Vice-President of the Syrian Coalition, Dima Moussa, reaffirmed the need for international intervention through the UN Security Council or any other mechanism capable of stopping the Assad regime from going ahead with the implementation of Law No. 10 aimed bringing about a large-scale demographic change in the country.
Moussa pointed out that the Assad regime is still insisting on the implementation of the new law. She added that Assad regime officials recently announced that Al-Tadamon neighborhood in Damascus would be subjected to Law No. 10 in its entirety under the pretext of creating one or more zones within the new urban re-zoning plan. This punitive move will leave the internally displaced persons and refugees at the risk of forfeiting their property and will allow the regime to repopulate strategic areas with regime loyalists, Moussa said.
Moussa warned that this measure would prevent the return of internally displaced persons and refugees to their areas of origin, which amounts to a war crime and a crime against humanity under international law.
“We continue to call on the international community to take concrete measures, through the available mechanisms, to stop the implementation of Law 10 which made the intentions of the Assad regime abundantly clear,” Moussa said on Friday. She called upon the European Union and other countries such as Canada and the United States to ratchet up political pressure on the Assad regime and oppose the implementation of the new property law given the dire implications it will have for the EU countries and all countries hosting Syrian refugees.
In a report published in May, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said that Law 10 creates a major obstacle to the return of displaced persons and refugees to their homes. It stressed that the measure empowers the Assad regime to confiscate private property without due process or compensation.
Large parts of al-Tadamon neighborhood were subjected to heavy bombardment by the Assad regime and Russian forces over the past several years. Tens of thousands of its residents were forced to leave the neighborhood under deals that were enforced and supervised by Moscow. (Source: Syrian Coalitions’ Media Department)
