Regime forces have forced around 2,500 residents in the towns of Qudsaya and Alhama in northwestern Rural Damascus to leave their homes to Idlib province after a brutal ground assault by regime forces and their allied militias as well as intense airstrikes.
In a statement released on Thursday, the Syrian Coalition said that the Assad regime’s policy of mass forced displacement is aimed at bringing about a demographic change in Syria serving the interests of foreign powers.
Assad regime forces have also waged a similar assault on the nearby town of Alhama using internationally banned weapons and barrel bombs to pressure the people in the town into leaving their homes. The Assad regime plans to replace the local population with families of foreign militants to tighten its grip on the Damascus suburbs.
The Coalition renewed condemnation of attempts by the Assad regime to force residents of the towns of Qudsaya and Alhama in Rural Damascus to agree to a so-called true whose terms were dictated by the regime.
These latest attempts are part of the Assad regime’s continued policy of mass forced displacement, which it has employed in many parts across Syria with the aim of bringing about demographic change with the full support and coordination with the Iranian and Russian invaders, the Coalition said.
The Syrian Coalition stressed the illegality of any agreement or deal aimed at bringing about a demographic shift in Syria paving the way to the division of the country or affecting the Syrian people’s basic rights and their dignity.
“The Assad regime and its allies have an infamous track record of reneging on promises; violating international and local agreements; and wriggling out of their obligations. Their ongoing barbaric onslaught in Syria does not distinguish between rebel fighters and civilians,” the Coalition added.
The Assad regime has already breached local deals across Syria including the evacuation deal reached with the residents of the Damascus suburb of Daraya in August after over three years of brutal siege and bombardment. According to the deal, the Assad regime was supposed to release women and children in its custody in Daraya, but no one has been released yet.
“The Assad regime and its allies continue to adamantly pursue a policy of killing, displacement, destruction, and demographic change in Syria, thinking that by carrying out more crimes against the Syrian people, they can break their will to achieve victory. However, Assad and his allies fail to learn that the will of the people who rose up will finally prevail and that their attempts to bring the Syrian people to their knees by military force are doomed to fail. The Syrian revolution will achieve its goals of freedom and will defeat tyranny no matter the sacrifices,” the Coalition said. (Source: Syrian Coalition)
