Vice President of the Syrian Coalition, Dima Moussa, denounced plans that Russia has been recently proposing to force Syrian refugees to return to Syria while there are millions of Syrians who are internally displaced across the country. She said that enabling the people who have been forcibly displaced by the Assad regime forces and their allies to return to their original areas must be top priority.
Moussa stressed the need for the creation of “appropriate conditions for the voluntary, honorable return of Syrian refugees,” denouncing attempts to force them to agree to Assad regime’s conditions and obtain security clearances from the regime to be allowed to return to their homes.
Mousa also said that Moscow’s attempts to turn Syrian refugees into internally displaced people were “a new crime that is aimed at forcing millions of refugees to return to Syria in unsafe, unstable environment.”
“Russia’s plans became abundantly clear when there was talk about the establishment of accommodation centers to receive these refugees, which means that they will not be allowed to return to their areas of origin whatsoever,” Moussa stressed.
Moreover, Moussa pointed out that the return of refugees to areas other than their original ones will contribute to the demographic change operations which the Assad regime has been carrying out on a large scale in the country in recent years with Russian and Iranian support.
Meanwhile, the United Nations said it was deeply concerned over the ongoing large-scale displacement across parts of Syria and its impact on the civilian population. Eri Kaneko, Associate Spokeswoman for the UN Secretary-General, on Tuesday said that nearly 1.2 million people were internally displaced across the country in the first half of 2018.
Moussa went on to say that the abstention of this large number of displaced persons to return their homes and areas is proof of their fear of the Assad regime and the lack of a safe, neutral environment which was spelled out in the relevant international resolutions and all international laws on the rights of refugees. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)
