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.