U.N. official calls on states to help AANES in repatriating nationals
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – A top U.N. official said on Wednesday that the members’ governments should provide assistance for the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) to solve the issue of repatriating refugees in Northeast Syria’s camps.
“Your Governments’ help is needed in assisting the authorities in the northeast to find a solution for them too,” said Paulo Pinheiro, Chair of the U.N. Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria.
Pinheiro said there are 28,000 children in the camps in Northeast Syria, and called on the member states to do their best to repatriate their nationals.
In his statement for the 56th Session of the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva, Pinheiro added that Syrians “are gradually returning to their communities, albeit with a few challenges, but those who came from government-controlled areas are at great risk if they are involuntarily returned there.”
The U.N. official noted to the unilateral sanctions imposed by some states on the Syrian government saying such measures have negatively affected the civilians.
He urged the member states “to conduct urgent reviews of their imposition of sanctions to ensure that these negative impacts are eliminated.”