As aftermath of ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in NW #Syria & #Turkey unfolds, while affected areas still under threat of aftershocks, it’s very alarming that 30+ hours after main earthquake hit, there’s still NO effective delivery of int’l humanitarian or logistical aid. 1/ 🧵 The window of opportunity to save innocent lives currently under the rubble (estimated to be in thousands) is closing, while there is a serious shortage of food, shelter and medical supplies to assist the survivors, in the midst of extremely adverse weather conditions. 2/ #Syria

In a letter sent to hundreds of diplomats, the @SyrianACD joins the @SyriaCivilDef in calling on the international community to take action in the wake of the catastrophic earthquake that has caused widespread destruction and loss of life in NW #Syria. 1/ We call on EU Emergency Response Coordination Center, @USAID, @Refugees and other relevant agencies and states to ensure that all border crossings are open for emergency aid delivery, rescue teams' deployment and evacuation of injured people, without hindrance or delay. 2/ #Syria

The month of April witnessed several forced displacement waves of Syrians, as part of #Assad regime, #Iran & #Russia's demographic change scheme in #Syria, and one of most striking examples was that in #Madaya and #Zabadani, under what was known as 'Four Towns Agreement'. 1/ 🧵 The 'Four Towns Agreement' – in its amended version – was signed between representatives of some opposition factions on one hand, #Iran and #Hezbollah, on the other hand, under the coverage of #Assad regime, yet in isolation from the UN, who was present in the first version. 2/

“The main obstacle to a safe & dignified return is the way displaced Syrians are seen by the international community.”

@MD_Hosini, from SACD diplomatic outreach team, participated today in a panel discussion organized by @CarnegieMEC & here’s a🧵of most important points he made: Syrians have been dehumanized for years by #Russia, #Iran and Assad regime, resulting in disastrous outcomes. While at the same time, the world froze, preventing necessary & sustainable solutions, based on our rights which are supposed to be universal, from being implemented. 2/

“How can someone live without bread?” were the words of displaced Syrians in #Rukban camp, where all bakeries were recently shut down due to shortage in flour, leaving at least seven thousand people besieged in the camp and denied any humanitarian assistance. 1/ 🧵 In a remote area of abandoned desert, 1800 families are still suffering from international community’s negligence and apathy. At least seven thousand people, most of them women and children, were left to starve in #Rukban despite calls for help that span years of suffering. 2/

As we speak the people of #Daraa are dying under the barrage of rockets and artillery attacks by the Syrian regime forces and Iranian militias. The humanitarian and security situation is the worst ever since the siege began 70 days ago. 1/ #SyriaIsNotSafe The militias of the Fourth Division and Iran are trying, to advance towards Daraa al-Balad and the refugee camps in Daraa under heavy cover of fire with “elephant” missiles and hundreds of rocket-propelled grenades. 2/ horanfree.com/?p=9755

On #InternationalDayoftheDisappeared, we remember all Syrians arbitrarily detained and forcibly disappeared by Assad forces. Thousands of Syrian families have been living in unbearable pain for past years with no closure on whereabouts of their loved ones. 1/ #SyriaIsNotSafe According to our latest study, 60% of respondents confirmed that at least one of their relatives was arbitrarily arrested between 2011 and 2020. This demonstrates the widespread impact and relevance of the detainee issue for Syrians who still hope to see their loved ones. 2/

The Lebanese authorities have confirmed that they arrested six men last seen entering the Syrian embassy in #Lebanon to pick up their passports. 1/
middleeasteye.net/news/lebanese-… Given the fact on the ground, it seems very likely that the Syrian embassy in Beirut is complicit in the arrest of its very own citizens as the arrested men where informed by the embassy to pick up their passports prior to their disappearance. 2/

Syria’s cities have been one of Assad’s greatest challenges. Allowing Syria’s largest cities to fall posed a grave strategic risk to his rule. Once the initial crackdown failed to break the opposition’s resistance, the regime turned to siege tactics. 1/

#حلب Throughout the conflict, more than forty localities have been besieged, most in the suburbs of Damascus and Homs. Following Russia’s military intervention in 2015, and particularly from the summer of 2016, key sieges were intensified into air and ground assaults. 2/

Since 2012, Syrian regime has been implementing its ‘kneel or starve’ policy of systematically besieging anti-regime areas to break their will & force them to surrender, which often ended with massive forced displacement, and #Aleppo was not an exception. 1/ The Syrian regime began a relentless campaign with intensive barrel bombs & air strikes causing large-scale destruction & damage to civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, not to mention loss of civilian life, with 2.5M people in dire need of humanitarian assistance. 2/

Today marks the 4th anniversary of the displacement of #Aleppo, which was one of the largest mass forced displacements during the conflict in #Syria, and a testament to the scale of the tragedy that the Syrian people are experiencing for more than a decade. Aleppo was one of the oldest cities in the world & has always been an important center for trade and industry, and until recently, it remained the economic capital of Syria and the largest population center in it before it was destroyed by the Syrian regime & its allies.

