On the whole, Christians feel relatively safe in Syria, but far from being free and equal. Patriarch Ignatius IV Hazim worries about the future of Christians in Lebanon and Syria because of the escalating waves of emigrations, yet he still is confident there will always be a Christian presence in this Holy Land country, finding it "inconceivable that Christians will live in all lands except that in which their Lord and Savior chose to live." He estimates a total population of 2.2 million Christians of which a million are Orthodox. The Syrian government, following its secular principles, refuses to ask citizens about their religious affiliation.
Atallah Mansour
Narrow Gate Churches p. 156, 7
Hope Publishing
Abu Daoud says: it is precisely because the government is run by the Ba'th party (which was founded by a Christian) that Christians feel safe. It is precisely because there is no Syrian democracy that the government is secular (well, more than others in the region). Democracy, as one Syrian Christian told me, would be a disaster for the Christians there.
