2022: SACD’s Year in Review

The Syrian Association for the Citizens’ Dignity, in cooperation with the Turkish organization SOLARIS held a major international symposium in the capital of Turkey, Ankara, on February 10-11, 2022, with the participation of dozens of Turkish academics, representatives of civil society organizations, Syrian and Turkish political, and media figures.  The symposium was an essential starting point for a serious and open discussion aimed at building a common understanding of the situation experienced by Syrian refugees today in Turkey and everywhere. 

A two-day conference held in Ankara, titled “Safe environment and dignified return for Syrians” marked a significant starting point of a serious and open discussion which aims to build a common understanding of the situation in which displaced Syrians find themselves today in Turkey and everywhere. The closing statement summed up the main message of the conference: It’s not safe for Syrians to return. The silent and not so silent attempts to normalize the regime only make return more impossible, as Syrian regime, as main cause of displacement, practices repression and terrorism upon Syrian people. 

SACD Programs Director, Rudaina Alkhazam delivered the opening speech by talking about the situation of refugees, especially in Turkey. After which Dr. Mazen Kseibi, member of SACD Board of Trustees, spoke about the absence of a safe environment in Syria and the continuation of displacement. On the second day of the conference, Dr. Mohannad AlHosini, member of SACD diplomatic team, elaborated on the definition of a safe environment according to the displaced Syrians themselves. And finally, the closing statement asserted that Syrian refugees and displaced persons cannot return without a safe environment. 

The Syrian Association for Citizens’ Dignity organized a press conference in the Danish capital Copenhagen, in collaboration with Refugees Welcome, and with the participation of Human Rights Watch, Refugee Protection Watch and Amnesty Denmark. The press conference discussed the recent reports documenting the harsh reality in Syria to which refugees are supposed to return, the condemnations of the Danish Immigration Service’s report by experts who provided information for it and the implications of the policy for other countries hosting Syrian refugees, such as Lebanon, and the possible long-term consequences of premature return, including further displacement of even larger numbers of Syrians.  

SACD continued to draw attention to the suffering of Syrians trapped in Rukban. Located in a deserted area between Syria and Jordan, the Rukban camp has been suffering from a severe shortage in aid due to Russia’s attempt to block the delivery of much needed supplies and food. Children have been dying from inadequate medical care and shortage of food, let alone being deprived of education and registration. Some families were forced to leave the camp, but only to face the brutality of the Syrian regime forces awaiting them.  

Emad, from the town of Qarayteen in Homs northern suburbs, explains his displacement story, how he ended up in Rukban camp, the difficulties they face and his message to the international community. 

The Syrian Association for Citizens’ Dignity has been adamantly working to shed light on what the Syrians face in the various refugee hosting countries. The Association conducted an interview with A. K., who is originally from Daraa and was born and lived in Damascus in 1975. She is currently married and lives with her husband and family in Lebanon. 

“Despite the suffering we are experiencing in Lebanon and the high cost of living, I would rather stay than go back to Assad’s hell and his unjust regime,” says a Syrian refugee living in Beirut.
 

On the anniversary of the start of the peaceful demonstrations and civil struggle in Syria, the displaced Syrians demanded the international community to give them what they have given the Ukrainian people: support and humane treatment. 

After more than a decade of peaceful demonstrations in Syria calling for freedom and dignity and eventually demands to overthrow the regime, the struggle of the Syrians continues despite being subjected to repression, killing, torture, and war crimes that have killed at least half a million Syrians and have displaced more than half of the Syrian people. 

As the world obsessively looked on in horror while the largest conflict on European soil since World War II unfolded, Syrians mostly felt tired. Many wonder what it would have taken to get the same attention for the killings and human rights abuses that served as a training ground for the aggressors and trial runs for their weapons.  

If Russia‘s aggression is to be addressed successfully in Ukraine, it also has to be addressed where it began – in Syria. Without this, it is just a matter of time and place when and where it will spread, SACD warned in March. 

In April, the Syrian Association for Citizens’ Dignity (SACD) highlighted Putin’s criminality in Ukraine, which mirrored Russia’s crimes in Syria since the beginning of the conflict. SACD warned that if Russia is not held accountable for its crimes in Syria and Ukraine, it will not stop, and the scenario of Syria and Ukraine will be repeated elsewhere.  

