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You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) >> KB (Failed asylum seekers and forced returnees) Syria CG [2012] UKUT 426 (IAC) (20 December 2012) URL: https://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKUT/IAC/2012/00426_ukut_iac_2012_kb_syria_cg.html Cite as: [2012] UKUT 00426 (IAC), [2012] UKUT 426 (IAC) |
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Upper Tribunal
(Immigration and Asylum Chamber)
KB (Failed asylum seekers and forced
returnees) Syria
CG UKUT 00426 (IAC)
THE IMMIGRATION ACTS
Heard at : Field House |
Determination Promulgated |
On : 6th – 7th March 2012 and 7th August 2012 |
|
|
………………………………… |
Before
Upper Tribunal Judge Eshun
Upper Tribunal Judge McKee
Upper Tribunal Judge Pitt
Between
secretary of state for the home department
Appellant
and
KB
Respondent
Representation:
For the Appellant: Mr Stuart Ouseley of the Specialist Appeals Team
For the Respondent: Mr Zia Nasim, instructed by Aman Solicitors Advocates
a. This country
guidance replaces previous guidance in SA & IA (Undocumented Kurds) Syria
CG [2009] UKAIT 00006.
b. In the
context of the extremely high level of human rights abuses currently occurring
in Syria
, a regime which appears increasingly concerned to crush any sign of
resistance, it is likely that a failed asylum seeker or forced returnee would,
in general, on arrival face a real risk of arrest and detention and of serious
mistreatment during that detention as a result of imputed political opinion. That
is sufficient to qualify for refugee protection. The position might be
otherwise in the case of someone who, notwithstanding a failed claim for
asylum, would still be perceived on return to
Syria
as a supporter of the Assad
regime.
DETERMINATION AND REASONS
1. This appeal was heard by the above named panel on 6 and 7 March 2012. Upper Tribunal Judge McKee became unavailable as a result of which the hearing on 7 August 2012 was presided over by Upper Tribunal Judges Eshun and Pitt. This is a decision of the two remaining members of the panel, to which both contributed.
2.
This is an
appeal by the Secretary of State against a determination of the First-tier Tribunal
(Judge Canavan), allowing an appeal by a Syrian national (of Arab ethnicity and
hailing from a village near Tartous) against the decision on 12 April 2010 to
remove him as an illegal entrant, consequent on the refusal of his asylum
claim. For convenience, we shall retain the designations ‘appellant’ and
‘respondent’ for the parties as they were before the First-tier Tribunal. This
case has been listed for country guidance on Syria
, but before we turn to more
general considerations, we shall set out the factual background to the
appellant’s own case.
3.
On 17 February
2009 (the same day as he is said to have arrived in the United Kingdom in the back of a lorry), the appellant was arrested by the police in Kent and taken to Bexleyheath Police Station. He initially claimed to be a Palestinian,
but a search on ‘livescan’ revealed that he was a Syrian who, on 29 November
2007, had been refused a visit visa by the British Embassy in Beirut. An
immigration officer now attended the police station, and in a taped interview
the appellant explained that he had pretended to be Palestinian so that his
real immigration history would not be known. He now admitted that he had left Syria
the previous month and had travelled through many countries before reaching Italy. From there he went by train to Belgium, where he concealed himself in the lorry
which brought him to this country. His reason for coming here was to work and
thereby support his family in
Syria
, who were very poor.
4.
Bio-Data
Information signed by the appellant the next day included the information that
he had been employed as a car electrician in Arab Alshatea, near Tartous, from
2004 to 2009. On 24 February 2009 an application form for an Emergency Travel
Document was filled in by an immigration officer, but the proposed removal
never took place, and a year later, on 1 March 2010, the appellant claimed
asylum. At a Screening Interview the same day he said that he had crossed the
border between Syria
and the Lebanon on 12 July 2007 and had stayed there with
cousins until 22 January 2009, when he was smuggled onto a ship. The ship
brought him to an unknown country, where he stayed for a month before being put
on the lorry which took him to this country on 18 February 2009. He had no
documents with him at the time, but he was able subsequently to produce his
Syrian passport. His uncle had paid approximately 2,000-3,000 Euros to an
agent, in order for him to come here.
5.
The appellant
now said that he had gone to the Lebanon to avoid being arrested when the
police broke up a demonstration which he had attended. He wanted to
demonstrate for a change of regime because a lot of his relatives had been
arrested, although he himself was not involved with any political party while
in Syria
.
6. On 11 March 2010 the appellant had his Asylum Interview, in which he said that 15 of his friends were arrested on 1 December 2007, and that he himself fled to the Lebanon just in time, before the security forces came to his house on 7 December 2007 with an arrest warrant. The appellant had become incensed with the regime after completing his military service in 2007, because two of his relatives had been arrested. One was never released, while the other had lost his mind by the time he was released. During his stay in the Lebanon the appellant got involved in political activities, until that country also became too risky for him. The Syrian passport, issued on 18 July 2007, which the appellant brought to the interview, had been stamped by the British Embassy in Beirut on 5 November 2007, and the stamp had been subsequently crossed through to show that the visa application had been rejected. The appellant acknowledged that he had gone to the Lebanon to make the application. It was easy to get there from Arab Shatie (a village in Lebanon) without any ID at all, as it was close to the border and one just had to cross over a small river.
7. At the appeal hearing on 14 June 2010 the appellant added that the security forces had been back to the family home several times, looking for him, and that three of his brothers had been arrested on different occasions and detained for one or two days, to intimidate them. But Judge Canavan was “unable to accept that the authorities came to know about his political activities and approached his family in the way that he says.” Indeed, she made an overall negative credibility finding:
“In the absence of
any further evidence to support his claim I find that serious doubts are raised
about the credibility of the core aspects of the appellant’s account. His
account of his political activities has been vague and his actions in obtaining
a passport and applying for entry clearance do not indicate that he was of any
interest to the authorities at the time. His subsequent actions in returning
to Syria
and then travelling back to Lebanon, and his behaviour on arrival in
the UK, are not consistent with someone who has a well-founded fear of
persecution. His account of the authorities showing interest in his family
after he left the country has been confused and contradictory and I found his
evidence on this issue to be unclear and unreliable. I conclude that, in the
absence of any further evidence, I am unable to accept the core aspects of the
appellant’s account even on the low standard of proof. The appellant has
failed to establish the overall credibility of his account. His actions show
that his main motivation for coming to the UK appears to have been to learn
English and find work.”
8.
Judge Canavan
nevertheless allowed the appeal. She consulted the most recent country guidance
in SA & IA (Undocumented Kurds) Syria
CG [2009] UKAIT 6, focusing
upon paragraphs 6 and 7 of the italicised head-note :
“6. There
is no real risk that leaving Syria
illegally would, in the absence of
additional aggravating factors, result in ill-treatment on return amounting to
persecution or a breach of human rights.
7. A failed asylum seeker will not be perceived as being an opponent of the regime simply by reason of having claimed asylum abroad and will not as such be at real risk of persecutory ill-treatment on return.”
9.
These two
conclusions had, the judge thought, been overtaken by the deteriorating
situation in Syria
since the country guidance case was heard in November 2008,
albeit the evidence for that was slight. Indeed, the only evidence before her
was a change in the wording between the US State Department Report for the year
2007 and that for the year 2009. The former said that the Syrian government “routinely
arrested dissidents who tried to return to the country after years or even
decades in exile”, whereas the latter said that the government “routinely
arrested dissidents and former citizens with no known political affiliation who
tried to return to the country after years or even decades in exile.” The
Report for 2009 also mentioned numerous reports by human rights organisations
of the security forces arresting people who were not apparently involved in
political activities. The phrases “numerous reports” and “routine
arrests” indicated to Judge Canavan that such incidents were now likely to
be sufficiently regular and systematic to create at least a ‘serious
possibility’ or a ‘reasonable degree of likelihood’ of ill-treatment
on return, even to a person with no known political profile.
10. Permission to appeal to the Upper Tribunal was sought by the Secretary of State, on the basis that the phrases “numerous reports” and “routine arrests” were in themselves insufficiently precise to found a departure from the current country guidance. Granting permission on 22 July 2010, Upper Tribunal Judge McKee observed that the phrase “former citizens with no known political affiliation” appeared to mean people who had renounced or otherwise lost their Syrian citizenship, which was not the case with this appellant. This observation was developed by Mr Blundell, a Senior Presenting Officer, when the matter came before Upper Tribunal Judge Moulden on 11 November 2010. Judge Moulden found that there had indeed been an error of law such that the decision of the First-tier Tribunal had to be set aside, in that the country evidence before the First-tier Tribunal was not of sufficient weight to justify departing from the most recent country guidance case. Upper Tribunal Judge Moulden’s decision is in the first appendix to this decision. Paragraph 20 of the decision indicated that Judge Canavan’s findings on credibility and fact were preserved.
11.
