisible challenge of maintaining connection to a cultural identity whose physical expressions, its historic cities, its architectural heritage, its arts and crafts traditions, have suffered severe damage.

"What the world sometimes misses is that refugees do not leave their culture behind when they cross a border. They carry it. They carry it in their language, in their cooking, in the stories they tell their children. The Aramea Foundation exists to honour that, to help ensure that what is carried survives and that what remains in Syria is protected for future generations."

The Foundation’s work encompasses advocacy at international forums, support for Syrian refugee communities across Europe and the broader diaspora, and sustained attention to the protection of sites of cultural significance within Syria. The destruction of Palmyra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1980, during the Syrian conflict drew international condemnation and crystallised for the Foundation the inseparability of humanitarian and heritage concerns. Al Assad addressed the loss of Palmyra directly in his literary work Palmyre pour toujours, a book that argues for the global responsibility to protect cultural heritage and draws comparisons with the historical losses of Carthage, Timbuktu, and other civilisations whose physical remains have been erased or diminished. The book serves as both a literary tribute and a philosophical manifesto for the Foundation’s mission.

Al Assad’s background makes him a distinctive voice in this space. His personal history, having left Syria at the age of nine and been educated across Switzerland, France, and Great Britain before building a career that spans literature, journalism, and civil society leadership, gives the Foundation’s advocacy an authenticity that institutional organisations can rarely match. He has spoken at international forums on Middle Eastern affairs, including a fringe meeting at the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham, addressing the Sunni-Shia divide in the Arab world, and his directorship of the Arab News Network provides the Foundation with significant media reach and credibility.

"The Aramea Foundation is not only about crisis response. It is about the long view. Civilisations recover. Communities rebuild. But they can only do so if something of what they were survives. Our work is to ensure that survival is possible. For the people. For the culture. For the memory."

The Foundation’s advocacy is grounded in a humanistic philosophy that transcends political partisanship. It does not align itself with any faction in the Syrian conflict. Its concern is for Syrian people across the full range of their experiences and affiliations, and for the heritage that belongs not only to Syrians but to humanity as a whole. The ancient city of Palmyra, for example, was not simply a Syrian treasure. It was a world treasure, and its partial destruction was a loss felt by historians, archaeologists, and cultural communities across the globe.

Organisations, media professionals, academic institutions, and individuals wishing to learn more about the Aramea Foundation’s work, to support its advocacy efforts, or to explore collaborative initiatives are encouraged to make contact through the official channels listed below. The Foundation welcomes partnerships with bodies that share its commitment to human dignity, cultural preservation, and the long-term well-being of displaced communities.

About the Author:

Siwar Al Assad is a multilingual Syrian author known for A Coeur Perdu, Guard Thy Heart, Le Temps d’une Saison, and Palmyre Pour Toujours. He is the founder of the Aramea Foundation and serves as the director of Arab News Network. His fiction and nonfiction work explores themes of identity, memory, exile, and emotional recovery.