It’s not hard to see the same perpetrator and different response in Rukban in Syria and Mariupol in Ukraine. At a time when aid was flowing swiftly to support Ukrainians forcibly displaced by Russia, the very same perpetrator supporting the Syrian regime and denying aid delivery to Rukban camp, people in Rukban camp were left to choose between starving to death and dying for lack of medical care or surrendering themselves to the Syrian regime, without any security guarantees, risking being arbitrarily detained, tortured to death and forcibly disappeared. 

In this context, SACD released a statement strongly condemning the latest reports of displaced Syrians in the besieged Rukban camp being forced to make the bitter choice of returning to Assad-held areas due to harsh living conditions in the camp as a result of deprivation from humanitarian assistance. 

SACD called on the UN and the Syrian Red Crescent to provide humanitarian aid to the people of Rukban, to monitor and report on the fate of those forced to return to the hands of the Syrian regime and Russia and to respect people’s right to a voluntary, safe and dignified return instead of facilitating forced return into uncertain fate. 

Moreover, SACD spoke to A.H., a former member of the Civil Negotiations Committee in Duma, who accurately described Russia’s role in the bombing and besieging of the city, killing and forcibly displacing thousands, and that the Russian regime used the same war tactics in Mariupol. 

He said: “Despite the regime’s propaganda that ‘war’ is over, it is tough to make ends meet in areas under Assad’s control. We hope that justice will prevail in Syria, that rights will return to their owners, and we return to our homes and live a dignified life.” 

The month of April witnessed several waves of forced displacement of Syrians as part of the plan of the Assad regime, Iran, and Russia to serve their policy of demographic change in Syria, and the most prominent examples of this were the displacement of Zabadani and Madaya, under what was called the “Four Cities Agreement.” 

This displacement was not the only product of this political agreement, but also the siege and starvation policies pursued by Hezbollah at the border, in addition to the indiscriminate bombing of civilians, which played a significant role in forcing the people and the factions in those areas to leave their towns and cities. This siege and bombardment resulted in the death of more than 300 civilians, 84 of whom died of starvation. 

As the “Brussels VI Conference on Supporting the future of Syria and the region“ convened, more than 13 million displaced Syrians faced increasingly dire prospects with growing unilateral calls from some hosting countries for the return of Syrian refugees to an unsafe Syria, without any guarantees or the minimum conditions for a safe, voluntary and dignified return. 

The Syrian Association for citizens Dignity clearly communicated that the political process must be reformed to elevate the safe environment to the top of the political agenda. The special Envoy’s office must focus on securing the rights and minimum conditions for return expressed by refugees and IDPs as a fundamental part of any political solution and its elements, such as the new and credible constitution or elections. Adventurism and dubious “pilot projects” on the return must be rejected and abandoned.  

Mr. Wasim Alhaj, member of SACD, participated in the session “Giving Space for Syrian Voices” at the Sixth Brussels Conference to Support the Future of Syria and the Region. These are the essential points he touched on: 

• At the top of the list of priorities, the Syrians are looking forward to a safe and neutral environment with absolute international guarantees that guarantee their return to their cities and villages, which they have longed for. 

• Syrians feel very disappointed with society, as there is still no real international will to implement a comprehensive political solution. 
• The Syrians are deeply concerned about the normalization processes pursued by some countries with the Assad regime because this means that the situation in Syria will not change but will increase. 
• 90% of those I interviewed expressed their desire to emigrate outside Syria if they had the opportunity to do so. 

On the other hand, the deteriorating conditions in reconciliation areas have led to waves of silent displacement from Daraa to the north of Syria, which confirmed the impossibility of the displaced Syrians’ safe, voluntary, and dignified return. SACD illustrated how Daraa stood as a striking example that Russia, the perpetrator who committed crimes of killing and forced displacement against Syrians, cannot be the guarantor of any peace and stability in Syria. 

