Daoud: Damascus government besieges its citizens, calls on refugees to return

The Economic Authority's Co-chair, Imad Daoud, spoke to our agency about what the Syrian government practices against Afrin IDPs and the people of al-Shahba canton.

Daoud said, "Since occupying Afrin, the Syrian government has been tightening the screws on the Afrin IDPs in Al-Shahba camps, by blocking the crossings leading to al-Shahba canton.

Confiscating materials entering into al-Shahba

Daoud drew attention to the fact that the Syrian government has tightened its siege on al-Shahba canton recently, "with the entry of the winter season, which prevents the entry of basic materials into the area, including food, relief materials, flour and fuel, in addition to medicines and medical supplies, even it confiscates the materials and prevents their entry into the area."

Daoud noted that "the Syrian government's practices constitute a great burden on the people, leading to doubling prices. This has exacerbated the suffering of the people in the camps despite the difficult conditions of displacement."

The government checkpoints between the city of Aleppo and the canton of al-Shahba impose exorbitant amounts of money on basic materials entry into the canton.

The Autonomous Administration supports the displaced and al-Shahba canton by distributing basic materials for free, including heating fuel and relief materials, but Daoud said that it “does not fully meet the needs of the people because of the government's policies.”

The Turkish state's practices against Afrin people are not different from the Damascus government ones

Daoud compared what the Turkish state and its mercenaries are practicing against the people of Afrin, and what the Syrian government is practicing against the displaced from Afrin in al-Shahba areas.

"From time to time, the Syrian government arrests civilians at the checkpoints on charges of dealing with the Autonomous Administration, and this is what the Turkish state is practicing in occupied Afrin," Daoud added.

The government's security services also pressure the specialized doctors and prevent them from going to al-Shahba canton, not to mention preventing the entry of medicines, in light of the Coronavirus spike and the increasing numbers of the infected in the region.

Daoud added: "On the one hand, the Turkish occupation and its linked mercenaries keep targeting civilians in al-Shahba canton on an almost daily basis, on the other hand, the Damascus government imposes a suffocating siege on the area."

The government calls for the return of refugees while it imposes a siege on Afrin people

The Co-chair of the Economic Authority was surprised by holding a conference for refugees in Damascus to invite refugees to return to Syria at a time when the Damascus government is besieging Syrian citizens in al-Shahba canton.

In this regard, Daoud said: "The conference that was held a few days ago calls for ensuring the return of Syrian refugees at a time when displacement policies are being practiced within the Syrian territories."

Daoud pointed out that the grounds are "not prepared for the return of Syrian refugees at this times, due to the practices of the Syrian government towards the Syrian people."

Daoud noted that the Syrian north is an integral part of the Syrian lands, "the people of Afrin and al-Shahba are Syrian citizens with all its components."

He stressed that "the resistance of the people of Afrin still continues in the face of the occupation which is trying again and again to cut off parts of the Syrian territories and annex them to Turkey, as it did in the past with the Iskenderun Brigade."

Daoud called on the Damascus government to abandon the pre-2011 mentality that is still followed by it, and to work to build a democratic Syria without excluding or marginalizing any component.

The Co-chair of the Economic Authority in Afrin appealed to international and human rights organizations and the United Nations to limit the Syrian government's practices towards the Syrian people in al-Shahba canton.

(A)

ANHA