‘Syria is not fit for the safe and dignified return of refugees’

* Illustration: Dominika Ożyńska/ Amnesty International

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The United Nations (UN) Syria Commission of Inquiry has released a report on the situation in the country. Covering the period of July 1, 2020 - July 30, 2021, The report has shown that the overall situation in Syria looks increasingly bleak in fighting upsurge during the 10-year war.

The report of the UN Commission has indicated that "Syria is not fit for the safe and dignified returns of refugees and this year's upsurge in fighting and the return to violence are causes for alarm."

Speaking about the issue at a UN news conference in Geneva, Commission Chair Paulo Pinheiro has stated, "One decade in, the parties to the conflict continue to perpetrate war crimes and crimes against humanity and infringing the basic human rights of Syrians."

"The war on Syrian civilians continues, and it is difficult for them to find security or safe haven in this war-torn country," he has added.

Torture, sexual violence, disappearance

As reported by the state-run Anadolu Agency (AA), President Bashar al-Assad enters his fourth term in office, controlling about 70 percent of the territory and 40 percent of the pre-war population, says the 46-page report to be presented to the UN Human Rights Council.

"What we are seeing today in Syria is a war against the civilian population, many of the human rights violations and the crimes in terms of humanitarian law continue," Pinheiro has said about the issue.

The report to be submitted to the UN Human Rights Council on September 23 has found that there seems to be no moves to unite the country or seek reconciliation, on the contrary, incidents of arbitrary and incommunicado detention by regime forces continue unabated.

The Commission has continued to document not only torture and sexual violence in detention but also custodial deaths and enforced disappearances.

'Increasingly bleak'

"The overall situation in Syria looks increasingly bleak. In addition to intensifying violence, the economy is plummeting," Commissioner Karen Koning AbuZayd has also said, raising concerns that "Mesopotamia's famous riverbeds are at their driest in decades while widespread community transmission of COVID-19 seems unstoppable by a healthcare system which has been decimated by war with a lack of oxygen and vaccines."

"This is no time for anyone to think that Syria is a country fit for its refugees to return," Koning AbuZayd has underlined. (KÖ/SD)