SACD asserted that it is quite unfathomable that the world that sees Russia as an aggressor in Ukraine would even consider it a guarantor of any peace efforts in Syria. As long as Russia is not held accountable for its crimes, it will not stop in Syria and Ukraine, but its sway will also expand to other regions. 

The Syrian Association for Citizens’ Dignity (SACD) and the Association of Revolutionary Activists in Homs, in cooperation with the Local Administration Councils Unit LACU, participated in an event entitled “Syria is ours” on May 21st in Azaz, northern Syria. The event included an exhibition of photos of Syrian activists who documented with their lenses the displacement of Syrians to remind the whole world of the tragedy of the displacement of the Syrian people. The participants in the event also affirmed their insistence on their right to return to their original homes, a safe, dignified, and voluntary return within the conditions of a safe environment that the Syrians themselves define. 

In June, the Syrian Association for Citizens’ Dignity (SACD) participated in the Freedom and Justice Campaign (2), organized by the Coordination of France and the Syrian Home Association under the supervision of the Union of Syrian Coordinators. The campaign included demonstrations and a photo exhibition, where a group of Syrians and Ukrainians distributed leaflets related to the conflict in Syria and Ukraine. 

The campaign was launched on June 8 in front of the Paris Municipality and passed by the Court of Justice, handing it a letter deeming Putin and Bashar Al Assad war criminals and demanding an investigation into the crime of liquidating detainees in prisons.  

The Syrian Association for Citizens’ Dignity exposed Russia’s false claims that it is the guarantor of peace in Syria. The reconciliation agreements, brokered by Russia under its guarantees, gave the Syrian regime a golden opportunity to execute its opponents in areas covered by agreements. Raid campaigns, arrests, and assassinations continue daily, which impugns all claims by Russia that its model of reconciliations brings stability and enhances security. Daraa stands as a striking example that Russia, the perpetrator who committed crimes of killing and forced displacement against Syrians, cannot be the guarantor of any peace and stability in Syria. 

SACD commented on the issuance of the Syrian regime a farcical law criminalizing torture on March 30. The timing and circumstances of issuing this amnesty law No. 7 of 2022. Indicate that it is politically motivated. 

The pardon decrees issued, despite the relief they bring to a few families, are merely a tactical move the regime uses when it feels threatened. This time it was after the Tadamon massacre that has shown the world the regime’s natural face.  

“The timing and circumstances of issuing this amnesty law indicate it’s politically motivated. The Syrian regime wants to give the impression that it’s taking steps to create conditions to encourage normalization,” wrote Mohamad Al Jouja, a member of SACD. 

The Syrian Association for Citizens’ Dignity (SACD) joined numerous organizations and public figures calling on the UK government to reverse its decision to deport asylum seekers, including several Syrian refugees, to Rwanda. 

In a letter addressed to Jonathan Hargreaves, the UK Special Envoy on Syria, the SACD Board of Trustees expressed dismay at the “disturbing news of several Syrian refugees seeking asylum in the United Kingdom being threatened with deportation to Rwanda under the new policy by the UK Home Office.”  

Only a few miles away from Damascus, a small number of Syrians who never left Eastern Ghouta, opting to trust that the reconciliation agreements brokered by Russia would bring peace and stability to the region, found themselves living under a merciless security grip that threatens, abuses and kills Syrians amid deplorable living conditions.  

To get a complete picture of the living reality in the reconciliation areas, we spoke with Umm Khaled, who decided to remain in her hometown, Hamouriyeh, after the displacement agreement was concluded in 2018. She is one of many Syrians who believed Assad and Russia’s false promises of safety and security and described “My sons signed reconciliation agreements in Eastern Ghouta. One was forcibly recruited to the army, one died under torture, and the third one forcibly disappeared.” 

On World Refugee Day, SACD took the opportunity to raise global awareness of the hurdle facing Syrian refugees who are not sufficiently informed about the dangers facing them in Syria should they be forced to return to the current reality. We called upon the UNHCR to fulfill its responsibility to notify Syrian refugees and IDPs of the truth in Syria and prevent the unsafe and premature return of displaced Syrians to an unsafe Syria. In addition, SACD conducted several interviews with key Syrian voices to comment on the reality of return to Syria. 

