Hopes for a smooth resumption of ties between Jordan and Syria, which hit rock bottom following the eruption of the Syrian crisis in 2011, have been dashed over the fate of Jordanian citizens arrested by the Syrian authorities since the reopening of a land border last October.

On April 9, Jordan’s Foreign Ministry announced it had received assurances from its embassy in Damascus that the Syrian authorities would release eight Jordanian detainees. The news came five days after the ministry had summoned Syria’s charge d'affaires in Amman for the fourth time to protest the detention of Jordanians who had earlier crossed the border. On April 10, the ministry confirmed that four out of 55 Jordanians detained in Syria have been released.

Thousands of Jordanians had crossed the border into Syria since last October, while the two countries exchanged parliamentary visits in what was seen as a positive sign of a warming of bilateral ties. A nine-member parliamentary delegation visited Damascus in November 2018 and was later received by President Bashar al-Assad. And on Feb. 27, a Syrian delegation of lawmakers arrived in Amman to participate in an Arab parliamentary conference. It was the first visit by Syrian officials to the kingdom since 2011.

Other steps signaling a thaw in ties with Syria included the visits by delegations representing Jordanian businessmen to Damascus seeking to improve economic ties, while Amman announced in January that it was upgrading its diplomatic presence in Damascus. In February, the local aviation authority allowed Jordanian civilian aircraft to use Syrian airspace.