The appellant,
who had previously been unrepresented, subsequently instructed Sheikh & Co., but that firm ceased practice and Aman Solicitors stepped in at short notice to fill
the breach. The appeal was adjourned for a further hearing, limited to the
issue of whether the appellant would be at risk on return, in the light of
Judge Canavan’s findings of credibility and fact. The new solicitors needed
time to prepare, and wished to obtain an expert report. In May 2011 it was
adumbrated at a Case Management Review Hearing that the case might be suitable
for country guidance, and although at another Case Management Review Hearing in
October Mr Ouseley argued that the time was not right for a country guidance
case, the designation has been maintained. Prior to the substantive hearing in
March 2012, Mr Ouseley repeated his view that the appeal should not be set down
for country guidance, owing to the volatility of the situation in Syria
, but it
seems to us that, whatever its ultimate fate, the Assad regime could remain in
power for a very long time. There has been no country guidance on
Syria
since the current unrest began in March 2011, and there is a clear need for an update
on whether the guidance in SA & IA is still to be followed.
12.
In preparation
for this hearing, the appellant signed a Witness Statement on 24 February 2012
in which he says that on five occasions, between July 2011 and 18 February
2012, he attended demonstrations outside the Syrian Embassy in London, and that he attended another one in Trafalgar Square. He has no photographs of
himself at these demonstrations. Meanwhile two of the appellant’s brothers in Syria
were, he says, arrested at a demonstration, and were detained for two months,
suffering regular ill-treatment. The authorities have twice searched the
appellant’s family home, looking for evidence.
13.
Since signing
the Witness Statement the appellant states that he has attended another
demonstration outside the Syrian Embassy, and has put together a set of eleven
photographs, showing him among a crowd of protestors at this demonstration. At
the hearing on 6 March the appellant gave live evidence, adopting his Witness
Statement, and told Mr Ouseley that he had now been to a total of eight
demonstrations, the most recent being on 3 March and the first approximately
six months previously. He told Mr Nasim that a relative in the Lebanon had sent his Syrian passport to him about six months after he had arrived in this
country. He did not use the passport in order to travel, lest it be realised
that he was a national of Syria
.
14.
We pause at this
juncture to emphasize that the appeal before us has proceeded on the basis that
the negative credibility findings of the First-tier Tribunal, set out in [7]
above, are to stand. Indeed, we regard those findings as amply justified. It
is telling that the appellant did not want the authorities in the country of
refuge to know that he was from Syria
. He tried to pass himself off as a
Palestinian and failed to claim asylum for over a year after being served with
illegal entry papers. Judge Canavan did not believe that the appellant had
been in any trouble with the Syrian authorities, or that his parents and
siblings had been harassed on account of his activities. We think it no more
likely to be true that his brothers have been detained and ill-treated more
recently for taking part in demonstrations, and that his parents have been harassed
on that account. Nor do we accept that the appellant has been to as many
demonstrations in London as he claims. In his Witness Statement he says that
the first of these took place in July 2011, but at the hearing on 6 March 2012 he
told us that it was six months ago, counting back from March 2012. There is no
corroboration from anyone else that the appellant has been to more
demonstrations than the one on 3 March 2012, no letter from an
opposition group or even from a friend or fellow-Syrian. It is trite that
asylum seekers may not be able to provide corroboration of a genuine claim, but
when corroborating evidence should be easy to obtain, its absence may well
affect credibility.
Country Guidance Question
15.
Aman Solicitors
Advocates have provided us with several lever-arch files with material about
the unrest which has beset Syria
since March 2011 and its brutal suppression by
the Ba’athist regime. Most of this is not central to our deliberations but it
does provide important background. The violence that has occurred will be
familiar to anyone who follows the news. An Amnesty International report
published on 14 March 2012 gives graphic details of the torture methods
practised in detention centres over the past year. There can be no doubt that
opposition activists, or those perceived to be such, who fall into the hands of
the regime, are at real risk of serious ill-treatment. So much is acknowledged
in paragraphs 59 and 60 and the second paragraph of the head-note to SA
& IA: “a person with an actual or perceived profile of being
anti-regime would be at real risk of persecution on return to
Syria
.”
16. We are concerned, rather, with paragraphs 75 to 89 of SA & IA on risks for failed asylum seekers, summarised in paragraph 7 of the head-note as follows:
“7. A failed asylum seeker will not be perceived as being an opponent of the regime simply by reason of having claimed asylum abroad and will not as such be at real risk of persecutory ill-treatment on return.”
17.
The question for
us is whether the findings in SA & IA on risk to failed asylum
seekers remain valid as country guidance, or whether they have been overtaken
by current events in Syria
. We heard oral evidence on this from the well-known
expert on
Syria
, Dr Alan George, who also provided two written reports – one
dated 1 March 2012 (superseding an earlier one of 4 March 2011) and an addendum
report dated 13 March 2012, sent to us after the hearing. Amnesty
International also put in a report specifically on behalf of the appellant,
dated 28 February 2012. For his part, Mr Ouseley relied principally on the
Country of Origin Information Report issued in September 2010 (which of course
pre-dates the current unrest) and Operational Guidance Notes issued on 10
November 2011 and July 2012 (which are largely concerned with the current
unrest) and he was also able to provide a document dated 16 August 2012 setting
out the process followed by the respondent when obtaining travel documents for
Syrian nationals. Apart from oral submissions, we have also benefited greatly
from Mr Nasim’s skeleton argument and written submissions, filed at our request
after the hearing. Mr Ouseley’s post-hearing written submissions called forth
a Reply from Mr Nasim. We were also provided with written submissions dated 1
July 2012 and 15 August 2012 from the appellant’s solicitors and a short
submission from Ms Athi for the respondent dated 16 August 2012. We have taken
all of these into account in reaching the conclusions which we set out below.
Failed Asylum Seekers
18.
An Interim
Operational Instruction of the UK Border Agency, dated 6 January 2012, defers
all escorted removals to Syria
for the time being. Removals have also been
suspended from several other European countries, as recommended by the UNHCR,
while Mr Nasim has drawn to our attention the praise given by the US Committee
for Refugees and Migrants to the Homeland Security Secretary on 26 March 2012
having been praised for granting ‘temporary protected status’ to all Syrians
currently in the United States. None of this demonstrates on its own, however,
that Syrian asylum seekers in the United Kingdom must be granted refugee
status. As the Zimbabwe litigation shows, enforced removals can be suspended
for a very long time, even where real risk on return is not established.
19.
Whether,
therefore, failed asylum seekers face a real risk of persecution or serious
harm or ill treatment contrary to Article 3 is a matter to be considered on the
available evidence. Despite the fact that there appear to have been no forced
returns to Syria
for some time, there was, nevertheless, opinion on this issue
in a number of documents before us. Firstly, we had the reports and oral
evidence of Dr George as regards which we took an entirely similar view to that
of the Tribunal in SA & IA at paragraph 47 where it stated:
“We would observe at this stage that we found Dr George to be well informed about Syrian affairs and his evidence to us was thoughtful, detailed and helpful. We were impressed by the way in which in his oral evidence he was careful to avoid exceeding his brief as an expert witness; to indicate clearly when he did not know the answers to questions; and to indicate where there was in his view a grey area. We also have the benefit of having several written reports from him as well as his oral evidence, which taken together have given us the opportunity to see the evolution of his thinking in the context of the other objective evidence. Of course we have to reach our own conclusions on the evidence as a whole and in line with the law but we have given serious weight to his evidence.”
20. Dr George’s evidence to the Tribunal in SA & IA maintained that the appellant would face mistreatment on return merely because he was a forced returnee. It was also Dr George’s firm view that any Syrian who has claimed asylum abroad will be perceived as an oppositionist, which is quite sufficient cause for him to be detained and maltreated on return. However the Tribunal at paragraph 89 of SA & IA did not find it would agree on this issue. Does the more recent evidence suggest a different conclusion?
21.
In his report of
1 March 2012, Dr George confirms that nearly all those who have been arrested
and maltreated after being forcibly returned to Syria
have had a political
profile, as known or suspected members of the Muslim Brotherhood, Kurdish
separatists, etc. According to the April 2007 report by the Danish Refugee
Council, and indeed according to what a senior official at the Syrian Embassy
in London told Dr George in 2006, the Syrian authorities did not regard
everyone who seeks asylum abroad as an opponent of the regime, recognising that
some Syrians have economic motives for doing so. This was also the view of the
UNHCR Representative in Damascus, whereas the London-based Syrian Human Rights
Committee insisted in 2008 that “any one who applies for asylum and [is]
known to the Syrian security services will be arrested, prosecuted and detained
for distributing false information about
Syria
.”
22. Until a joint report of the Austrian Centre for Country of Origin & Asylum Research and Documentation, the Austrian Red Cross and the Danish Immigration Service was published in May 2010, the most that could be said, according to Dr George, was that “it would have been imprudent to assert categorically that claiming asylum abroad in and of itself would never cause adverse attention from the Syrian authorities. … Evidently, it was something that did happen, albeit that it did not happen routinely or even often.”
23. The Austrian-Danish report of May 2010, however, included this information from a senior researcher with Human Rights Watch (HRW) in Beirut:
“[R]eturned failed
asylum seekers are most likely detained upon return to Syria
, although not necessarily for a long period of time. It was added that there was a
high likelihood of ill-treatment during their initial detention which can
amount to torture if the person is expected to know something of interest to
the security service. What will happen to a returnee depends on what is in the
file (if there is one) or on whether the security services believe what the
returnee tells. Usually, the authorities release returnees after making a file
on them and probably refer them to an investigative judge. Upon release
persons are very commonly required to report regularly.”
and:
“Regarding the situation for failed asylum seekers, Nadim Houry, HRW, state that every returned failed asylum seeker will automatically be detained and interrogated.”
