Foreign journalists are increasingly staying out of Syria, judging the risk of kidnapping to be too great.

Among the journalists I know covering Syria, almost everyone is swearing off crossing the border and going inside the country. It’s not the threat of violence that’s stopping people, but the risk of kidnapping.

Working in Syria during the war has always been dangerous. Since March 2011, the conflict has claimed the lives of at least 24 journalists and 60 citizen journalists. But for those working inside, there were ways to limit exposure to violence and there was relative comfort in knowing that you could trust the people around you. In opposition-controlled areas, Syrians wanted the outside world to hear their story and many locals went to great lengths to protect and welcome foreign reporters.

Nearly two and a half years into the war, all of that has changed. In northern Syria, the country has fallen into economic ruin and hardcore jihadist groups, many with foreign ties, have proliferated. These two factors have created an environment ripe for kidnapping. Those desperate for cash are willing to abduct people for ransom or to sell them to extremist groups willing to pay for a foreign hostage… Read More

By Tom A. Peter, CSM Correspondent in Istambul (Turkey) July 31, 2013

I knew about Peter’s article thanks to the following twitt: