Syrian exiles forced to prop up regime with fees for avoiding conscription

Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project and Siraj reveal how refugees are pressured for cash

Early this year, Yousef, a 32-year-old Syrian living in Sweden, found himself faced with an impossible choice: either enlist in the army of the government that made him a refugee, or risk his family losing their home back in Syria.

Military service is mandatory for Syrian men between the ages of 18 and 42, and the stakes rose significantly in February when an army official announced on Facebook that a new regulation would allow authorities to confiscate the property of service evaders" and their families. Pressure was mounting on Yousef to decide.