Coordinator of the Syrian Opposition Coalition’s (SOC) Office of Refugee Affairs, Amal Sheikho, said that there is currently no safe environment in Syria for the return of Syrian refugees.
She said that the Office continues to record new cases of displacement across Syria due to the Assad regime and its backers’ constant attacks on civilians.
Sheikho made it clear that Syrian refugees always express a strong desire to return to Syria and reaffirm commitment to their right to return to their homeland. They also openly state that the return is impossible as long as the Assad regime remains in power and continues its atrocious crimes against civilians.
She warned of Russia’s attempts to circumvent international standards and promote plans to return refugees to regime-held areas with the aim of achieving political and economic gains. She stressed that the lives of refugees will be at serious risk should they be returned to regime-held areas.
Sheikho cited the fate of hundreds of Syrian refugees who were forced to return to Syria from Lebanon as the majority were detained or forcibly disappeared.
She stressed that the refugee crisis can only be resolved through serious, productive efforts to achieve a real political transition in Syria in accordance with the Geneva Communique of 2012, UN Security Council Resolutions 2118 and 2254, and the UN General Assembly resolution 67/262. (Source: SOC’s Media Department)
