High-ranking UN official visits AANES areas

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the context of combating terrorism, Fionnuala Ni Olin, and a delegation conducted official technical facilities to the regions of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, in coordination with the administration's representative in Geneva.

26 July, 2023 12:32

NEWS DESK

The Department of External Relations of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria stated in a press statement that the visit took place between July 16 and 19, 2023. It is the first visit by a high-level UN official from the United Nations to the northeastern regions of Syria.

The statement stated that the technical visit was aimed at examining the current conditions of detention in detention centers and adolescents in rehabilitation centers residing in the Roj and al-Hol Camps in the Autonomous Administration areas, as well as the issue of resettlement of foreigners to their countries of origin. The delegation met with the co-chairs of the Department of External Relations, Badran Ciya Kurd and Samar Al-Abdullah, and a member of the administrative body, Khaled Ibrahim, at the headquarters of the Department of External Relations in the city of Qamishlo.

The two delegations exchanged views on the latest developments on the scene and issues of common concern. In the following two days, the delegation made official visits to most of the places it wished to visit, according to the visit schedule, with great support and facilitation by the Autonomous Administration. The Autonomous Administration granted the delegation unprecedented access to all detention facilities, youth rehabilitation centers and camps in north-eastern Syria.

The Autonomous Administration expressed the importance of the visit to it, as it was and still is calling on the international community to take full responsibility for the conditions of detention centers and camps and the legacy of the war on international terrorism. It stressed that it cannot bear this burden alone and calls on the international community to cooperate in finding a comprehensive solution for the thousands of families living in the camps and for more than sixty nationalities.

The press release also stated: "In fairness to the rights of the victims and to achieve societal and international justice, the foreign terrorist fighters detained in those centers must be tried, which constitute a security and logistical burden on the shoulders of the Autonomous Administration. It is also of utmost importance to develop programs and plans to rehabilitate children and adolescents who grow up in extremely extremist atmospheres. It must be noted that solutions cannot be built radically on deportations alone, and plans and programs must be developed targeting detainees, women, and children to stave off the dangerous security and humanitarian conditions that we face as a result of the current situation, and that placing blame and responsibility on the shoulders of the administration arbitrarily does not correspond to the truth and reality, and it will be an incorrect and illegal vision for various considerations and reasons due to the complexities of the political, security, military and humanitarian situation on the scene, which are great challenges facing us and the international community, and the Autonomous Administration remains and acknowledges the shortcomings and obstacles in those facilities and works with all its efforts to improve the living conditions in the camps, despite the dilapidated infrastructure and limited capabilities. Towards the silence and indifference of the international community towards its pleas and demands, which call for improving the humanitarian and security conditions and bringing criminals to justice.

It mentioned now that the administration is looking forward, through the visit of the delegation of the Special Rapporteur, to conveying its voice and appeals to the international community to assume its responsibilities regarding this file. It indicated the success of the visit by all standards, and expressed her hope for continued cooperation and joint work between the Autonomous Administration and the United Nations in the future.

T/ Satt.

ANHA