Russians and Assad Step Up Bombardment of Displacement Camps, Making Camp Conditions Unliveable
The Russian military has stepped up its bombardment of displaced persons camps in northwest Syria in recent weeks, launching cluster munitions and ballistic missiles to cause mass casualties. Russian airstrikes, combined with the Assad regime’s artillery attacks, leave civilians dead or wounded on daily basis. The attacks have exacerbated what was already a humanitarian catastrophe in the camps. According to humanitarian NGO monitors, 148 camps in northwest Syria have been burned since the beginning of 2022. In those camps, which house hundreds of thousands of Syrians displaced by war from their homes elsewhere in the country, open sewage has increased the level of disease by 37%. In addition, 81% of the camps face a food security crisis, with 93% lacking enough bread for daily requirements. The camps’ infrastructure is shockingly insufficient for their population: 77% of the camps’ roads are unpaved, 47% percent of the camps lack clean and potable water, 84% lack medical clinics, and 67% lack access to schools.
World Health Organization Investigates its Own Damascus Branch for Massive Pro-Assad Corruption
The World Health Organization is investigating shocking allegations that its office in Syria colluded with Assad regime officials, paid bribes, misappropriated funds, and violated WHO COVID-19 guidelines during the pandemic. The investigation was prompted by WHO staff whistleblowers who made charges particularly against the WHO’s representative in Damascus, Dr. Akjamal Makhtumova, who staffers claimed pressured them to sign contracts with Syrian regime politicians. The allegations of corruption were a stunning indictment of the UN health agency’s Damascus operation, which enjoys a budget of more than $115 million.
Assad’s Captagon Revenues Expand by Billions, While Jordanian Businessmen Seek More Trade with Assad
Syria TV reported on findings first published by the AFP that Syria’s Captagon trade produces more than $10 billion in annual profits. Though regional countries reportedly confiscated more than 400 million Captagon pills in 2022, shipments are expected to increase in future years. Jordan is one neighboring country where government officials announce daily confiscations of Captagon shipments sent to Jordan across borders controlled by the Assad regime. But at the same time that the Jordanian military and law enforcement are engaged in intense clashes to try to stop Syrian-regime-affiliated Captagon traffickers on the frontier, Jordanian businessmen visited Damascus to discuss ways to boost trade with the Assad regime.
Lebanese Government Pushes Syrian Refugees to Return into Threatening Conditions in Syria
Lebanese authorities continue to return Syrian refugees to Syria, despite UN declarations that Syria remains too unsafe for refugees to return. Syria TV reported that some of the refugees pressured to leave Lebanon were detained just days after they returned to Syria. The Syrian Network for Human Rights documented 208 cases of arbitrary arrest, including seven children and five women, in October 2022, and Syrian opposition media outlets reported that Assad regime intelligence branches are still arresting Syrians for comments on Facebook. A Palestinian NGO raised concerns about the Lebanese government forcing Palestinian refugees who had fled from Syria to return to that country. The Working Group for Palestinians of Syria detailed the conditions that make Syria too unsafe for Palestinian refugees to return there, in light of the Lebanese government’s announced intention to return 15,000 refugees to Syria each month.
Refugees Want Germany to Stop Assad from Collecting Extortionate Passport Fees; More Refugees Brave Dangerous Sea Crossing
In light of the Syrian government’s announcement that the fee for Syrians to obtain a passport would increase from $800 to $1000, Syrians in Germany launched a campaign asking the German government to stop requiring Syrian refugees to obtain official documents from the Syrian embassy in Berlin. Syrian activists noted that this arrangement amounted to the German government effectively funding the Assad regime.
Meanwhile, in an indication of the increasing number of Syrian refugees attempting the dangerous passage to Europe by sea, Greek port authorities announced on November 1 two rescue operations to find 60 people missing at sea 80 kilometers northwest of Athens. In the first eight months of 2022, the Greek Coast Guard reportedly rescued 1500 people, 600 more than were rescued in all of 2021. More than 30 people, including at least 13 children, have already been confirmed dead at sea since the beginning of October 2022.
The Guardian Uncovers–But Refuses to Publish–New Video of Tadamoun Massacre
After the gruesome video that emerged six months ago showing an Assad regime official massacring dozens of residents of the Tadamoun neighborhood of Damascus, another video has emerged of the official, Amjad Youssef, committing murders onscreen in Tadamoun. However, The Guardian, having gained access to the video, the 2nd of 27 such videos showing the Tadamoun massacres, has declined to publish the footage. The Guardian reported that the video depicts horrific acts by the same squad including Youssef shooting six women, throwing them into a ditch, taking turns pouring gasoline over their bodies, and burning the bodies before a bulldozer covered the mass grave. A former colleague of Amjad Youssef revealed that Youssef routinely kidnapped women and that he had seen Youssef in one instance “taking [innocent] women from the bread queue,” after which “they were definitely raped or killed.” Despite earlier claims that Youssef had been arrested by the Assad regime, sources in Syria now report he is still actively working as an intelligence officer in Kafr Sousa despite having committed 12 other mass killings. The fact that Yousself has not been arrested or imprisoned indicates that the Syrian regime recognizes Youssef’s mass murder activities were not rogue actions, but rather were actions he was ordered to carry out by the regime chain of command itself.
Syrian-American Think Tank Exposes Assad Regime Cover-Up of Mass Murders in Deraa
In a similar case, the Washington-based Syrian-American think tank Syria Justice and Accountability published an investigative report entitled “Leave No Traces” detailing the methods the Assad regime used to cover up mass executions in Deraa in 2012. In a scene reminiscent of Youssef in Tadamoun, one video described in the report shows an Assad regime officer taking pictures of people’s faces and then pouring gasoline on their face and hands to obliterate the identity of those killed.
