CURRENT SITUATION

SYRIA
In March, 10th anniversary of the first demonstrations in Syria has occurred along with what lately had turned into a historic massacre of human beings.
Nevertheless, on March 15th thousands of people took to the streets in Idlib singing the same slogans of ten years ago.
The war is still going on. In the middle of March, West Alep and Idlib were bombed by Russia and Syrian Army, killing civilians inside a hospital and hitting the transports of humanitarian aids and a power plant.
Apparently, the number of Covid-19 cases is increasing and the Syrian President has been infected by the virus as well. He recovered at the end of the month.
At the end of March, two important events happened internationally. The first one has been the European Conference of Donors for Syria and Syrian Refugees which was held on March 29th-30th and collected 6 billion dollars, almost half of the amount planned to receive.

During the Conference, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Guterres, stated: “nine out of ten Syrians are currently living in poverty, and 60% of the population risks to go hungry this year - the highest number in the entire Syrian conflict’s course. Given the severe food and economic crisis that is affecting the country, international pressures have been recently used to urge the reopening of the border gates with Turkey, considering that only Bab Al Hawa gate is open at the moment.
The second relevant event concerns a declaration published on the website of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The declaration claimed that the Syrian government, together with the other armed parties involved in the conflict, must face war crimes committed in ten years of clashes. The document was signed by 18 European Ministers of Foreign Affairs who
appealed to the International Criminal Court.

LEBANON
Lebanon is still going through a health emergency period. However, in March the economic activities gradually resumed until the last lock-down occurred on March 22nd.
Nonetheless, Covid-19 emergency is not lessening. Recently a donation of almost 75 tons of oxygen from Syria to Lebanon has been reported due to the increased number of persons hospitalized in intensive care units and the lack of oxygen in Lebanese hospitals.
In addition to the health emergency, protests against inflation, which reached rates of 15000 Lebanese lira over 1 dollar, continue in the country.
Moreover, since no political agreements were negotiated among different political parties for the government’s formation, groups of demonstrators blocked several roads thus hindering the connection among the different areas of the country.
Finally, in March Amnesty International published an important report denouncing and reporting what Syrian victims of torture and violence suffered in Lebanese jails which is similar to the Human Rights violations experienced in the Syrian prisons.

SHARING, WORK AND NEWS ABOUT VOLUNTEERS

Despite the restrictions due to the health emergency in the country, the volunteers continue to carry out the project activities with Syrian and Lebanese families from Tel Abbas and the northern region.
Day by day, the living conditions have become more and more difficult for the Lebanese and the Syrians because the necessities’ cost has increased. As well, thefts and petty crimes continue to be reported.
Moreover, because of the health emergency, many children cannot access schools, hardly following online lessons by their parents’ mobile phones.
In March, the volunteers went to Arsal as well where they met several families and they shared daily moments.
Thanks to our volunteers’ commitment, two persons finally had the surgeries they needed.
At last, some Syrians are waiting for the forthcoming political elections in Syria excitedly, hoping to return to their country.

The Peace Proposal for Syria

Different activities were realized to carry on with the Peace Proposal for Syria.
We have been interviewed by TV stations and editorial staff, since the media showed a higher attention to the Syrian situation because of the 10th anniversary of the war in Syria.
During the whole month, we also looked for professors and college students who can support our research which aims to implement the Peace Proposal. We got in touch with Italian and foreign universities which could be willing to collaborate.
Meanwhile, we got in touch with the European Union as well, especially in view of the EU-Turkish-Lebanon-Jordan Conference of Donors, in order to raise awareness of the extreme poverty and insecurity conditions suffered by Syrian refugees in Lebanon.
Finally, we kept on contacting Human Rights activists in different parts of Europe in order to  strengthen our partnership and to share ideas and prospects.

For further information: Syrian Refugees Peace Proposal