On World Refugee Day, the Syrian Association for Citizens’ Dignity and Voices of Displaced Syrians Forum organized an online panel discussion titled “Syrians Have the Right to Know the Reality in Syria Before Returning” to raise global awareness of the problem facing Syrian refugees who are not sufficiently informed about the dangers facing them in Syria should they be forced to return in the current reality. 

In cooperation with the Syrian Networks League, the Syrian Association for Citizens’ Dignity (SACD) organized a one-day workshop in Azaz titled “Cross-Border humanitarian response in Syria: legal determinants and the role of humanitarian organizations and UN agencies” to discuss the latest developments on the Syrian crisis in general. Especially with the approaching date of the Security Council vote on extending the cross-border aid transfer decision and Russia’s attempt to put pressure on the international community to stop the resolution and move to cross-border aid transfers. It will also discuss the grave danger that stopping the transfer of aid across the border poses to civilians and the displaced in northern Syria. 

In July, the Syrian Association for Citizens’ Dignity and major Syrian civil society organizations came together to warn against the calamitous consequences of capitulating to Russia’s blackmail at the UNSC should it lead to the complete cessation of cross-border aid, leaving more than three million Syrians in dire humanitarian need. 

The legal basis for the UN to continue delivering cross-border humanitarian aid exists even if the UNSC withholds its approval. We called on the United Nations and the key governments to ensure that millions of civilians, already categorized by the UN as in ‘catastrophic need’ of humanitarian assistance, are not sacrificed on the false basis that a Russian veto ties the UN’s hands. 

At the time when the United Nations Security Council was voting on the extension of the Resolution 2165 for six more months, which Russia has threatened to veto and leave more than three million Syrians, (mostly displaced from elsewhere in Syria and mostly children) without the lifeline of cross border humanitarian aid, the conversation surrounding this humanitarian crisis has been entirely focused on appealing to Russia’s humanitarian instincts, expecting that the illustrations of the devastating impact on Syrian lives of its action in the UNSC will somehow make Vladimir Putin change his mind and allow for aid to continue flowing into Idlib. 

The discussions surrounding this humanitarian crisis have been entirely focused on appealing to Russia’s humanitarian instincts, expecting that the illustrations of the devastating impact on Syrian lives of its action in the UNSC will somehow make Vladimir Putin change his mind and allow for aid to continue flowing into Idlib.  

In a conversation with Refik Hodzic, Rebecca Barber, an Australian scholar of international law, discussed the sources of the assumption that the UNSC must approve cross-border aid to Idlib and alternative approaches that could end Russia’s chokehold threatening more than 3 million people with starvation. 

While the Security Council voted to extend cross-border aid for six months, thereby proving its succumb to the blackmail of the Russian veto, Rudaina Al-Khazam, Program Director of the Syrian Association for Citizens’ Dignity, warned: “Russia has made it clear to the whole world, through its crimes in Syria and Ukraine, that it is an aggressor that starves, kills and displaces civilians.” 

A critical component of safe, dignified, and voluntary return is access to reliable information about whether it is safe to return. This information helps the displaced understand whether their return conditions have been met and the process involved. In particular, it might help highlight any inconsistencies between the process and their legal rights as refugees and IDPs to return home without fear of harassment or targeting. 

A closer examination of one key mechanism used by the regime in dealing with refugees considering returning now shows that their sense of being informed about the conditions on the ground needs to be revised. SACD surveys revealed a potentially dangerous lack of factual information from those supposed to be informing them of all aspects of return conditions, including the UNHCR. 

Nine years after the chemical massacre in Eastern Ghouta, where more than a thousand civilians suffocated due to the poisonous sarin gas, bombed by the Syrian regime. Nine years and so far, the criminals responsible for this massacre have not been held accountable, and there are no mechanisms to prevent the Syrian regime from using lethal weapons. The Syrian Association for Citizens’ Dignity recorded an exclusive interview with lawyer Ibrahim Olabi of Guernica 37, International Justice Chamber to further explain the international mechanisms that can be used to hold the perpetrators of these crimes accountable. 