24.
The example
given by the HRW researcher, however, was that of a Kurdish musician who left Syria
in the aftermath of an uprising in 2004 and sought asylum in Norway. He was mistreated on
return as a failed asylum seeker but it seems to us that his profile was
somewhat different to that of a failed asylum seeker who may have left for
purely economic reasons.
25. The Austrian-Danish report indicates, however, that the view of the HRW researcher on failed asylum seekers being likely to be detained on return was also held by a number of Western diplomatic sources who remained unnamed. One ”Western diplomatic source” stated that a failed asylum seeker:
“would be detained
upon return to Syria
simply because of the fact that he or she has been
abroad. The person would be subjected to interrogation by the security
services. However, it is unclear how the person would be treated during this
detention that in some cases could last for weeks or even longer.”
26. Another comment from “a Western diplomatic source” was that out of the four Syrian nationals repatriated in recent months, three were detained and then released and one was charged with spreading false information abroad. We noted that those returns would have been at some point in late 2009 where the Austrian-Danish report was published in May 2010.
27.
Two Operational
Guidance Notes (OGNs), dated November 2011 and July 2012 respectively, were provided
by the respondent and referred to by both parties in their submissions. We took
a careful approach to the OGNs, taking into account the caveat at the beginning
of both documents that they did not purport to be comprehensive and had to be “read
in conjunction with the relevant COI Service country of origin information and
any other relevant information”. At the time that we reserved our decision
there was no relevant Country of Origin Information Report (COIR) on Syria
against which to read the OGNs, as the most recent report was that of September 2010
which, obviously, did not comment at all on the uprisings of 2011 and ensuing
events. However, we were provided with the full versions of all the sources
relied on in the OGNs and have set out our views above on what we considered to
be the relevant parts. We also noted that the
Syria
COIR dated 15 August 2012, issued
after we reserved our decision, relied on the same sources and did not dissent
from anything set out in the OGNs, for example, confirming that the Austrian-Danish
report contained evidence of “a number of sources [which] agreed that
failed asylum seekers and persons who had left
Syria
illegally would generally
face detention and investigation upon return”. Given that we approached
them in that context, we found it appropriate to have regard to the
respondent’s guidance to her caseworkers as set out in the OGNs.
28. The November 2011 OGN concludes the section on “Returning failed asylum seekers” thus:
“3.9.7 Conclusion:
The
Syrian authorities have become increasingly repressive in recent years, and
there are numerous reports indicating that some returnees, including failed
asylum seekers, may be at risk of ill-treatment on return to Syria
. The available evidence suggests that returnees of Kurdish ethnicity and
those whose opposition to the government is known or suspected by the security
services would be at particular risk. Given the growing civil unrest and
increasingly volatile conditions, it is possible that returnees would be viewed
with suspicion by the authorities and credible reports of the surveillance
of Syrian activists and demonstrators in the UK are likely to increase this
risk. (our emphasis)”
29. The OGN of July 2012 refers at 3.11.4 to reports that failed asylum seekers were likely to be detained on return, “simply because they had been abroad.” Relying on the US State Department Report for 2011 and a further Human Rights Watch report dated 3 July 2012, the July 2012 OGN states at 3.11.5:
“Since the outbreak of violent civil disorder, the Syrian authorities have become progressively more brutal in their treatment of individuals perceived to be opposed to the Assad regime. Following the lifting of the Emergency Law in April 2011, security forces continued their previous practices and have carried out larger numbers of arbitrary arrests. As levels of violent repression of political protest have intensified, anyone perceived to be critical of, or hostile to, the Syrian authorities is likely to face arbitrary arrest and extreme ill-treatment in detention (our emphasis).”
and at 3.11.8:
“Careful
consideration should be given to the particular circumstances of the
individual, including the reasons for having left Syria
, any previous
activities within the military or security services, any political profile, or
any evidence of having taken part in demonstrations or other expressions of
opposition to the regime, including any such activity in the UK. The intention and the ability of the Syrian authorities to monitor all expressions of
opposition should not be underestimated. Even where there has been no
previous expression of anti-regime views, a grant of asylum will be appropriate
if there is a real risk of the individual being perceived as having opposition
sympathies (our emphasis).”
30.
It appears to us
that the respondent’s position in the OGNs (also reflected in the sources set
out in the COIR dated 15 August 2012) was consistent with that of Dr George and
Human Rights Watch as to the increased likelihood of a failed asylum seeker
being imputed with opposition sympathies or views on return to Syria
.
31.
It is also our
view that the developments in the evidence on failed asylum seekers are entirely
consistent with the wider and undisputed country evidence on the very marked
increase in abuses in Syria
from the spring of 2011 onwards. For example, a
comparison of the 2010 US State Department report on Human Rights, already
dispiriting enough, with that of 2011, makes for profoundly depressing
reading. The 2011 report sets out the willingness of the regime to use “indiscriminate”
and “deadly force against its citizens” with “victims chosen at
random and many of them … not associated with the protests” and “the
substantial increase in the use of torture” and states that there “were
a significant number of exceptionally brutal cases of abuse of children by the
regime during the year.” Prison conditions were “[h]arsh and
life-threatening”.
32.
How would a
failed asylum seeker or forced returnee being returned now fare in that
context? Having surveyed the more recent evidence provided by Dr George, the
information contained in the joint Austrian-Danish report and the indication
that it was the respondent’s position that it was “possible that returnees
would be viewed with suspicion” and “that even failed asylum seekers may
be at risk of ill-treatment” we find that we have to take a different view
to that expressed in paragraphs 75 to 89 of SA & IA. We accept that
in the context of the extremely high level of human rights abuses currently
occurring in Syria
, a regime which appears increasingly concerned to crush any
sign of resistance, it is likely that a failed asylum seeker or forced returnee
would, in general, on arrival face a real risk of arrest and detention and of
serious mistreatment during that detention as a result of imputed political
opinion. That is sufficient to qualify for refugee protection. The position
might be otherwise in the case of someone who, notwithstanding a failed claim
for asylum, would still be perceived on return to
Syria
as a supporter of the
Assad regime.
33. Where a failed asylum seeker would, in general, be at risk on return, the conclusion at paragraph 89 of SA & IA is longer valid.
34. Since we have found the appellant to be eligible for refugee protection, he cannot succeed in his claim for a grant of subsidiary protection under Article 15(c) of the Qualification Directive 2004/83/EC, implemented as humanitarian protection under paragraph 339C of our Immigration Rules. Where that is so and given that the country evidence continues to show the violence moving to different but limited areas of the country on an unpredictable course, we say nothing more on this ground.
Conclusion
35.
The appellant’s
appeal is allowed because of what we say at paragraph 32. We are conscious
that the usefulness of this country guidance may prove highly contingent and
possibly very short-lived. The increasing levels of violence across different
areas of Syria
may provoke the much debated outside intervention or it may be,
as we commented at the outset of this determination that the Assad regime will
cling on to power for a long time yet.
Anonymity
36. We make an anonymity order pursuant to rule 14 (1) (b) of the Tribunal Procedure (Upper Tribunal) Rules 2008.
DECISION
37. The decision of the First-tier Tribunal disclosed an error on a point of law and is set aside.
38. We re-make the decision by allowing KB’s appeal on Refugee Convention grounds and on Article 3 grounds. He is not entitled to a grant of Humanitarian Protection.
Signed: Date: 21 December 2012
Upper Tribunal Judge Eshun
APPENDIX 1
ERROR OF LAW DECISION DATED 12 NOVEMBER 2010
APPELLANT: SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT
RESPONDENT: KB
CASE NO: AA/05466/2010
DATE OF INITIAL HEARING IN UPPER TRIBUNAL: 11 November 2010
Representation:
For the Appellant: Mr M Blundell a Senior Home Office Presenting Officer
For the Respondent: Miss K Grant of Counsel instructed by Aman Solicitors
REASONS FOR FINDING THAT TRIBUNAL MADE AN ERROR OF LAW, SUCH THAT ITS DECISION FALLS TO BE SET ASIDE
1.
The appellant is
the Secretary of State for the Home Department. The respondent is a citizen of Syria
who was born on 10 December 1986. The appellant has been given permission to appeal
the determination of Immigration Judge Canavan allowing the respondent's appeal
against the appellant's decision of 12 April 2010 to give directions for the
respondent's removal from the United Kingdom following the refusal of asylum.
2. The respondent claimed to have entered the UK illegally in the back of a lorry on 17 February 2009. He was arrested the same day and claimed asylum on 1 March 2010. He had made an earlier unsuccessful application for entry clearance in Beirut on 29 November 2007.
3.
The respondent
claimed that he carried out his military service between 2005 and 2007 and during
that time he met some young men who wanted to agitate against the government.
