Assad regime arrests, disappears 200 Syria civilians returning from opposition areas

Hundreds of Syrian civilians have been detained by the regime of Bashar Al-Assad earlier this month while returning to Damascus from opposition-held areas, signalling the regime’s continuation of its long-held policy of abducting and disappearing civilians across the country.

According to the news outlet, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, which cited Syrian activists and local online groups, Syrian security forces apprehended around 200 Syrians – most of whom were reportedly women and children – at the Baghdad Bridge checkpoint near the Al-Qatifah area in the northern Damascus countryside on 3 September.

The group of civilians, who were on their way back from visiting their displaced relatives in rebel-held territories in northern Syria, were then ultimately transferred to the Al-Khatib Branch of the regime’s general intelligence directorate.

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Following the abduction, Badr Jamous, the head of the Syrian opposition’s Negotiating Committee, called on the United Nations’ Special Envoy to Syria, Geir Pedersen, to immediately intervene and ascertain the whereabouts and fate of the detainees.

In the letter sent to Pedersen last Thursday, Jamous demanded that the UN and its Special Envoy apply pressure on Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad and his regime for the release of the Syrian civilian detainees, highlighting that the abduction was further “evidence that Syria is not safe for its people in light of the presence of the regime in Damascus”.

Adding that the Assad regime and its security services are further dividing Syria and are punishing Syrians for communicating with each other across the territories, Jamous stated that their actions only confirm that they do not want the return of Syrians to areas controlled by the regime.

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