Joint statement by Joint Coordination Committees of the Russian Federation and the Syrian Arab Republic on the problems of the repatriation of the Syrian refugees and IDPs

21.04.2021 (19:55)

Russian and Syrian Joint Coordination Committees are consistently working to facilitate the return of Syrian citizens to their homeland and the restoration of peaceful life in the republic, which has so far allowed the return of 2,242,103 Syrians to their chosen places of residence.

The main flow of returning citizens goes through the checkpoints on the Syrian-Lebanese border. Since the beginning of this year, 17 768 refugees have arrived in Syria from Lebanon. The Nasib checkpoint on the Syrian-Jordanian border remains closed. Today, due to the pressure exerted by the United States on the Jordanian authorities, the issue of resuming the process of returning Syrian citizens to their homeland is not being considered.

The Syrian Government is making every effort to overcome all obstacles to the refugee return process, which is a national priority for Syria. The fight against the spread of coronavirus infection is actively underway. Sanitary and epidemiological measures and work on vaccination of the population have been organized.

In the face of inhumane anti-Syrian economic sanctions imposed by the United States and its allies, the Syrian government continues to invest tens of billions of pounds to restore and build new social infrastructure, including water and electricity systems.

The illegal occupation by the United States and its allies of vast areas of Syria, where the natural resources belonging to the Syrian people are being plundered, is causing serious damage to the Syrian economy. They have organized camps for internally displaced persons that resemble places of detention. Humanitarian organizations are almost deprived of access there.

Economic and political sanctions, illegal occupation, support for anti-government militants-all this indicate the desire of the United States and its allies to prevent the revival of Syria, to achieve the collapse of the economy and the humanitarian crisis.

This is also facilitated by the principles of the so-called 'crossborder assistance mechanism' in Syria, which violates the sovereignty 2 and territorial integrity of the republic. Humanitarian supplies are delivered to terrorists and pro-Western groups in the territories not controlled by the Syrian government without the approval of the official Damascus. Donor countries, using a cross-border mechanism, support anti-Syrian sanctions, discriminate against Syrians, depriving them of humanitarian aid in the context of the coronavirus pandemic and increasing the suffering of the people.

Meanwhile, the UN humanitarian agencies and the International Committee of the Red Cross note the deterioration of the situation in all of Syria, despite the absence of large-scale fighting. The main reasons for this state of affairs are the decline in the performance of the national economy and the impact on the local currency, which are the result of unilateral Western sanctions. In these conditions, new waves of forced migration of the population are forecast to appear.

We call on the international community to strongly blame the United States and its allies for the inhumane anti-Syrian sanctions and illegal occupation, destroying the economy of sovereign Syria, as well as the politicization of humanitarian assistance in the republic, depriving the Syrian people of full-fledged international humanitarian assistance.

We are convinced that the establishment of a sustainable humanitarian supply in all parts of Syria through legitimate mechanisms in cooperation with the Government of the republic will allow us to assist all those in need.

Public link

Please use the above public link if you want to share this noodl on another website.