Conference on refugees return | Statements divorced from reality… international sanctions blamed of hindering state’s efforts…while citizens inside and outside Syria denounce and deride the conference

Turning  his back on all crises in areas controlled by his regime, Bashar Al-Assad with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, have kicked off a “conference on the return of Syrian refugees”, ironically at a time when the Syrian people in these areas have been suffering from acute shortage of bread and fuel, lack of job opportunities, unaffordable prices of food and essentials and deteriorating security.

 

Today, Wednesday, delegations from China, Russia, Iran, Lebanon, United Arab Emirates, Pakistan and Oman gathered at “Convention Palace”, near Damascus international airport, in order to take part in the Russian-backed conference on refugees’ return from neighbouring countries, Europe and other countries. However, it is worth noting that most of countries which host Syrian refugees have not attended this conference.

 

In a speech aired at the beginning of the conference, Al-Assad thanked both Russia and Iran, then talked about the obstacles which prevented the return of the displaced, describing this issue as “humanitarian”.

 

“The majority of refugees want to return to their homeland, but pressures have been exerted on them not to return,” said Al-Assad. “The illegitimate economic sanctions and siege imposed by US government and its allies on Syria are hindering the work of state institutions which aims at the rebuilding and improvement of infrastructure damaged by terrorism,” he added.

 

It seems that Al-Assad pretends to have forgotten once again the fact that his regime, his forces and his allies, Russia and Iran, have been the root cause of the refugee and internal displacement crisis; andthe claims of the Syrian regime and its allies are completely divorced from reality and developments on the ground.  According to SOHR statistics, the jets and helicopter of Bashar al-Assad’s regime have carried out more than 220,000 raids since the beginning of the “Syrian Revolution” in 2011, killing 26,403 civilians, and they are as follows: 16,652 young males and men, 5,967 children were under the age of eighteen and 3,784 females over the age of eighteen.

 

Also, airstrikes by Russia, the conference’s sponsor, have killed 8,661 Syrian civilians in 61 months of military operations in Syria since September 2015. The fatalities are distributed as follows: 2,098 children under the age of eighteen, 1,317 females over the age of eighteen, 5,246 men and young males.

 

Moreover, SOHR has documented the arrest of nearly 730 refugees and internally displaced people who returned to regime-controlled areas, 58 of whom are still detained to date on various charges. Those individuals were simply tired of being displaced and wanted to return to their own home.. It is worth noting that regime security services arrested these people for interrogation. However, those released  are periodically summoned to security branches for further questioning.

 

On social media, Syrian refugees, internally displaced people and even people living in regime-controlled areas denounced and mocked the holding of suchconference. The Syrian Observatory monitored such comments by refugees and displaced people, some of which read “No return before the departure of Al-Assad and its regime – How dare you ask us to return after you have destroyed the country, while you cannot secure the needs of people and strip them of their rights?! – Despite all struggles and problems we have faced in the host countries, they are more merciful than your rule.”

 

While some comments by people living in regime-controlled areas read “Please, do not return, we are coming to you, living conditions here are insufferable, no electricity, no bread, no fuel, all prices are unaffordable and salaries are not even enough.”

 

Although Russia is continuing to disseminate allegations and lies about the situation in Syria and as the International Community continues its silence and ignores the massacres and crimes committed by Russia, Iran and Syrian regime against the Syrian people, we, at the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, seek to send a message to the international community that sheds light on the cries and pain of the Syrian people who seek liberty, democracy, justice and equality, and to bring those criminals with Syrian blood on their hands to special international courts, so that they would face justice.