When he finished his military service he claimed to have become involved with a
group who were printing and distributing opposition leaflets. He claimed to
have distributed leaflets and to be an opponent of the governing regime. He
said that members of his family had been arrested in the past. He claimed that
the security forces arrested members of his group and, fearing arrest and
torture, he fled the country to Lebanon. He remained in Lebanon for about 10 days before returning to Syria
to await the outcome of his visa application,
which was refused. He said that he then learnt that further members of his
group had been arrested. He left the country with others, illegally, and
travelled to Lebanon. He claimed that after he left
Syria
the security forces
came to his family home with an arrest warrant. They had returned at intervals
since then. He claimed that three of his brothers had been arrested. He also
claimed that two of his friends were arrested in Lebanon and sent back to
Syria
. He left Lebanon in January 2009, spent about a month in an unknown European country
and then travelled to the UK.
4. Neither the appellant nor the respondent was represented before the judge. The respondent attended and gave evidence. The judge found that he was not a credible witness. She did not believe the core aspects of his account. She concluded that his main motivation for coming to the UK was to learn English and find work. The respondent has not sought to challenge these conclusions.
5.
The judge made
reference to the country guidance case relating to Syria
, SA and IA
(Undocumented Kurds)
Syria
CG [2009] UKAIT 00006 which indicated that a
failed asylum seeker returning from the UK would not be at risk of persecution
absent further aggravating factors. She made reference to the COIR report dated
6 February 2009 and the US State Department Report dated 11 March 2010. In the
light of the latter report she concluded that the situation in
Syria
had deteriorated and that the appellant would be at risk of persecution on return.
She allowed the appeal on asylum and Article 3 human rights grounds.
6. The appellant argues that the judge should have followed the country guidance case of SA and IA and there was no evidence of sufficient weight or clarity to depart from this.
7.
Mr Blundell
submitted that the background to the judge's decision was the finding that the
respondent was not a credible witness. His account of events was not believed
and if he was return to Syria
it would be as nothing more than a returning
failed asylum seeker. The judge properly took the country guidance cases as her
starting point and he made no criticism of the fact that in the difficult
circumstances where neither party was represented she made reference to the
used country guidance material contained in the COIR report and the US
Department of State Report. She seized on passages which she summarised in
paragraph 40 of the determination. He emphasised that the key passage from the
March 2010 US State Department Report on which her decision turned stated that
the Syrian government "routinely arrested dissidents and former citizens
with no known political affiliation who tried to return to the country after
years or even decades in exile". The respondent was not a "former
citizen". There was no evidence to indicate that he had lost or was being
deprived of his Syrian citizenship. Mr Blundell referred me to a number of
passages in the country guidance case, in particular between paragraphs 139 and
142. He accepted that at that time the evidence pointed in two directions. The
expert witnesses did not agree but UNHCR were of the view that returning failed
asylum seekers would not be at risk.
8. Mr Blundell argued that the factors relied on by the judge did not support her decision to depart from country guidance authority. The evidence was not clear. The respondent was not a Kurd, not stateless and not a dissident. The other passages referred to by the judge did not indicate any change from the position assessed by the panel in SA and IA. I was asked to find that there was an error of law, to remake the decision and to dismiss the appeal.
9. Miss Grant asked me to uphold the determination. She argued that the judge was correct in reaching her findings. The US Department of State report was up-to-date and persuasive. The judge did not put too much weight on it. The passage on page 78 supported her conclusion.
10.
Miss Grant
submitted that the judge had found that the respondent took part in some
politically related activities in Lebanon after he left Syria
. I asked her to point me to any passage in the determination which supported this submission.
She referred me to paragraph 37 but this contains a broad adverse credibility
finding and I can find nothing which supports her contention.
11.
Miss Grant then
drew my attention to what she said were the panel's conclusions in SA and IA
at page 103 paragraph 4 and page 116 paragraph 2 (these being the page numbers
in the respondent's bundle). Mr Blundell objected. I agreed with him that the
passages to which Miss Grant referred were not the conclusions of the panel but
a record of submissions made to them. Miss Grant argued that the respondent
would be at risk on return because he left Syria
illegally. She submitted that
there was no error of law and the determination should be upheld.
12. In his reply Mr Blundell pointed out that the respondent had claimed to have taken part in politically related activities in Lebanon. This was addressed in the refusal letter at paragraph 62 but the respondent's claims were rejected by the appellant and the judge. Paragraph 4 of the head note in SA and IA did not assist the respondent. It had not been accepted that he had taken part in any anti-regime activities.
13. Miss Grant submitted that if I did find an error of law then the respondent, who was unrepresented at the hearing before the judge, should be given the opportunity to submit expert evidence in relation to his contention that the situation for returning failed asylum seekers had deteriorated since SA and IA. I reserved my determination.
14. The head note to SA and IA, written by the authors of the determination states, in paragraph 6 and 7;
"6. There is
no real risk that leaving Syria
illegally would, in the absence of additional
aggravating factors, result in ill-treatment on return amounting to persecution
or a breach of human rights.
7. A failed asylum seeker will not be perceived as being an opponent of the regime simply by reason of having claimed asylum abroad and will not as such be at real risk of persecutory ill-treatment on return."
15. In paragraph 44 of her determination the judge said;
"44. The only evidence before me that seems different to the evidence in November 2008 is a slight, but perhaps significant, change to the wording of the US State Department report relating to the risk to returnees. The US State Department report for 2007 quoted the COIR report (paragraph 14.05) stating that the government "routinely arrested dissidents who tried to return to the country after years or even decades in exile". The tribunal accepted that those with a known or suspected political profile against the regime would be at risk on return. However, in light of a further deterioration in the human rights situation the most recent US State Department report issued in March 2010 now states that the government "routinely arrests dissidents and former citizens with no known political affiliation who tried to return to the country after years or even decades in exile". The judge emphasised the words underlined.
16. The judge went on to say, in paragraph 45;
"45. Because
the appellant has been unable to find a legal representative to take on his
case, and doesn't have a realistic prospect of doing so, the case hasn't been
prepared in as full a way as I might have expected if he were represented. It
would of course assist me to have an expert opinion from someone of the calibre
of Dr George, who gave evidence to the tribunal in SA and IA (Syria
), and/or to have a broader range of background evidence to assess the risk on
return. Unfortunately I don't have such evidence before me so I have to make my
assessment based on the more recent US State Department report."
17.
I find that the
judge was right to say that the difference between the evidence before her and
the evidence before the Tribunal in SA and IA was slight. I do not
accept that, on close examination, it was "perhaps significant". A
close examination and comparison of the two passages in the US State Department
reports for 2007 and 2010 shows that the only change was the addition of the
words which I have underlined in the following passage "routinely arrested
dissidents and former citizens with no known political affiliation who
tried to return to the country after years or even decades in exile".
Whilst it can be said that the respondent is a man with no known political
affiliation he is not a former citizen of Syria
. There is no indication that he
is not now a citizen of
Syria
. I cannot find and it has not been suggested that
there was any evidence to help establish what "former citizen" may
mean. In the absence of such explanation the judge neglected to address the
obvious meaning which would have excluded the respondent from this category.
The judge did not find, as Miss Grant suggested, that the respondent left
Syria
illegally.
18. I find that the judge reached a conclusion which was not open to her on the evidence and that there was no evidence of sufficient weight to justify departing from a recent country guidance case.
19. However, in considering whether to re-determine the appeal without an adjournment I have taken into account the fact that the respondent was unrepresented at the hearing before the judge. The judge had no assistance by way of representation for the appellant and she had no expert evidence or country material put before her by the parties. She properly relied on well-established country material. The respondent is now represented and Miss Grant asked that he be given the opportunity to obtain expert evidence, perhaps on the lines referred to by the judge in paragraph 45 of her determination mentioned above.
20.
I therefore
adjourn for a further hearing limited to the issue of whether the appellant
would be at risk on return to Syria
in the light of the judge's findings of
credibility and fact.
