Syrian Organizations for the Brussels Conference: Rejection of Demographic Change and Exploitation of the Syrian Refugee File (Statement)

Syrian local associations and organizations submitted a joint statement to the Sixth Brussels Conference on Supporting the Future of Syria and the Region, which was held in the Belgian city of Brussels on 9-10 of this month.

The statement includes the rejection of any project aimed at demographic change in North-East Syria, and signed from dozens of Syrian local organizations, including the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the Justice Center for Human Rights, the Human Rights Organization Afrin – Syria, the Human Rights Organization in Syria (MAF) and others.

The statement stressed the need to preserve the rights of peoples in its territories, as stipulated in international agreements, and accused Turkey, which announced through President Erdogan a program for “the voluntary return of about a million Syrians to the country,” of publicly seeking to deport a million Syrian refugees and resettle them in the Syrian areas under its control along the border. The northern countryside of Aleppo, Hasakah and Raqqa, which are predominantly Kurdish.

The statement considered that the scheme aims to cause strife and civil war in the region within the policy of demographic change and the destruction of the demographic structure that characterizes the region under the heading of “voluntary return” of refugees and their resettlement, which constitutes a spark for the outbreak of conflicts that include Syria as a whole.

The statement stated that the Turkish President referred to safe areas in northern Syria, while those areas, according to daily facts, and since their occupation by Turkey, have witnessed looting of property, killing and forced displacement of anyone who violates them, especially from the Kurdish component.

These areas also witness the uprooting of olive trees, cutting water and the theft of agricultural crops.
The imposition of royalties, in addition to the construction of informal settlements.

*The Picture is from the internet