STORY: UN Human Rights Spokesperson Liz Throssell on Syrian returnees subjected to “gross human rights violations and abuses”

TRT: 01:37

SOURCE: UNTV / OHCHR
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: English/NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9 
DATELINE:  13 February 2024 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND 

1.     Exterior shot: Palais des Nations, Geneva

2.     Cut Away: Briefing room

3.     SOUNDBITE (English)—Liz Throssell, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “The documented violations and abuses have been perpetrated by the Government, de facto authorities and other armed groups across the country, the report states. They include arbitrary detention, torture and ill-treatment, sexual and gender-based violence, enforced disappearance and abduction.”

4.     Cut Away: Briefing room

5.     SOUNDBITE (English)—Liz Throssell, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “The report says that women returnees face specifically discriminatory restrictions on their liberty to move freely and independently. It also documents a number of cases of women being forced by male family members to return to Syria to assess the conditions for safe and sustainable return for the rest of the family.”

6.     Cut Away: Briefing room

7.     SOUNDBITE (English)—Liz Throssell, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “Economic hardship, abuse, increasingly hostile speech and rhetoric against refugees, raids and mass arrests in some host countries have compelled many to return to Syria, the report says.”

8.     Cut Away: Briefing room

9.     SOUNDBITE (English)—Liz Throssell, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “There are reasonable grounds to believe that the overall conditions in Syria do not permit safe, dignified and sustainable returns of Syrian refuges to their home country, the report says.  It also notes that most of the interviewees said they had decided to flee again, even though, once back abroad, it was likely they would face precarious economic conditions and harassment.”

10.  Cut Away: Briefing room

“The documented violations and abuses have been perpetrated by the Government, de facto authorities and other armed groups across the country, the report states. They include arbitrary detention, torture and ill-treatment, sexual and gender-based violence, enforced disappearance and abduction,” Throssell said.

The report paints an alarming picture of the suffering of returnees, in particular women, amid the increasing number of deportations of Syrians from other countries. The situation of these returnees raises serious questions about the commitment of States to due process and non-refoulement.

“The report says that women returnees face specifically discriminatory restrictions on their liberty to move freely and independently. It also documents a number of cases of women being forced by male family members to return to Syria to assess the conditions for safe and sustainable return for the rest of the family,” she said.

“Economic hardship, abuse, increasingly hostile speech and rhetoric against refugees, raids and mass arrests in some host countries have compelled many to return to Syria, the report says,” spokesperson said.

Türkiye announced in May 2022 what it called the “resettlement” of one million Syrian refugees back to Syria, with reports of increased restrictions and forced deportations. In Lebanon, following months of increasing tensions and animosity towards Syrian refugees, Lebanese security forces conducted more than 70 raids targeting Syrian refugee communities in camps and residential areas across the country in the spring of 2023. At least 1,455 Syrians were arrested and 712 of them deported.

“There are reasonable grounds to believe that the overall conditions in Syria do not permit safe, dignified and sustainable returns of Syrian refuges to their home country, the report says.  It also notes that most of the interviewees said they had decided to flee again, even though, once back abroad, it was likely they would face precarious economic conditions and harassment,” Throssell stated.

ENDS

For more information and media requests, please contact: 

In Geneva

Liz Throssell - + 41 22 917 9296 / elizabeth.throssell@un.org or 

Ravina Shamdasani - + 41 22 917 9169 / ravina.shamdasani@un.org or 

Jeremy Laurence -  +41 22 917 9383 / jeremy.laurence@un.org

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