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Charles Lister

Sep 5, 2022 • 12 tweets • 14 min read • Read on X

@MaltaGov

2 children on the boat have died in recent days -- and the health of others are deteriorating.

To ignore such a tragedy, just off #Malta's coast, represents an unspeakable lack of humanity.

Time for someone to step up, @MaltaGov.

https://twitter.com/Charles_Lister/status/1566813406073593856

@MaltaGov

@MaltaGov That Syrians are still fleeing for #Europe is no surprise, particularly those in #Lebanon where authorities are preparing to *illegally force* them back to #Syria.

5+ million #Syria refugees remain in neighboring states & polling suggests ~0.5% would consider an eventual return.

@MaltaGov

@MaltaGov Why do almost all #Syria refugees refuse to consider any future return to #Syria?

The answer is obvious when you glance across basic facts -- see this thread from last week:

https://twitter.com/Charles_Lister/status/1565363329241161728

@MaltaGov

@MaltaGov UPDATE on the boatful of #Syria & #Lebanon migrants stranded off the coast of #Malta:

- x1 more child died yesterday (3 total, now)
- Contact with the ~60 passengers was lost overnight
- #Malta has banned a cargo ship from rescuing the boat & has refused to help itself.

WTH.

@MaltaGov

@MaltaGov Under intense pressure - particularly by foreign diplomats - #Lebanon detained x5 security officers yesterday for torturing a #Syria refugee to death.

He died of "severe torture" within 3hrs of his arrest on unknown charges.

And you wonder why Syrians are fleeing on boats?

@MaltaGov

@MaltaGov UPDATE -- 63 surviving passengers from a boat of migrants from #Syria & #Lebanon were finally rescued late Tuesday, not by #Malta but a cargo ship ("BBC Pearl").

A 4yr old girl died shortly after the rescue.

They issued an SOS on Saturday -- but were ignored for 4 days.

NEW -- 250 [mostly #Syria] refugees are stranded on a boat that left #Lebanon a week ago headed towards #Europe. A 3-month old girl has died of dehydration.

The boat has run out of fuel, food & water & is stranded in the #Mediterranean, off the coast of #Malta & #Greece.

Awful news -- a boat of migrants (from #Syria & #Lebanon) headed to #Cyprus has sunk off the coast of #Tartus, #Syria.

24 bodies recovered & 13 rescued.

Their rescuers? The people they were fleeing: #Assad's regime.

Just a terrifying, awful illustration of #Syria's tragedy.

Update -- 60+ bodies have been recovered off the coast of #Tartus, from a boat of migrants from #Syria & #Lebanon that sank yesterday.

Migrant movement has surged in recent months -- from #Lebanon by sea (to #Italy/#Greece), and from #Turkey by land (to #Bulgaria & #Greece).

The situation in regime-controlled areas of #Syria is deteriorating exponentially -- spiraling inflation, cholera outbreak, continued insecurity, political persecution & corruption.

Refugees are not returning & they will not return -- so #Europe is once again a live destination.

Renewed large-scale #Syria refugee movement is now a very realistic possibility -- and the international community *must* acknowledge why:

#Assad's regime remains in place, unchallenged & undeterred.

It's a simple truth, but all too easy to ignore, as it has been for 11yrs now.

@Malinowski

Though a minor player compared to #Europe, the U.S. role in taking in #Syria refugees has been appalling -- from 2021-22, we've taken ~3,800.

As @Malinowski @RepMcGovern @RepLouCorrea & @RoKhanna recently wrote to @SecBlinken, we should be doing SO much better.

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More from @Charles_Lister

Charles Lister

@Charles_Lister

Dec 16

2 weeks before #Assad fell, I wrote that the US mustn't leave #Syria, as the D-#ISIS mission is far from over & the practical cost of staying is wholly affordable.

It's still *vital* we stay, but conditions have changed -- a 🧵:

mei.edu/blog/dont-leav…

In 2024, #ISIS has *tripled* its operational tempo in #Syria compared to 2023, while expanding its geographic reach, increasing recruitment & attack scale & sophistication.