In response to Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Çavuşoğlu on the return of displaced Syrians to their original homes in Syria, the Syrian Association for Citizens’ Dignity issued a statement affirming that the safe, voluntary and dignified return of the displaced Syrians to Syria can only be possible in light of the establishment of a safe environment that is based on the definition and vision of the displaced Syrians themselves. SACD also stressed that the safe environment cannot be compartmentalized and must be achieved on all Syrian soil so that the displaced Syrians can willfully return to their cities and places of origin. 

Moving on to the situation inside Syria, the living and security conditions in southern Syria did not improve for the better after the settlement agreements with the Syrian regime entered into force in 2018, which were carried out under the sponsorship of Russia in the Daraa and Suwayda. The regime did not fulfill its promises and did not abide by the provisions of the agreements. Instead, it worked to implement a policy of revenge against the people for their refusal to get involved in the killing of the Syrian people and their evasion of compulsory and reserve conscription. 

In this context, SACD recorded an exclusive interview with journalist Ayman Abo Noqta confirmed that the regime and its allies had pursued a policy of collective punishment and revenge against the people for their refusal to join the ranks of its forces and militias, pointing out that there is a common interest between the regime, Russia, and Iran to pass their projects in this strategic area. 

As campaigns of arrests and enforced disappearances continued in areas under control of the Assad regime, kidnappings were on the rise in Al-Suwayda, and assassination attempts are rising day by day in Daraa. This counted as evidence that the Syrian regime’s guarantees and empty promises mean nothing in practice, Russia can never be a guarantor of peace in Syria, and that there is no safe environment in Syria in which the displaced Syrians can return to. 

SACD published an article explaining how the primary and only beneficiary of the state of lawlessness in Al-Suwayda is the regime that controls the province. All indications are that its policies do not aim to achieve any peace or stability in Syria nor to establish a safe environment for the return of Syrians to their homes, but rather to secure complete control of the territory with negligible numbers of the original population. 

In 2020, the Danish government withdrew temporary protection from Nawras, a 56-year-old Syrian refugee from Homs governorate and a Damascus resident who sought refuge in Denmark in 2015, after they granted him temporary humanitarian residence in Denmark (7/3 A) for only one year. In an interview with SACD, Nawras explained how he lived in hiding for more than four years because the regime wanted him, and for fear for his life and the lives of his family, he was forced to flee from the horrific reality in Syria. He had no choice but to leave Syria, leaving his wife and daughter behind. 

The Syrian Association for Citizens’ Dignity issued a detailed briefing describing he reality in Syria and that despite the dire conditions Syrians are suffering in displacement, internally or in some of the host countries, they are still unwilling to return except for small numbers of those who are forced to do so for various reasons. This is primarily because the conditions which caused the displacements are still in place, and the Syrian regime continues to repress Syrians in the areas it controls. 

SACD research and reports of various other Syrian and international organizations – including SNHR, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch – have systematically documented that the vast majority of protection thresholds are far from being met, painting a dire picture for any refugees or IDPs forced to return before the minimum conditions are in place. In particular, the thresholds “the physical, legal and material safety of refugees and returnees is ensured” and “every individual’s decision to return is informed and genuinely voluntary, without any coercion” are far from being met. SACD has repeatedly called on UNHCR to report publicly on this reality, both to the displaced Syrians so they can make informed decisions about return, but also to international policymakers and donors. To no avail. 

As the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi visited Syria between 10 and 15 September 2022, prominent local and international rights groups reminded the UNHCR that Syria is still not safe for return, and urged the UNHCR and other UN agencies to halt programs that could incentivize premature and unsafe returns. This visit took place against the background of a rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation inside Syria and neighboring countries. Humanitarian needs are at an all-time high. 6.8 million Syrians, approximately 20 percent of the global refugee population, remain displaced outside Syria, while another 6.9 million people are internally displaced within Syria. The conditions for their safe and voluntary return stay out of reach. 

Not only are none of the UNHCR’s 22 “Protection Thresholds” – a baseline to assess conditions for the return to Syria – met within any parts of Syria, but those who have voluntarily returned have faced a range of risks. In addition to reports by local organizations and networks, reports by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the UN Commission of Inquiry for Syria have confirmed that refugees who have returned to Syria have been subjected to arbitrary arrest and detention, enforced disappearance, kidnappings, torture, sexual violence, and extrajudicial killings. 

