- Syria and Russia create humanitarian catastrophe in Daraa
- Number displaced by Syrian and Russian bombing in Daara triples to 160,000
The assault that began on June 19 of the combination of the army of Syria’s president Bashar al-Assad and bombs from Russian warplanes is threatening a massive humanitarian disaster greater than the combined sizes of the humanitarian disasters at Aleppo and Ghouta.
Daraa is supposed to be part of a “de-escalation zone,” based on peace talks last year in Astana, Kazakhstan, between Russia, Iran, and Turkey. An outcome was that Russia and the U.S. agreed that the U.S. would oversee the ceasefire in Daraa.
Promises and agreements mean nothing to Russia and Syria, and they never intended to honor the ceasefire. The U.S. does usually honor its promises, but in this case has chosen not to intervene, rather than get pulled into yet another war, this time a full-scale war with Syria and Russia.
Bashar al-Assad has already begun the process that he has used in the past in Aleppo and Ghouta. He begins by bombing peaceful protesters, particularly women and children. As soon as someone becomes violent in revenge, he declares the whole community or ethnic group to be “terrorists,” and uses that as an excuse for full-scale genocide and ethnic cleansing. The genocide is performed with missiles, barrel bombs, chlorine gas, and Sarin gas, all particularly targeting women and children, as well as schools, markets, and hospitals.
The ethnic cleansing is accomplished by making it impossible for refugees to return to their homes. Last month, Syria’s government passed “Law #10”, which makes it almost impossible for refugees to return to their former homes. There are millions of Syrian refugees who have fled to Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Europe, and other countries who will not be able to return home, and are effectively stranded in the country they fled to. READ MORE