Every alarm bell has been ringing for months.

syriaweekly.com/p/nov-2024-isi…

The fall of #Assad has made the U.S operating environment *much* more complicated -- with our #SDF partners facing a potentially existential challenge from #Turkey, the #SNA & the surge in revolutionary sentiment across #Syria.

nytimes.com/2024/12/15/opi…

Read 12 tweets

Charles Lister

@Charles_Lister

Dec 10

Seeing #Assad's former cabinet meeting with #HTS's Salvation Government in #Damascus is truly a staggering thing.

For many years, Syrians aligned with the state risked being disappeared merely for exchanging messages with opposition-aligned people. A 🧵:

In years past, I was involved in a large-scale effort to bring Syrians together from across the crisis spectrum -- for days-long meetings abroad, in neutral venues. Getting people from #Assad-held areas was an enormous logistical & security challenge (for them).

To extend an invite would normally mean first meeting in a neighboring country -- exchanging phone messages or emails whilst in #Syria was a potentially life-threatening thing. Travel would need a cover: a vacation, business meeting, or a family visit.

Read 6 tweets

Charles Lister

@Charles_Lister

Dec 9

Over the past week, almost all attention on #Syria has been directed at the #HTS/opposition vs. #Assad dynamic -- and the change of power in #Damascus.

Meanwhile, the #SDF in northeast #Syria has been dealt a tough hand of cards -- a 🧵:

As the anti-#Assad advance gained steam in western #Syria, the Arab tribal component of the #SDF sought to take the fight to #Assad in the east. That happened in Deir ez Zour, but it was hard at times, and complex. It frayed some Arab-YPG ties.

The #SDF also found itself assuming control of resource-intensive areas in #Hasakeh & #Raqqa abandoned by #Assad -- good in theory, but it stretched resources while the #Turkey-backed #SNA launched offensive moves into Tel Rifat & then #Manbij.

Read 5 tweets

Charles Lister

@Charles_Lister

Dec 8

#HTS's tip-of-the-spear advance across #Syria has presented international actors with a huge legal/policy dilemma -- a 🧵

After 2 days of #Syria diplomatic talks, it's clear most are considering the likelihood that designations may need re-considering.

For several years, the U.S. & Europeans have been aware of #HTS's ideological & behavioral change in #Idlib, and the Salvation Govt too -- but the lack of investment in serious #Syria policy meant there was little need to do more than acknowledge & monitor.

On a simple level: #Jolani has a $10 million reward on his head, but he's spent years operating in the open, with no concern for his safety. US drones continued to operate, meanwhile.

If his designation (& #HTS's) were still rock-solid, he'd be dead by now.

Read 8 tweets

Charles Lister

@Charles_Lister

Dec 6

NEW -- since the fall of #Hama yesterday, #Syria is witnessing extraordinary developments.

#Assad's future now looks VERY much in question. A 🧵:

Opposition forces are now at the gates of #Homs, preparing to launch a major push into the city. Elite frontline fighters (incl. from #HTS's Asaib al-Hamra) are prepped on four axes, while #Assad's regime has evacuated its #Homs leadership to #Damascus.

Insurgent factions & former opposition groups in #Daraa have declared their intent to liberate the province from #Assad's regime.

The primary crossing with #Jordan, Nassib, has been captured -- expelling the 4th Division north towards #Damascus.

Read 9 tweets

Charles Lister

@Charles_Lister

Dec 5

Having worked on #Syria full-time since the crisis began nearly 14yrs ago, there really is no understating how remarkable the losses imposed on #Assad's regime have been over the past week.

A large reason for this lies with #HTS — a 🧵:

Militarily, #HTS has invested enormously since 2020 in enhancing combat capabilities, improving professionalism, tightening its structure & command/control etc.

From an 'officer' class, to special forces, night-time units & an entire drone force - it's changed the game.

The expansion of units like Asaib al-Hamra & introduction of Saraya al-Harari and Kataib Shaheen -- along with large-scale indigenous rocket & missile production -- has created a force that #Assad's regime has seriously struggled to defend against, let alone outmaneuver.