Arab Organisation for Human Rights in the UK (AOHR UK) condemned the repeated attacks of the Syrian regime on Idlib, which resulted in the death and injury of civilians, destruction of infrastructure, and displacement of thousands. Such attacks double the suffering of Syrians who are forced to flee death under bombardment and seek refuge in neighbouring countries, that do not welcome them, make their lives hard, and seeks their deportation back to death in Syria.
Yesterday the Syrian regime and its affiliated terrorist groups launched an attack in the Jisr Al-Shughur area, in the de-escalation zone agreed upon between Iran, Russia, and Turkey in 2020 in Idlib and the Aleppo countryside. The attack left 10 injured, including 2 children and 4 women. A previous attack at the beginning of this month displaced thousands of civilians and destroyed hospitals and schools. The ongoing attacks by the Syrian regime make the return of refugees completely unsafe and breaches the international duty to protect refugees.
Moreover, cases have been monitored in which refugees are forced to sign a paper stating their voluntary return to Syria, especially after new campaigns were launched against refugees and the appointment of figures in the Turkish government known for their restrictive policies against refugees.
Those measures indicate that the Turkish state is working to implement its electoral promises, including returning refugees to their countries, regardless of their fate.
It is worth noting that the repatriation of Syrian refugees is not taking place in Turkey only, but rather extended to Lebanon and Jordan, where the two governments carried out repatriation campaigns for refugees, and their officials also expressed that refugees in their countries are not welcome due to the current economic, service, and security crises in these countries hosting refugees.
The current situation of refugees is the result of the international community’s failure in managing the Syrian crisis since its beginning and their abandonment of the Syrian people, leaving them to struggle alone to obtain their basic rights such as freedom, human dignity, and justice, which the international community sings all the time about.
The Syrian reality strongly confirms that the international community does not take into account human rights unless it has economic and political interests in the country.
AOHR UK calls on all concerned countries and bodies of the international community to impose maximum pressure on the regime and its allies to stop its aggression against the Syrian people, and to secure the areas to which refugees return and provide them with all means needed to have a dignified life. It also urges the international community to oblige the host countries to stop forcing refugees to return to areas that pose a threat to their lives, freedom, and human dignity, and to financially support these countries to enable them to keep the refugees safe there.
