Ambassador Ala: The file of the displaced Syrians should not be politicized

Geneva, (ST) – Syria has reiterated that the takfiri terrorist war and the economic terrorism war represented by unilateral coercive measures against it are the main reasons behind the humanitarian suffering and the coercive displacement of the Syrians.

In a statement at the Executive Committee of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Geneva (UNHCR), Ambassador Husam EddinAla, Syria’s Permanent Representative to the UN Office, and other international organizations in Geneva said that, the Syrian Arab Republic has stressed that the Israeli occupation has continued to be the main cause of the coercive displacement of half a million Syrians – citizens of the occupied Syrian Golan. Millions of Palestinian refugees have also been deprived of their right to return to their homeland, in addition to the acts of aggression, foreign occupation, terrorism directed from abroad, and unilateral coercive measures which are, over the past years, the basic reasons for the humanitarian crises in the region.

“The takfiri terrorist war and the economic terrorist war represented by unilateral coercive measures constitute the main reasons for the humanitarian suffering and coercive displacement of Syrians,” Ambassador Ala added.

He re-affirmed the call to support the efforts of the Syrian government in responding to the humanitarian situation in Syria and to facilitate the return of the displaced, away from the political conditionality that donor countries seek to impose on the work of international humanitarian agencies. 

Ambassador Ala stressed the importance of respecting the principles laid down in the relevant United Nations resolutions.

Ala stressed that the Corona pandemic exposed the countries of the world to serious challenges to protect their citizens, provide them with health care, and address the economic and social consequences of the pandemic, which are expected to continue its effects on the economic situation in the coming years.

He described the response to promises to strengthen solidarity and international cooperation in collectively addressing this common threat as remaining, just only as promises , criticizing the disregard of the pleas of the Secretary– General and the High Commissioner for Human Rights to lift or suspend unilateral coercive measures to help the targeted countries to combat effectively the pandemic.

 Ambassador Ala indicated that Syrian government, despite the economic blockade, keeps working to return normal life and rehabilitate the infrastructure along with restoring the service institutions to the areas liberated from terrorism by the Syrian Arab Army.

Ala criticized the obstacles put by some international sides and agencies to hinder those efforts in the service of political agendas that have caused the humanitarian suffering of the Syrians and seek to politicize the humanitarian response through conferences being held in the absence of the Syrian State.

Ambassador Ala, at the conclusion of his statement, thanked the High Commissioner for Refugees and urged him to play a more active role in supporting the efforts of the Syrian government to facilitate the voluntary return of displaced Syrians to their homeland and to contribute to overcoming obstacles to achieving this goal by mobilizing more financial resources and working with the countries concerned to lift unilateral coercive measures, and distancing the issue of the return of refugees from conditionality and political agendas.

Raghda Sawas