In light of Mr. Filippo Grandi’s visit to Damascus in September 2022, Programs Director Rudaina Al-Khazam of the Syrian Association for Citizens’ Dignity voiced several concerns regarding UNHCR’s work on the return of displaced Syrians, which contributes to their dire situation, ongoing displacement and premature return. “We’re seeing how UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is engaged in so-called “pilot projects” on return promoting certain areas as safe for return, which is nothing but a distortion of the unsafe reality in Syria,” said Al-Khazam. 

The Syrian Association for Citizens’ Dignity (SACD) expressed extreme concern over Lebanon’s caretaker Minister of the Displaced Issam Sharafeddine’s announcement of a plan for a mass return of refugees to Syria at a rate of 15,000 refugees per month, made during his visit to Damascus. While we are aware of the political quarrels and lack of clarity within the Lebanese government on the return issue, we called on Lebanon’s government to include Syrian refugees’ interests and rights in their plans and ensure that Lebanon remains committed to international law on the protection of refugees.  

Last but not least, the Syrian Association for Citizens’ Dignity (SACD) warned against the escalations by the Syrian regime forces in Daraa, who was mobilizing around the city of Jasem to launch an attack on it after detaining its young men and blackmailing their families to pay hefty ransoms. Today Daraa stands as a living example of the dubious and empty promises of the Syrian regime, and the utter failure of Russia as a guarantor of peace, any peace in Syria. 

The Syrian Association for Citizens’ Dignity (SACD) issued a report shining a spotlight on conditions for Syrian refugees living in Lebanon, and showing that despite dire conditions, Syrian refugees continue to overwhelmingly reject any plans for a forced return to Syria. At the time when the Lebanese government announced its plan to send Syrian refugees back to their country, claiming to only send back those who sign up “voluntarily”, the study has shown that any return of Syrian refugees, in the current conditions, is everything but voluntary. 

SACD’s report interviews 438 Syrian refugees in Lebanon, asking them about their current situation, the impact of discriminatory policies and discourse, their future plans, and their thoughts about a return to Syria. This last question is particularly relevant given that multiple Lebanese politicians have recently put forward a policy of returning Syrian refugees. 

SACD also issued a bi-annual report on the violations of the first protection threshold defined by UNHCR CPSS Protection Thresholds: “Significant and durable reduction of hostilities.” This report monitored the extent to which the first protection threshold, termed a “significant and lasting reduction in hostilities,” has been met by the UNHCR during the first half of 2022. 

It was based on analyzing exclusive primary data collected by the monitoring team at the SACD and secondary data from other reliable sources such as the Syrian Network for Human Rights. During the monitoring period, the distribution of violations was according to the areas of control, the perpetrator and its allies, and the type of violation. 

On the seventh anniversary of the Russian intervention in Syria, the Syrian Association for Citizens’ Dignity (SACD) organized a webinar to discuss the repercussions of seven years of war waged by Russia in the name of the “war on terror” against the Syrian people themselves, which led to seizing cities and towns and forcibly displacing Syrians from their homes. 

While the Syrian regime was on the verge of collapse, losing control of most Syrian territories, the Russian intervention radically changed the balance of power on the ground and in the air. 

In a first event of this kind, displaced Syrians convened a high-level international conference over two days on 16-17 November 2022 in Geneva to address a dangerous paralysis in the political process and offer a roadmap for a political framework for establishing a safe environment needed for the return of some 13 million refugees and IDPs. 

The conference gathered prominent Syrian figures from displaced communities in Turkey, Lebanon, Germany, France, Austria, the United States, the UK, and inside Syria, and international experts to discuss the stagnation of the political process and the way forward. 

The discussions were based on a substantive document titled “Roadmap for a safe environment in Syria” produced by the Syrian Association for Citizens’ Dignity (SACD), as a result of three years of consultations with displaced Syrians and experts to detail what needs to happen before a return becomes possible, during and after the return of the displaced. 