Signed:
Upper Tribunal Judge Moulden Dated 12 November 2010
APPENDIX 2
DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE BEFORE THE UPPER TRIBUNAL
|
Item
|
Document |
Date |
United Kingdom Border Agency |
|||
|
1 |
Country of Origin Information Service Report on the Syrian Arab Republic |
3 September 2010 |
|
2 |
Operational Guidance Note on |
10 November 2011 |
|
3 |
Interim Operational Guidance Instruction |
6 January 2012 |
|
4 |
Operational Guidance Note on |
July 2012 |
United States Department of State |
|||
|
5 |
2010 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: |
7 April 2011 |
|
6 |
Human rights in |
11 July 2011 |
|
7 |
US
policy on |
9 November 2011 |
|
8 |
Regime violence in |
27 December 2011 |
|
9 |
|
1 March 2012 |
|
10 |
2011 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: |
24 May 2012 |
|
11 |
Country Reports of Terrorism 2011: |
31 July 2012 |
United Kingdom Foreign and Commonwealth Office |
|||
|
12 |
Country Profile: |
7 September 2010 |
|
13 |
Human rights in countries
of Concern: Quarterly Update on |
30 March 2011 |
|
14 |
Human rights and
democracy: the 2010 Foreign and Commonwealth Office Report ( |
30 March 2011 |
|
15 |
UK statement on human rights in |
28 April 2011 |
|
16 |
Foreign Office urges
British nationals to leave |
19 June 2011 |
|
17 |
Human rights in Countries of Concern: Quarterly Update on |
29 June 2011 |
|
18 |
Minister for the Middle East appalled by ongoing violence
in |
27 September 2011 |
|
19 |
The truth is what big brother says it is |
27 September 2011 |
|
20 |
Human rights in Countries
of Concern: Quarterly Update on |
29 September 2011 |
|
21 |
|
6 October 2011 |
|
22 |
Foreign Secretary appalled at continuing deaths in |
8 November 2011 |
|
23 |
Foreign Secretary welcomes unprecedented Arab League
sanctions on |
27 November 2011 |
|
24 |
Foreign Office Minister
comments on report detailing horrific human rights violations in |
28 November 2011 |
|
25 |
Human rights in Countries
of Concern: Quarterly Update on |
16 January 2012 |
|
26 |
Foreign Secretary condemns
brutal violence in |
4 February 2012 |
|
27 |
|
6 February 2012 |
|
28 |
Why you shouldn’t question what you know is true |
9 February 2012 |
|
29 |
Travel advice |
17 February 2012 |
|
30 |
Foreign Secretary: ‘We have to intensify the pressure’ on |
24 February 2012 |
|
31 |
|
24 February 2012 |
|
32 |
|
1 March 2012 |
|
33 |
British diplomatic staff in |
1 March 2012 |
|
34 |
Travel Advice on |
14 May 2012 |
|
35 |
Foreign Secretary announces expulsion of Syrian diplomats |
29 May 2012 |
|
36 |
Human rights in countries
of concern: quarterly update on |
30 June 2012 |
|
37 |
Foreign Secretary updates
Parliament on |
4 July 2012 |
|
38 |
Foreign Secretary condemns ‘shocking and appalling’ new Syrian massacre |
13 July 2012 |
|
39 |
Travel Advice on |
20 July 2012 |
Human Rights Watch |
|||
|
40 |
|
20 March 2011 |
|
41 |
|
24 March 2011 |
|
42 |
|
27 March 2011 |
|
43 |
|
5 April 2011 |
|
44 |
|
14 April 2011 |
|
45 |
UN: rights body should investigate Syrian crackdown |
29 April 2011 |
|
46 |
|
14 May 2011 |
|
47 |
‘We’ve never seen such horror’: crimes against humanity by Syrian forces |
31 May 2011 |
|
48 |
UN Security Council: demand end to |
9 June 2011 |
|
49 |
|
1 July 2011 |
|
50 |
|
5 July 2011 |
|
51 |
|
8 July 2011 |
|
52 |
|
19 July 2011 |
|
53 |
UN: |
8 August 2011 |
|
54 |
|
7 September 2011 |
|
55 |
|
26 September 2011 |
|
56 |
‘We live as in war’: crackdown on protestors in the Governorate of Homs |
11 November 2011 |
|
57 |
|
15 December 2011 |
|
58 |
‘By all means necessary!’:
individual and command responsibility for crimes against humanity in |
15 December 2011 |
|
59 |
|
27 December 2011 |
|
60 |
|
6 January 2012 |
|
61 |
|
11 January 2012 |
|
62 |
World Report 2012: |
22 January 2012 |
|
63 |
|
3 February 2012 |
|
64 |
UN: Russia, China vetoes betray Syrian people |
4 February 2012 |
|
65 |
|
9 February 2012 |
|
66 |
‘Friends of |
24 February 2012 |
|
67 |
|
13 March 2012 |
|
68 |
In cold blood: summary executions by Syrian security forces and pro-government militias |
9 April 2012 |
|
69 |
They burned my heart: war crimes in Northern Idlib during peace plan negotiations |
2 May 2012 |
|
70 |
|
15 June 2012 |
|
71 |
|
27 June 2012 |
|
72 |
Torture archipelago:
arbitrary arrests, torture and enforced disappearances in |
3 July 2012 |
|
73 |
|
27 July 2012 |
Amnesty International |
|||
|
74 |
Arrests as |
16 March 2011 |
|
75 |
Syrian death toll climbs as protests spread |
25 March 2011 |
|
76 |
|
29 March 2011 |
|
77 |
Call for United Nations Human rights Council Special Session on Human Rights Situation in the Syrian Arab Republic: Joint NGO letter |
5 April 2011 |
|
78 |
Syrians tell of torture in detention amid mass arrests |
2 May 2011 |
|
79 |
Syrian death toll rises as city is placed under siege |
8 May 2011 |
|
80 |
Annual report 2011: |
12 May 2011 |
|
81 |
UN urged to act following deadly weekend in |
5 June 2011 |
|
82 |
Crackdown in |
5 July 2011 |
|
83 |
|
17 July 2011 |
|
84 |
Young Syrian activists held amid widespread repression |
14 August 2011 |
|
85 |
Deadly detention: deaths in custody amid popular protest
in |
30 August 2011 |
|
86 |
Fears grow for Syrian activists as deaths in custody increase |
12 September 2011 |
|
87 |
New evidence of |
22 September 2011 |
|
88 |
Syrian men detained incommunicado |
25 September 2011 |
|
89 |
Arrests and death threats silence Syrian activists |
26 September 2011 |
|
90 |
The long reach of the Mukhabaraat: violence and harassment against Syrians abroad and their relatives back home |
2 October 2011 |
|
91 |
|
3 October 2011 |
|
92 |
Assassination of Syrian Kurdish leader a ‘dangerous escalation’ |
10 October 2011 |
|
93 |
|
22 December 2011 |
|
94 |
Arab League should clarify human rights situation in |
6 January 2012 |
|
95 |
Year of rebellion: the
state of human rights in the Middle East and North Africa ( |
9 January 2012 |
|
96 |
|
19 January 2012 |
|
97 |
Arab League findings on |
23 January 2012 |
|
98 |
|
8 February 2012 |
|
99 |
|
15 February 2012 |
|
100 |
|
16 February 2012 |
|
101 |
|
24 February 2012 |
|
102 |
‘I wanted to die’: |
March 2012[1] |
|
103 |
|
3 April 2012 |
|
104 |
|
17 May 2012 |
|
105 |
Amnesty International Report |
24 May 2012 |
|
106 |
Deadly reprisals:
deliberate killings and other abuses by |
June 2012 |
|
107 |
|
26 June 2012 |
|
108 |
Friends of |
5 July 2012 |
|
109 |
|
19 July 2012 |
|
110 |
|
25 July 2012 |
|
111 |
All-out repression: purging dissent in Aleppo, |
1 August 2012 |
|
112 |
|
1 August 2012 |
United Nations |
|||
|
113 |
Written statement submitted by Amnesty International (The Syrian Arab Republic: a situation that demands action by the Human Rights Council) |
27 April 2011 |
|
114 |
Resolution S-16/1 – the current human rights situation in the Syrian Arab republic in the context of recent events |
28 April 2011 |
|
115 |
Report of the special
rapporteur on extrajudicial or arbitrary executions: summary of information,
including individual cases transmitted to governments and replies received ( |
26 May 2011 |
|
116 |
Preliminary report of the High Commissioner on the situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic |
13 June 2011 |
|
117 |
Security Council, in statement condemns Syrian authorities for ‘widespread violations of human rights, use of force against civilians’ |
2 August 2011 |
|
118 |
|
4 August 2011 |
|
119 |
Report of the fact-finding
mission on |
17 August 2011 |
|
120 |
Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic |
14 September 2011 |
|
121 |
General Assembly Resolution: situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic |
17 November 2011 |
|
122 |
Report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic |
23 November 2011 |
|
123 |
and widespread rights violations |
25 November 2011 |
|
124 |
Syrian forces have committed crimes against humanity – UN rights panel |
28 November 2011 |
|
125 |
Statement by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay at the Human Rights Council 18th Special Session to examine the situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic |
2 December 2011 |
|
126 |
Resolution S-18/1: the human rights situation in the Syrian Arab Republic |
