By the end of 2020, the Syrian Association for Citizens’ Dignity (SACD) published one of its most important briefings yet about demographic change in Syria, examining the impact of forced displacement on various Syrian communities and the role and the goals of regime in cementing of their displacement. The briefing aimed to highlight some of the key elements of regime policies of demographic change and illustrate its impact on the affected communities, as well as discuss ways to reverse these changes.  

It is now clear that for the Syrian regime and its Iranian and Russian allies, the forced displacement of millions of Syrians since 2011 is not a mere consequence of the conflict, but a systematic policy to achieve their strategic goals.   

We marked the anniversary of 15 Jan 2013, when residents of Aleppo were shocked by the detonation of a missile at the University of Aleppo. Another hit the university housing, crammed with displaced people. Dozens were killed on the spot, hundreds wounded. SACD published an article to remind the world of the Assad crimes in Syria and its indiscriminate and systematic targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure. 

On 18 January, the UN Human Rights Council discussed Lebanon’s record on human rights. Lebanese government in its National Report for the 2020 UPR addressed the living conditions of Syrian refugees in only three paragraphs. SACD published an analysis that explains the reality of the situation of the Syrian refugees in Lebanon.   

SACD, alongside 30 local and international organizations, signed a letter addressed to the UNHCR and the international community calling upon them to exercise their power to prevent the forced return of Syrian refugees under duress or pressure from Lebanon to Syria and protect them from refoulment.   

SACD was adamant in refusing any elections held under the Syrian regime in absence of any safe environment that not only guarantees the free and fair participation of all Syrians but also their safe return to their homes. Hence, in January, SACD published a 12-page briefing, complemented by a survey of 500 displaced Syrians, which illustrates a key point: fair and free elections are impossible without a comprehensive political solution and a safe environment for all Syrians. Under the hashtag #TheIllegitimateSyrianElection, the Association also participated in a global campaign where Syrians from all over the world refused the sham elections 

At the end of January, we highlighted the plight of displaced Syrians enduring the harshest winter conditions hitting north Syria in every January of every year. Thousands of families living in camps in Atma in northern Idlib, displaced as a result of the Syrian regime’s criminal attacks, still refuse to return to live under the regime and would rather live in makeshift camps and endure the harsh winter conditions than enduring the regime’s killings and torture.