In the past weeks, international media from Politico to The Financial Times has exposed that the European Union is working behind closed doors to appoint a special envoy for Syria for the first time since 2011. My name is Afraa and as a human rights activist, Syrian refugee and mother of three, I am deeply concerned.
My family fled from the intensive shelling and siege in my city, Aleppo. It is inhumane that the European Union is now moving towards reopening relations with the same criminal, dictatorial regime that we fled. The EU may hope this will go largely unnoticed as the world’s attention shifts away from Syria, but if we raise the alarm together now, before the European Commission officially appoints an envoy, we could prevent it from happening.
It is important that we put pressure on both the European Commission – the EU’s executive body that holds the power to stop this decision – and European leaders who have expressed concerns and could play a crucial role in blocking the appointment.
Photo: October 16, 2024: Russian airstrikes hit a furniture workshop in Idlib, killing 11 civilians and injuring 32.
Photo by Ali Haj Suleiman
Appointing a Syria envoy is particularly dangerous because some EU states are seriously working to force refugees to return to Syria, working in collaboration with the UN refugee agency and the corrupt Syrian regime – that remains in power through ongoing aerial attacks, widespread torture and enforced disappearance, and is funded by a mafia trafficking Captagon narcotics.
Italy and seven other EU states have proposed to establish so-called ‘safe zones’ in Syria, and the EU has already partnered on deportation facilities inside Turkey. This is despite European courts, human rights groups and the UN clearly stating that no part of Syria is safe for refugees to return to.
The European Union must listen to the voices of Syrian refugees: we who survived and were able to flee the ongoing atrocities of Assad and have yet to experience a stable life, even in exile. The nightmares of persecution, arrest, bombings, and kidnappings still haunt us daily and I regret to say that we fear being forced to return to Syria.
Syria is now a land of underground torture dungeons detention centers, bombings, mafias, and militias. The thought of being forced to return fills us with fear and terror.
We must oppose an EU envoy in every way possible. There is a danger that it will help legitimize Assad in the eyes of the international community: Assad is a war criminal and the only legitimate course of action is for him to face trial in national and international courts for the crimes against humanity he has committed and continues to commit.
These threats and systematic ongoing human rights violations are the reasons why European law must continue to provide protection and safety to Syrian refugees. Please take part in this action and send a letter to the European Commission and European leaders asking them not to appoint a special envoy for Syria and to not normalize relations with Assad.
Our souls are weary from witnessing destruction and wars unfold around us while war criminals remain free and their dark history is ignored. Meanwhile, we – the defenders of our rights – continue to push for accountability, not only to seek justice for the loved ones we have lost but also to prevent these crimes from being repeated.
If we act together now, we can break through the silence that currently surrounds the fate of millions of Syrian refugees and make our voice heard at the highest levels of the European Union. Please act now to prevent the EU from normalizing relations with Assad’s regime and from forcing refugees to risk their lives by returning to Syria.
With gratitude,
Afraa and the team at the Syria Campaign