2 December 2011 |
|
127 |
Statement delivered on behalf of all Special Procedures mandate-holders of the United Nations Human Rights Council on the situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic |
2 December 2011 |
|
128 |
Statement by Paulo Pinheiro, Chairperson of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, on the human rights situation in the Syrian Arab Republic |
2 December 2011 |
|
129 |
Written statement submitted
by Amnesty International (No more impunity for crimes against humanity in |
2 December 2011 |
|
130 |
UN rights chief says |
9 December 2011 |
|
131 |
Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review of the Syrian Arabic Republic |
24 January 2012 |
|
132 |
UNICEF statement on children caught in the bloodshed in |
7 February 2012 |
|
133 |
UN human rights chief urges action to halt escalating
violence in |
8 February 2012 |
|
134 |
Press statement: SRSG Coomaraswamy calls on immediately halt all violations against children |
9 February 2012 |
|
135 |
Top UN human rights official says member states ‘must act now’ to protect Syrian people as violent crackdown continues, in briefing to General Assembly |
13 February 2012 |
|
136 |
States must ‘act now’ to protect Syrian population, Pillay tells General Assembly |
13 February 2012 |
|
137 |
Briefing to General
Assembly Navi Pillay, High Commissioner for Human Rights ( |
13 February 2012 |
|
138 |
UN adviser warns of potential sectarian split in |
14 February 2012 |
|
139 |
General Assembly demands |
16 February 2012 |
|
140 |
General Assembly adopts resolution strongly condemning ‘widespread and systematic’ human rights violations by Syrian authorities |
16 February 2012 |
|
141 |
|
21 February 2012 |
|
142 |
Report of the independent international commission of inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights |
22 February 2012 |
|
143 |
Ban asks top UN official to
visit |
22 February 2012 |
|
144 |
Statement by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights |
28 February 2012 |
|
145 |
Human Rights Council Resolution: the escalating grave human rights violations and deteriorating humanitarian situation in the Syrian Arab Republic |
29 February 2012 |
|
146 |
UN Human Rights Council deplores ‘brutal’ actions by |
1 March 2012 |
|
147 |
UNHCR position on returns to the Syrian Arab Republic |
2 March 2012 |
|
148 |
Briefing note on |
6 March 2012 |
|
149 |
Report of the Secretary General on children and armed conflict 2011: Syrian Arab Republic |
26 April 2012 |
|
150 |
Amid civil war concerns in |
8 May 2012 |
|
151 |
|
27 May 2012 |
|
152 |
UN rights committee
appalled at deliberate targeting of children in |
31 May 2012 |
|
153 |
Concluding observations of the Committee Against Torture: Syrian Arab Republic |
1 June 2012 |
|
154 |
House of Commons debate, Hansard Concluding observations of the Committee Against Torture: Syrian Arab Republic, 1 June 2012, |
11 June 2012 |
|
155 |
International protection considerations with regards to people fleeing the Syrian Arab Republic |
11 June 2012 |
|
156 |
UN suspends monitoring
activities in |
16 June 2012 |
|
157 |
Report of the Secretary-General on the implementation of Security Council resolution 2043 (2012) (July 2012) |
6 July 2012 |
|
158 |
Attack on Syrian village appears targeted at defectors and activists – UN mission |
15 July 2012 |
|
159 |
Increase in registered Syrian refugees, new camps planned in Turkey and Jordan |
17 July 2012 |
|
160 |
|
18 July 2012 |
|
161 |
UN refugee chief expresses
grave concern over numbers of people displaced by violence in |
20 July 2012 |
|
162 |
|
25 July 2012 |
|
163 |
Pillay warns of
consequences under international law as |
27 July 2012 |
|
164 |
Numbers of Syrian displaced rises as violence continues unabated |
31 July 2012 |
|
165 |
Press conference by Kofi Anna, Joint Special Envoy for |
2 August 2012 |
|
166 |
|
2 August 2012 |
Refugee Review Tribunal (Australia) |
|||
|
167 |
RRT Research Response |
13 October 2008 |
|
168 |
|
3 February 2011 |
|
169 |
|
15 April 2011 |
Institute for War and Peace Reporting |
|||
|
170 |
|
12 April 2011 |
|
171 |
Syrian conflict played out on social media |
13 April 2011 |
|
172 |
No going back for Syrian uprising |
28 April 2011 |
|
173 |
Syrian refugees describe army violence |
14 June 2011 |
|
174 |
Controversy over |
30 June 2011 |
|
175 |
Syrians escaping to Jordan tell of suffering |
4 August 2011 |
|
176 |
Arab states desert Syrian leader |
18 August 2011 |
|
177 |
|
9 September 2011 |
|
178 |
|
9 September 2011 |
|
179 |
|
15 September 2011 |
|
180 |
Syrian prisoner speaks of torture regime |
10 October 2011 |
|
181 |
Inside the Syrian uprising |
14 October 2011 |
|
182 |
Too late for Syrian dialogue |
19 October 2011 |
|
183 |
|
25 October 2011 |
|
184 |
Opposition says Assad won’t honour Arab League |
3 November 2011 |
|
185 |
Calls for Lebanon to end |
10 November 2011 |
|
186 |
Syrians fear escalation in violence |
15 November 2011 |
|
187 |
Syrian opposition activist says NATO must intervene |
13 January 2012 |
|
188 |
‘Reformer Assad’ myth finally dead |
18 January 2012 |
|
189 |
Fears of divisive conflict grow in |
30 January 2012 |
European Council on Foreign Relations |
|||
|
190 |
The elusive point of no return: can |
15 June 2011 |
|
191 |
How not to intervene in |
2 December 2011 |
|
192 |
Assad’s continued defiance in the face of growing isolation |
13 January 2012 |
|
193 |
Calling Russia’s bluff on |
2 February 2012 |
|
194 |
Time to talk to Assad? |
8 February 2012 |
|
195 |
Russia’s Syrian dilemma |
2 March 2012 |
Syrian National Council |
|||
|
196 |
The Alawi community: a hostage and a victim of the Assad regime |
11 December 2011 |
|
197 |
Instability in |
13 December 2011 |
|
198 |
Why the Syrian National Council? |
25 December 2011 |
|
199 |
The Syrian revolution – no place of refuge |
27 December 2011 |
|
200 |
Avec moi, le deluge |
2 January 2012 |
|
201 |
The SNC is committed to meeting the goals of the revolution |
5 January 2012 |
|
202 |
The regime is responsible for the bombings in Damascus |
6 January 2012 |
|
203 |
SNC picking up steam |
6 January 2012 |
|
204 |
A failed Observers Mission? |
15 January 2012 |
|
205 |
The Netherlands confirms to the SNC that it will maintain pressure on the Syrian regime |
17 January 2012 |
|
206 |
Romanticizing revolutions; the Syrian revolution between fantasy, mythology and reality |
22 January 2012 |
|
207 |
The Arab League needs to get on with it |
26 January 2012 |
|
208 |
Wag the dog meets Assad |
3 February 2012 |
|
209 |
Massacres continue; SNC demands action |
4 February 2012 |
|
210 |
The Russian and Chinese veto gives the Assad regime a license to kill without being held accountable |
5 February 2012 |
|
211 |
Hama Rules, 30 years later |
8 February 2012 |
|
212 |
SNC says Russia’s credibility badly damaged |
8 February 2012 |
|
213 |
The illusion of an opportunity |
13 February 2012 |
|
214 |
Safe area for Libya, Strategic Research and Communication Centre |
undated |
Miscellaneous Reports |
|||
|
215 |
|
30 April 2008 |
|
216 |
Report from a joint
fact-finding mission by the Danish Immigration Service and ACCORD/Austrian
Red Cross to Damascus, |
May 2010 |
|
217 |
SHRC Tenth Annual Report on Human Rights Status in Syrian Human Rights Committee |
January 2011 |
|
218 |
Freedom in the World 2011: |
11 May 2011 |
|
219 |
The ghosts of Hama, Aron Lund |
June 2011 |
|
220 |
Popular protest in North Africa and the Middle East (VII): The Syrian regime’s slow motion revolution |
6 July 2011 |
|
221 |
Popular protest in North Africa and the Middle East (VII): The Syrian regime’s slow motion suicide |
13 July 2011 |
|
222 |
Uncharted Waters: thinking through |
24 November 2011 |
|
223 |
Revealing the scale and horror of Assad’s torture chambers, Avaaz |
9 January 2012 |
|
224 |
Beyond the fall of the Syrian regime, ICG |
24 February 2012 |
|
225 |
Now or never: a negotiated transition for |
5 March 2012 |
|
226 |
Testimony to US Congress Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission |
7-28 March 2012 |
|
227 |
Crimes against humanity in |
20 April 2012 |
|
228 |