Considering the systematic nature of the Syrian regime's policy of forced displacement, there is a gap in the analysis informing international policy-oriented discourse of this systematic effort to affect a permanent demographic shift.

We tried to address it in our briefing. The policy continues being applied to this date, as documented in the most recent Human Rights Watch @hrw report which details attacks on Idlib, which were part of the policy of forced displacement.

hrw.org/report/2020/10…

Demographic change is not only about the numbers.

Different methods of displacement and the trauma that goes with the brutality are usually deployed to make people leave their homes and stay away. 1/ syacd.org/wp-content/upl… New reality is manufactured through violence and aggressive changes in the sectarian or religious spirit and custom of the communities, where native residents feel as strangers in their own places of birth. 2/

Since the outbreak of the Syrian conflict, Assad regime engaged in all sorts of oppressive practices against Syrians, including mass arrests, torture, killings, and most importantly, systematic forced displacement, in what we believe has the aim of forced demographic change. 1/ Ten years into the conflict, it is now clear that for the Syrian regime & its Iranian & Russian allies, forced displacement of millions of Syrians since 2011 is not a mere consequence of the conflict, but a systematic policy to achieve strategic goals set out by Assad himself. 2/

For any political solution for #Syria to be sustainable, it must include a robust mechanism to secure the rights and minimum conditions for return expressed by refugees and IDPs, some of which were detailed in our recent "We Are Syria" report. 1/ syacd.org/we-are-syria/

https://twitter.com/UNGeneva/status/1296824384187899905

In doing so, the EU and the US need to use their decisive influence to reshape the mission of the Office of the Special Envoy (OSE) and the political process led by it. 2/

The Yarmouk camp, or as the Palestinians call it the “Capital of the Palestinian Diaspora,” used to house 36% of all Palestinian refugees in Syria. Palestinians considered it a symbol of their hopes for return and attachment to Palestine. [Thread] 1/ It is located seven kilometers south of Damascus, covering an area of about two square kilometres. Formally it comes under the governorate of Damascus, but since the 1960s it had administrative autonomy run by an independent "local committee." 2/

Deployments of Assad’s forces and Iranian militias continue in Dara'a countryside, especially in the area of Tafas. There are reports of people being expelled from their homes on the outskirts of the city of Dara’a, while the threat of a full-scale assault hangs in the air. 1/ Meanwhile, the people of Tafas and other areas in Dara’a continue to protest against the threat of military action, despite the threats to their security. 2/

.@SyriaCivilDef and @SyrianACD issue a joint statement: Syrian regime is falsely linking the demand for lifting of sanctions to the fight against #COVID19
medium.com/@SACD/syrian-r… .@SyriaCivilDef and @SyrianACD: The Syrian regime has launched a political and media campaign calling for the lifting of economic sanctions against it, claiming this is needed to cope with the spread of the #COVID19 virus in its areas of control. 1/

Syrian Association for Citizens' Dignity calls on @WHOSyria, @ICRC, @OCHA_Syria and other international agencies to take immediate steps to prepare for a possible outbreak of #COVID19 virus in #Idlib and take all possible preventive measures. [Thread] 1/

https://twitter.com/SyrianACD/status/1238067890802352128

This includes dispatching staff, ICU equipment, plasma from recovered patients from other countries, respirators and medical supplies needed for a possible outbreak. If such measures aren’t taken now, considering the situation in Idlib, the outcome could be catastrophic. 2/

Only those who chose to ignore warnings from @SyrianACD and countless others are now feigning consternation that desperate Syrians are trying to reach the safety of Europe. In May 2019, SACD's Khaled Terkawi laid out the scenario we are witnessing today: alaraby.co.uk/english/Commen… His words from almost a year ago echo in texts published by Syrians today: "When it comes to western governments, the suffering of Syrian civilians in Idlib targeted by Russian airstrikes and Assad's artillery is largely being met with indifference or weakly worded statements.

It is not only Douma, but all "reconciled" areas. Russian guarantees, which were the decisive factor to convince many of those who stayed in areas covered by the “reconciliation agreements,” are now literally claiming Syrian lives through forced recruitment. 1/

https://twitter.com/IsraHazel/status/1227615862254972928

As far back as July last year, we documented widespread practice in which the people who have entered “reconciliation agreements” were wanted by the military for deployment to the most dangerous frontlines in Idlib and Hama regions. 2/