UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen yesterday said that European nations should not rush to repatriate refugees to the country following the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government, and he urged foreign players, including Israel, not to intervene militarily.
Syria remained in disorder three days after al-Assad’s overthrow, with conflict continuing in the northeast, and Israel bombing targets and expanding its buffer zone inside the country.
“The situation in Syria is still fluid,” Pedersen told a news conference at the UN’s Geneva headquarters.
Photo: Reuters
While many Syrians were eager to return home, “there are livelihood challenges still. The humanitarian situation is disastrous. The economy has collapsed,” he said.
News of al-Assad’s fall prompted politicians in several European countries to call for a pause to the processing of asylum applications or even for the repatriation of refugees from 13 years of conflict.
Going back “is something many, many Syrians are hoping for, but let’s makes sure the international community is helping them in this process,” Pedersen said.
Photo: AFP
Israel’s campaign of bombarding military installations in Syria — something it says is essential to its security — “needs to stop,” he told reporters.
“It is extremely important that we don’t see any action from any international actor that destroys the possibility for this transformation in Syria to take place,” he said.
Syria’s transitional arrangements also needed to be as inclusive as possible, involving the broadest possible spectrum of Syrian society, or risk further conflict erupting, he added.
To that end, the international community should be “realistic” about the terrorist designation of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) rebel group that toppled al-Assad.
“It is now nine years since that resolution [declaring HTS’ predecessor a terrorist group] was adopted,” he said. “The reality is so far that HTS and also the other armed groups have been sending good messages to the Syrian people ... of unity, of inclusiveness.”
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it had recorded more than 300 Israeli airstrikes since al-Assad was deposed.
The Israeli strikes had “destroyed the most important military sites in Syria,” it said.
The group said the strikes targeted weapons depots, navy vessels and a research center that Western countries suspected of having links to chemical weapons production.
Israel, which borders Syria, also sent troops into a buffer zone east of the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights after al-Assad’s fall, in what Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Gideon Saar described as a “limited and temporary step” for “security reasons.”
The Israeli military denied reports that its tanks were advancing towards Damascus, insisting that its forces were stationed within the buffer zone.
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