ICJ submission to the Committee Against Torture for the special report on the Syrian Arab Republic under article 19 (1) of the Convention Against Torture, ICJ |
20 April 2012 |
|
229 |
The worst of the worst: the
world’s most repressive societies 2012 – |
2 July 2012 |
|
230 |
|
23 July 2012 |
|
231 |
Information wars:
assessing the social media battlefield in |
24 July 2012 |
|
232 |
|
31 July 2012 |
|
233 |
|
1 August 2012 |
BBC News |
|||
|
234 |
|
2 January 2012 |
|
235 |
|
4 January 2012 |
|
236 |
|
7 January 2012 |
|
237 |
|
10 January 2012 |
|
238 |
|
10 January 2012 |
|
239 |
Remembering the child victims of |
16 January 2012 |
|
240 |
Bashar falls back on father’s brutal methods |
21 January 2012 |
|
241 |
PJ Crowley: |
2 February 2012 |
|
242 |
Fresh protests at Syrian Embassy in London |
5 February 2012 |
|
243 |
Guide: |
6 February 2012 |
|
244 |
|
6 February 2012 |
|
245 |
Avoiding |
6 February 2012 |
|
246 |
|
7 February 2012 |
|
247 |
Asma al-Assad and the tricky role of the autocrat’s wife |
8 February 2012 |
|
248 |
|
8 February 2012 |
|
249 |
|
9 February 2012 |
|
250 |
Newsbeat speaks to Syrian activist |
9 February 2012 |
|
251 |
Analysis: |
10 February 2012 |
|
252 |
|
11 February 2012 |
|
253 |
|
12 February 2012 |
|
254 |
|
12 February 2012 |
|
255 |
|
13 February 2012 |
|
256 |
|
15 February 2012 |
|
257 |
|
17 February 2012 |
|
258 |
UK
activist lifting the lid on secret |
18 February 2012 |
|
259 |
Egypt recalls ambassador from |
19 February 2012 |
|
260 |
|
20 February 2012 |
|
261 |
|
21 February 2012 |
|
262 |
|
21 February 2012 |
|
263 |
UN panel draws up |
23 February 2012 |
|
264 |
|
23 February 2012 |
|
265 |
UK
boosts |
24 February 2012 |
|
266 |
|
25 February 2012 |
|
267 |
Do 55% of Syrians really want President Assad to stay? |
25 February 2012 |
|
268 |
Urgency and frustration at |
25 February 2012 |
|
269 |
Syrian referendum in media spotlight, |
27 February 2012 |
|
270 |
|
27 February 2012 |
|
271 |
China calls US critique on |
27 February 2012 |
|
272 |
|
28 February 2012 |
|
273 |
|
29 February 2012 |
|
274 |
|
1 March 2012 |
|
275 |
Hague: British Embassy in Damascus ‘suspended’ |
1 March 2012 |
|
276 |
|
1 March 2012 |
|
277 |
Red Cross convoy bringing Baba Amr aid stopped in Homs |
2 March 2012 |
|
278 |
UK
photographer Paul Conroy – |
2 March 2012 |
|
279 |
David Cameron warns |
2 March 2012 |
|
280 |
|
3 March 2012 |
|
281 |
Life in Homs is ‘checkpoint hell’ |
3 March 2012 |
|
282 |
Power cuts and price rises as conflict bites in |
3 March 2012 |
|
283 |
Syrian authorities ‘committed crimes’ against civilians |
3 March 2012 |
|
284 |
|
5 March 2012 |
|
285 |
Syrian government forces ‘shell rebel-held towns’ |
6 March 2012 |
|
286 |
|
7 March 2012 |
|
287 |
|
8 March 2012 |
|
288 |
|
10 March 2012 |
|
289 |
|
11 March 2012 |
|
290 |
Assad rejects external solution for |
29 June 2012 |
|
291 |
Russia-US split casts shadow over |
30 June 2012 |
|
292 |
|
5 August 2012 |
|
293 |
|
undated |
|
294 |
Step down now, David Cameron urges President Assad |
undated |
IRIN News |
|||
|
295 |
|
21 September 2011 |
|
296 |
Analysis: civil war becoming a real danger in |
26 September 2011 |
|
297 |
Briefing: six months into the Syrian uprising |
28 September 2011 |
|
298 |
|
6 October 2011 |
|
299 |
|
22 December 2011 |
|
300 |
Analysis: 2012 – ‘the year of crisis’ in the Middle East |
12 January 2012 |
|
301 |
Analysis: worrying signs for food security in |
21 February 2012 |
|
302 |
Analysis: inside the anti-uprising movement in |
23 February 2012 |
|
303 |
|
20 July 2012 |
The Economist |
|||
|
304 |
Growing steadily less peaceful |
19 December 2011 |
|
305 |
Mission failure |
3 January 2012 |
|
306 |
No end in sight |
7 January 2012 |
|
307 |
Jangling sectarian nerves |
7 January 2012 |
|
308 |
Playing the blame game |
10 January 2012 |
|
309 |
Visibility before all |
14 January 2012 |
|
310 |
It looks like civil war |
28 January 2012 |
|
311 |
Hold your horses |
28 January 2012 |
|
312 |
Pulling out |
30 January 2012 |
|
313 |
The UN stands divided |
5 February 2012 |
|
314 |
How to set |
11 February 2012 |
|
315 |
The long road to Damascus |
11 February 2012 |
|
316 |
Gloom and bloom |
11 February 2012 |
|
317 |
|
18 February 2012 |
|
318 |
|
1 March 2012 |
|
319 |
|
3 March 2012 |
Reuters |
|||
|
320 |
|
1 January 2012 |
|
321 |
Head of |
3 January 2012 |
|
322 |
Syrian actress treads new stage in Syrian protests |
5 January 2012 |
|
323 |
Arab monitors say unable to halt Syrian killings |
11 January 2012 |
|
324 |
|
11 January 2012 |
|
325 |
Assad promises victory, |
11 January 2012 |
|
326 |
|
11 January 2012 |
|
327 |
Some Arab monitors quit over persisting violence |
12 January 2012 |
|
328 |
|
13 January 2012 |
|
329 |
Analysis: Arab monitors flounder amid Syrian violence |
13 January 2012 |
|
330 |
Analysis – defiant Assad seeks to show he’s still in charge |
13 January 2012 |
|
331 |
Stop the killing, UN chief tells |
15 January 2012 |
|
332 |
No plan to send Arab troops to |
15 January 2012 |
|
333 |
|
19 January 2012 |
|
334 |
Violence keeps |
20 January 2012 |
|
335 |
|
20 January 2012 |
|
336 |
Saudi withdraws |
22 January 2012 |
|
337 |
In cradle of Syrian revolt, army is now in charge |
22 January 2012 |
|
338 |
|
23 January 2012 |
|
339 |
Red Cross official shot dead in |
25 January 2012 |
|
340 |
Outside |
27 January 2012 |
|
341 |
Sectarian attack kills same family in |
27 January 2012 |
|
342 |
UNICEF says 384 children killed so far in |
27 January 2012 |
|
343 |
Arab league suspends |
28 January 2012 |
|
344 |
|
31 January 2012 |
|
345 |
|
2 February 2012 |
|
346 |
Insight – |
3 February 2012 |
|
347 |
Syrians storm embassies after uprising’s worst violence |
4 February 2012 |
|
348 |
Israeli minister says Assad’s end may be ‘long and bloody’ |
4 February 2012 |
|
349 |
Uprising finally hits |
4 February 2012 |
|
350 |
Clinton warns more bloodshed if |
4 February 2012 |
|
351 |
Clinton calls UN |
5 February 2012 |
|
352 |
UK
makes diplomatic protests over |
6 February 2012 |
|
353 |
US closes embassy in |
6 February 2012 |
|
354 |
UN chief Ban ‘appalled’ by Syrian on Homs |
6 February 2012 |
|
355 |
UN rights chief says action on |
8 February 2012 |
|
356 |
|
8 February 2012 |
|
357 |
Russia UN veto on |
8 February 2012 |
|
358 |
West offers words, only, as |
9 February 2012 |
|
359 |
Scenes of horror as |
9 February 2012 |
|
360 |
|
9 February 2012 |
|
361 |
Timeline: crackdown on protests in
|
undated (accessed on 10 February 2012) |
|
362 |
As |
11 February 2012 |
|
363 |
Russia accuses West of arming Syrian rebels |
11 February 2012 |
|
364 |
|
11 February 2012 |
|
365 |
Access getting harder as |
11 February 2012 |
|
366 |
Assad’s forces intensify shelling on |
11 February 2012 |
|
367 |
Arabs seek joint UN-Arab force on |
12 February 2012 |
|
368 |
Diplomatic inaction fuelling |
13 February 2012 |
|
369 |
|
13 February 2012 |
|
370 |
Expat Syrian activists turned away at border |
13 February 2012 |
|
371 |
Insight: Arabs open way for arming Syrians, civil war feared |
14 February 2012 |
|
372 |
Iraqi fighters, arms trickle into |
14 February 2012 |
|
373 |
China says ‘wrong steps’ by UN could worsen bloodshed in |
15 February 2012 |
|
374 |
US dismisses Assad referendum promise as ‘laughable’ |
15 February 2012 |
|
375 |
In growing |
15 February 2012 |
|
376 |
Assad proposes referendum in strife-torn |
15 February 2012 |
|
377 |
|
15 February 2012 |
|
378 |
China paper says foreign meddling in |
16 February 2012 |
|
379 |
UN head sees possible crimes against humanity is [sic] |
16 February 2012 |
|
380 |
Syrian troops attack Deraa, cradle of uprising |
16 February 2012 |
|
381 |
UN assembly adopts resolution condemning |
16 February 2012 |
|
382 |
EU likely to build up sanctions on |
16 February 2012 |
|
383 |
Chinese envoy to meet Syrian leader after UN condemnation |
17 February 2012 |
|
384 |
France, Britain urge unity among Syrian opposition |
17 February 2012 |
|
385 |
NATO to stay out of |
18 February 2012 |
|
386 |
Syrian forces fire on anti-Assad crowd in capital |
18 February 2012 |
|
387 |
Exclusive: Venezuela ships fuel to war torn |
18 February 2012 |
|
388 |
Syrian security forces clamp down on Damascus |
19 February 2012 |
|
389 |
