Syrian Arab News Agency S A N A
Geneva, SANA – Syria’s Permanent Representative at the United Nations in Geneva Hussam Eddin Ala stressed importance of providing support to combat terrorism which forced millions of people to flee the terrorist organizations’ heinous crimes and atrocities.
Ala was speaking in the high-level meeting organized by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees on the sharing of international responsibilities regarding refugee acceptance.
He said that the terrorist organizations’ crimes over the past years have forced the Syrians to flee their homes looking for more secure areas inside Syria and under the protection of the Syrian State.
“The liberation of several areas from the grasp of the ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist organizations and the local reconciliations achieved in other areas have contributed to the return of displaced people to their homes after defeating terrorism,” Ala said, adding that this shows clearly the nature of conflict in Syria which is a conflict between stability and chaos on one hand, and between modernity and extremism on the other hand.
He said that Syria has always welcomed refugees on its territories taking into account guaranteeing their dignity and meeting their needs, noting that the wave of extremism and foreign-backed terrorism in the country has undermined the achievements of the Syrian people and caused damage to services and economic infrastructure whose value exceeded USD 200 billion, not to mention the plundering of natural resources and threatening the safety and security of Syrian citizens.
Ambassador Ala stressed that recent international interest in immigration and asylum issues necessitates the acknowledgment that illegitimate policies of intervention in other states’ affairs have led to destabilizing these states.
He added that resorting to means such as supporting terrorism and imposing unjust unilateral economic procedures to achieve political goals and interests under several pretexts are essential factors which have greatly contributed to the reality of many countries in the world.
The Ambassador indicated that the international community should push towards reconsidering a lot of wrong short-sighted policies which resulted in the emergence of human crises and the increase in displacement movement inside and outside countries.
He highlighted the importance of convening today’s meeting amid the increasing international interest in immigration and asylum issues and the challenges emerged from the growing numbers of refugees and migrants around the world and the international community’s unseriousness in dealing with real reasons for displacement and immigration in the world.
He regretted that some countries have established refugee camps several months before of the eruption of events in Syria, in addition to exploiting refugees’ conditions to convince the youth to join terrorists’ training camps on its territories.
Ala drew attention to that these states continue to exploit the Syrians’ suffering in order to fulfill political goals under false humanitarian pretexts, moreover they open their borders to export terrorism to Syria and facilitate the flow of refugees to Europe to be politically and humanitarianly abused.
He said that the meeting also sheds light on the humanitarian suffering of Syrian people for more than five years and discusses providing international contribution to respond to the repercussions of such wars such as humanitarian conditions, internal displacement movement and immigration .
The ambassador stressed the importance of addressing difficult services and living conditions caused by terrorism, targeting the economic infrastructure, and unjust unilateral measures taken against vital sectors such as energy, transportation and supply.
He added that combating extremist takfiri terrorism is not Syria’s priority anymore, rather it becomes an international issue which requires an immediate international cooperation to speed up the global war on terrorism.
Ala expressed deep regret over the fact that some states which prevented the UN Security Council from condemning terrorist acts in Syria and welcoming the liberation of Palmyra city continue their approach which reveals the reality of their claims to support political solution in Syria and contradicts their claims to fight terrorism.
He warned against adopting alternative tracks such as settlement of refugees in other countries and make use of this as a means to deplete creative minds and workforce which Syria needs, calling for supporting efforts to help refugees return to their homeland.
He demanded to follow the real track that is based on comprehensive rapprochement which allows to direct international efforts to support the elimination of takfiri terrorism with regard to relevant Security Council resolution No. 2253 which states for full coordination with states which witnessed terrorist acts committed on their territories or against their citizens, support political solution based on non-preconditioned Syrian-Syrian dialogue without any foreign intervention and the uplifting of unilateral economic measures.
R. Raslan / Ghossoun