Coordinators of the Syrian Opposition’s (SOC) departments, offices and committees on Monday held their regular meeting to discuss the conference that Russia is preparing to hold in Damascus on the return of refugees and rebuilding.
SOC’s Vice-president Oqab Yahya pointed out that the SOC had already announced its position on these issues and stressed the need to provide the necessary conditions for the return of refugees, most importantly security. He pointed out that local and international human rights organizations have already documented the regime’s arrest of the majority of those who returned to the country.
Yahya added that Russia cannot deny the existence of major crises in Syria, especially those related to the security, the political and humanitarian situations. He said that Russia cannot impose its will on the Syrian people, including the attempt to force the refugees to return to live under the mercy of the Assad regime.
The SOC has developed a plan to confront Russia’s attempts to link the return of refugees with rebuilding, which is in turn associated with a set of conditions that are not yet available, most notably the initiation of a political process to fully implement UN resolution 2254.
Yahya stressed that resolving the issues that Russia is seeking to address in its conference have already been clarified by international resolutions on Syria, especially the Geneva Communique of 2020 and UN Resolution 2254. He said that Russia’s continued attempts to circumvent these resolutions does not serve the interests of the Syrian people nor will they restore stability to Syria and the region. (Source: SOC’s Media Department)
