Justice & Accountability

An article by our partner Syria Direst: Nearly seven years after east Aleppo returned to regime control, the area’s neighborhoods still struggle with poor basic services—from electricity and water to sanitation—leaving residents feeling the neglect is “deliberate.”  

 An article by our partner Syria Direct: Most of Daraa’s cities and towns have no police stations nearly six years after returning to Damascus’ control. Where police are present, they have limited powers or work under the watchful eyes of settlement factions.

Although Lebanon receives EU support to provide for Syrian refugees, they are increasingly being criminalized and deported. Less than a week after Commission President Von der Leyen’s visit in May, Lebanon issued new residence regulations that effectively block the pathways to legal residence. These new regulations were followed by deportations to Syria, which the EU does not consider safe for return. Instead of making support conditional on respect for the refugees’ human rights, the EU is turning a blind eye.  

Our partner Syria Direct published an article on Education in Daraa Province in Syria. Facing a teacher shortage and little government support, communities in Daraa are turning to alternative solutions: providing financial bonuses to keep underpaid teachers in classrooms and repairing school buildings themselves. This report was originally published in Arabic and translated into English by Mateo Nelson.

In her laudation, Lotte Leicht pays tribute to people like Joumana Seif who do not demand revenge for crimes committed against them and their relatives, but who insist on justice.

With her work the lawyer Joumana Seif has played a critical role in having sexualised violence recognised as an offence that constitutes a crime against humanity, says Dr. Imme Scholz, head of the Anne Klein Women's Award jury.

In her acceptance speech Joumana Seif talks about the long road necessary to prosecute the crimes committed by the Syrian regime, to punish the perpetrators and also about the injustices suffered by women and how she is trying to support them in Germany.

Just days after the devastating earthquake and as the first vehicles loaded with relief supplies set off from German airports in the region, the German Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community and the Federal Foreign Office made an announcement in favour of further assistance: families with a Turkish or Syrian background would be able to take in their family members affected by the earthquake on a temporary basis.

We are experiencing two very different pandemic realities between low-income and high-income countries. Unfortunately, instead of seeking a solidarity-based response, the international community has once again demonstrated its disunity in this health crisis. The task now is to regain credibility and rebuild trust. This Article was first published on 16 February 2022 on eu.boell.org

Denmark decided as the only European country to lift the refugee status of a number of Syrian refugees based on its conclusion that Damaskus is safe for return. This policy is largely based on the Danish Ministry of Immigration's "Country of Origin" report of 2019. A number of experts quoted in these report, among them Dr. Bente Scheller, Heinrich Boell Stiftung speak out against how their expertise was used to justify a step that is not in line with European policies. In this statement, they urge the Danish government to revise their policy and respect international law that requires a safe, voluntary and dignified return for which they do not see the conditions met. #SyriaNotSafe #Syria #Denmark