Riad Hijab, head of the opposition’s High Negotiations Committee (HNC), earlier on Monday sent a letter to the Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon to warn of the dire consequences of the forced mass displacement the Assad regime is carrying out in Syria. The letter said that the Assad regime uses the UN as a cover for this forced mass displacement which is aimed at bringing about a demographic change in Syria.
Hijab called upon the UN to ensure “full implementation of UN Security Council resolutions on Syria and to force the Assad regime and its allies to abide by international law.” He pointed out that “the suffering of the Syrian people, which is increasing with each passing day, has become the greatest tragedy the civilized world has witnessed in our modern times. However, the world just stood idly by doing nothing to put an end to this tragedy, which is undoubtedly a permanent stain on the conscience of the international community.”
“Aleppo is just a single episode of the Syrian tragedy,” Hijab said, adding that developments in this city “took a serious turn as the Assad regime made plain its intent to change the demographic composition in the city through the forced mass displacement of its inhabitants.” He stressed that the United Nations bears legal and ethical responsibility for the implications arising from this policy, warning that “the same applies to Alwaer district in Homs, Daraya and Madaya in Rural Damascus as well as all parts of Syria.”
Hijab said the UN resolutions on Syria “have not been enforced, and are instead being exploited by the regime to serve its plans that have already begun to materialize on the ground.” He said that the United Nations “is being used as cover for these plans acting as a sponsor for local truces in Syria that were basically favorable to the regime. These truces were imposed in violation of UN Security Council resolution 2268 (2016) and 2254 (2015) and were against principles and values set out in the UN Charter.”
Hijab warned that the latest developments in Syria, especially the forced mass displacement policy pursued by the Assad regime and the lukewarm response by the UN will further foment extremism; lead to further bloodshed; make the world less safe; and fail to preserve the unity and territorial integrity of Syria.
Hijab warned that “the mass displacement of innocent civilians and uprooting them from their towns and villages by the force of arms would fuel terrorism.” He reiterated the HNC’s support for the full implementation of UN Security Council resolutions on Syria which were drafted based on the Geneva Communique of 2012.
Hijab concluded his letter by calling for the full implementation of articles on the humanitarian situation set out in UNSC resolutions. He also called for the expansion of the cessation of hostilities agreement to cover all Syria. (Source: Syrian Coalition)