The conference in Geneva, co-organized by the Syrian Association for Citizens’ Dignity, the European Institute of Peace, and the Free Syrian Lawyers Association, issued a strong and unified message on the need for a ‘safe environment’ in Syria before return, with details discussed and debated over the two days.  

In the opening statement, Dr Mazen Kseibi described the efforts of SACD in the past three years where it made intensive efforts to communicate with segments representing all categories of Syrians everywhere and listened to their demands and aspirations to form an in-depth understanding of their reality and fears. 

He also illustrated how SACD these outputs to academics, legal experts, and Syrian and international experts to translate these visions into a roadmap that represents the basis and conditions necessary to build this safe environment in all constitutional, legal, social, political, human rights, and even logistical aspects.  

Michael Keating of the European Institute for Peace also opened the conference by describing the dire economic, humanitarian, and security conditions in Syria and the lack of support for refugees; refugees are under increasing pressure from host countries to return to their countries of origin. Circumstances in Syria and numerous testimonies clearly indicate that there is no prospect for a safe and dignified return. 

He also added how over two years, the SACD has been working on gaining insight into what displaced Syrians in Syria. The diaspora thinks about the Safe Environment (SE) to reach a clear definition that would eventually help in building consensus amongst Syrians and produce a document that would be an effective way of conveying these ideas to policymakers and make the SE a fundamental part of the on-going political discussion, and potentially the cornerstone of the future political solution. 

Through dozens of outreach meetings, focus groups, and surveys of Syrian in all parts of the country and approach, with the collaboration of leading Syrian and non-Syrian experts in the legal and constitutional issues, the SACD managed to produce a comprehensive and detailed blueprint of what a SE would look in Syria and different phases to implement such environment.  

On the other hand, SACD held two workshops, in Urfa and Gaziantep in Turkey, on November 26th and 27th, respectively, titled “A Roadmap for a Safe Environment in Syria.” The workshop shed light on the outputs and course of the Geneva Conference and explained the concept of a safe environment. The workshop was attended by Syrian activists of various sects, party figures, Turkish community leaders, media professionals, and journalists. 

The Syrian Association for Citizens’ Dignity (SACD) interviewed Dr. Abdul Hamid Al-Awak, to further elaborate on the concept of a safe environment and the roadmap to achieve it. Dr Awak explained the meaning of a neutral environment, saying, “Neutrality means the commitment of the Syrian state and the other parties in conflict with it to deal with refugees, displaced persons, and returnees to Syria.” “And those who reside on its lands and have not left it under the law, the provisions of the law, and the principles of justice.” He pointed to the position of SACD on implementing a safe environment, “SACD’s position on a safe environment is based on a legal position and from the legal position proceeds to the practical case.” 

The intractable and uniquely destructive nature of the Syrian conflict is well-known. A safe and voluntary return of Syrian refugees has been repeatedly stressed as a crucial component of any sustainable solution to the crisis. Yet the details of the safe environment required for this to happen and how the Syrian people themselves would define the concept have never been seriously discussed in the Syrian political process. 

Moreover, the first panel session of the Geneva conference, “Roadmap to a Safe Environment in Syria” zeroed in on the specific issue of the safe environment being an urgent policy question central to SACD’s document Roadmap for a Safe Environment in Syria. 

Although a safe and voluntary return of Syrians is generally agreed upon as a key component of a wider settlement of the conflict, SACD is the first organization to conduct a wide-ranging study into how Syrians themselves would define the concept of a ‘safe environment. 

The second panel session, “Safe and Dignified Return to Syria” of the Geneva conference, focused on the concrete steps that Syrians have, through the SACD’s report, identified as necessary for the existence of a ‘safe environment’ and how such conditions can be realized. It also discussed the practical challenges faced by Syrians who have already had to return for different reasons and the potential challenges that would face a premature return. It was also a rare opportunity for Syrians to engage in a public and transparent exchange with representatives of UNHCR. 

In the closing statement, Dr Talal Sunbulli asserted that “The message of this conference is clear: Safe, voluntary, and dignified return that achieves justice and sustainable peace the safe and neutral environment referred to in the context of UN resolution 2254 of displaced Syrians is the foundation of any sustainable solution for the Syrian crisis.”