Egypt recalls its ambassador to |
19 February 2012 |
|
390 |
|
20 February 2012 |
|
391 |
China paper says West stirring up civil war in |
20 February 2012 |
|
392 |
Watching the wounded die in |
21 February 2012 |
|
393 |
Red Cross seeks daily humanitarian truce in |
21 February 2012 |
|
394 |
For Syrian children, a picture tells a thousand words |
22 February 2012 |
|
395 |
As Syrians flee Homs, sectarian faultlines deepen |
22 February 2012 |
|
396 |
Syrian opposition calls for referendum boycott |
22 February 2012 |
|
397 |
Russia boosts arms sales to |
22 February 2012 |
|
398 |
Inside and out, divisions keep |
22 February 2012 |
|
399 |
Assad forces bomb |
22 February 2012 |
|
400 |
Force may be only solution in |
22 February 2012 |
|
401 |
China says will not attend ‘Friends of |
23 February 2012 |
|
402 |
Republican candidates back arming |
23 February 2012 |
|
403 |
Syrian forces committing crimes on orders from top: UN |
24 February 2012 |
|
404 |
Obama says time for killing of Syrian citizens to end |
24 February 2012 |
|
405 |
‘Friends of |
24 February 2012 |
|
406 |
Russia urges |
24 February 2012 |
|
407 |
Kofi Annan appointed UN-Arab League envoy to |
24 February 2012 |
|
408 |
|
24 February 2012 |
|
409 |
Assad’s forces kill 103 in Homs, rest of |
24 February 2012 |
|
410 |
No clear successor to Assad’s ‘coup proof’ rule in |
27 February 2012 |
|
411 |
|
27 February 2012 |
|
412 |
Iran
objects to holding UN rights debate on |
27 February 2012 |
|
413 |
New Syrian constitution won 89.4 percent approval: state TV |
27 February 2012 |
|
414 |
Rift develops in Syrian opposition group |
27 February 2012 |
|
415 |
Russia’s Putin warns West not to meddle |
27 February 2012 |
|
416 |
China calls US criticism over |
27 February 2012 |
|
417 |
|
28 February 2012 |
|
418 |
|
28 February 2012 |
|
419 |
Clinton says argument can be made Assad a war criminal |
28 February 2012 |
|
420 |
Bombardment on Syrian town kills 20: activists |
28 February 2012 |
|
421 |
|
28 February 2012 |
|
422 |
‘Pray for us’ say |
29 February 2012 |
|
423 |
Smuggling ‘path of death’ a lifeline for |
29 February 2012 |
|
424 |
Syrian rebels say they face 7,000 government troops |
29 February 2012 |
|
425 |
UN humanitarian aid chief denied entry into |
29 February 2012 |
|
426 |
UK
withdraws diplomats from |
1 March 2012 |
|
427 |
Most |
1 March 2012 |
|
428 |
UN rights body condemns |
1 March 2012 |
|
429 |
UN concerned |
1 March 2012 |
|
430 |
Arab League chief says fuelling violence will not help |
1 March 2012 |
|
431 |
Britain’s Cameron sees day of reckoning for Syrian government |
2 March 2012 |
|
432 |
UN chief slams |
2 March 2012 |
|
433 |
France to shut |
2 March 2012 |
|
434 |
WRAPUP 4-Red Cross aid convoy reaches Homs, massacre feared |
2 March 2012 |
|
435 |
I would not have survived in Baba Amr: MSF surgeon |
2 March 2012 |
|
437 |
|
5 March 2012 |
|
438 |
|
6 March 2012 |
|
439 |
Syrian district Baba Amr ‘pretty devastated’: UN aid chief |
7 March 2012 |
|
440 |
Panetta defends cautious approach toward |
8 March 2012 |
|
441 |
France will not accept ‘equal blame’ |
9 March 2012 |
|
442 |
US glum on prospects for a new UN |
10 March 2012 |
|
443 |
Annan ends |
11 March 2012 |
|
444 |
Dozens of Syrian civilians killed in Homs |
12 March 2012 |
|
445 |
UN chief speaks of ‘grisly reports’ from |
undated |
|
446 |
Exclusive: Venezuela ships fuel to war-torn |
undated |
|
447 |
|
undated |
|
448 |
NATO to stay out of |
undated |
|
449 |
Syrian forces fire on anti-Assad crown in capital |
undated |
|
450 |
Russia says no shift on |
undated |
|
451 |
Ill-armed Syrian rebels wage unequal struggle |
undated |
|
452 |
Update 1 – Syrian torture increasingly serious, UN investigator says |
undated |
|
453 |
|
undated |
|
454 |
Russia says can’t blame one side in |
undated |
|
455 |
31 dead in |
undated |
|
456 |
Russia says 15,000 foreign ‘terrorists’ in |
undated |
|
457 |
Russia accuses Libya of training Syrian rebels |
undated |
|
458 |
Homs leaves UN’s Amos ‘devastated’ |
undated |
|
459 |
Former Lebanon PM says Syrian regime murderous |
undated |
|
460 |
Air France suspends all flights to Damascus |
undated |
|
461 |
Canada closes embassy in |
undated |
|
462 |
Heavy clashes erupt in south |
undated |
|
463 |
Video from Homs hospital shows Syrian torture – report |
undated |
|
464 |
Syrians flee through snow and gunfire to Lebanon |
undated |
The Telegraph |
|||
|
465 |
Britain under pressure to withdraw diplomatic recognition of |
5 February 2012 |
|
466 |
Assad regime vows to ‘hunt’ down rebels as death toll rises
in |
7 February 2012 |
|
467 |
|
7 February 2012 |
|
468 |
Graphic: death toll in |
7 February 2012 |
|
469 |
|
8 February 2012 |
|
470 |
|
8 February 2012 |
|
471 |
|
9 February 2012 |
|
472 |
Syrian regime is ‘hell bent’ on ‘murdering and maiming’ its own people, David Cameron says |
9 February 2012 |
|
473 |
US satellite photographs show Syrian artillery |
10 February 2012 |
|
474 |
|
10 February 2012 |
|
475 |
New British initiative to gather evidence on Syrian war crimes |
11 February 2012 |
|
476 |
Britain to launch new initiative against Syrian war crimes |
12 February 2012 |
|
477 |
Syrian rebels are losing faith in the West |
14 February 2012 |
|
478 |
Can you judge a nation by
the company it keeps? |
17 February 2012 |
|
479 |
|
17 February 2012 |
The Guardian |
|||
|
480 |
Arab League monitoring mission criticised for failing to stop bloodshed |
2 January 2012 |
|
481 |
|
9 January 2012 |
|
482 |
Most Syrians back President Assad, but you’d never know from the western media |
17 January 2012 |
|
483 |
|
27 January 2012 |
|
484 |
Arab league suspends |
28 January 2012 |
|
485 |
|
29 January 2012 |
|
486 |
|
30 January 2012 |
|
487 |
Syrian resolution vetoed by Russia and China at United Nations |
4 February 2012 |
|
488 |
|
4 February 2012 |
|
489 |
|
5 February 2012 |
|
490 |
|
6 February 2012 |
|
491 |
|
6 February 2012 |
|
492 |
|
7 February 2012 |
|
493 |
Syrian siege of Homs is genocidal, say trapped residents |
7 February 2012 |
|
494 |
|
8 February 2012 |
|
495 |
Inside Homs: ‘We are seriously dying here. It is really war |
8 February 2012 |
|
496 |
|
9 February 2012 |
|
497 |
|
10 February 2012 |
|
498 |
|
10 February 2012 |
|
499 |
|
11 February 2012 |
|
500 |
We can’t stop the bloodshed in |
12 February 2012 |
|
501 |
Al-Qaida leader Zawahiri urges Muslim support for Syrian uprising |
12 February 2012 |
|
502 |
Syrian regime ‘emboldened’ by UN inaction, says human rights chief |
13 February 2012 |
|
503 |
Syrian troops attack residential areas in Hama and Homs |
15 February 2012 |
|
504 |
France’s Syrian aid ‘corridors’ on course for UN dead end |
15 February 2012 |
|
505 |
Assad offer of Syrian multi-party elections branded laughable by US |
15 February 2012 |
|
506 |
Ban Ki-moon accuses Syrian regime of potential crimes against humanity |
16 February 2012 |
|
507 |
They are pushing |
16 February 2012 |
|
508 |
UN General Assembly backs call for Assad to quit as Syrian president |
16 February 2012 |
|
509 |
Western intervention in |
17 February 2012 |
|
510 |
Syrian government blocks live video streaming site Bambuser |
17 February 2012 |
|
511 |
Syrian security forces increase pressure on Damascus protestors |
19 February 2012 |
|
512 |
In Homs we are all wading in blood |
21 February 2012 |
|
513 |
Syrian regime accused of crimes against humanity by UN |
24 February 2012 |
|
514 |
|
27 February 2012 |
|
515 |
Razing Homs to the ground will only harden Syrian resistance |
1 March 2012 |
|
516 |
Paul Conroy warns of |
2 March 2012 |
|
517 |
David Cameron demands Assad face war crimes trial over |
2 March 2012 |
|
518 |
Homs shelled again as Syrian troops keep Red Cross out |
3 March 2012 |
Aljazeera |
|||
|
519 |
|
23 September 2011 |
|
520 |
|
25 November 2011 |
|
521 |
Inside Homs with Free Syrian Army |
8 February 2012 |
|
522 |
The battle for Homs |
11 February 2012 |
|
523 |
Syrian violence spills over into Lebanon |
12 February 2012 |
|
524 |
Russia ‘to consider’ |
13 February 2012 |
|
525 |
Israel hedges bets on |
14 February 2012 |
|
526 |
Syrian violence continues to stymie UN, NATO |
17 February 2012 |
|
527 |
Chinese diplomat in |
18 February 2012 |
|
528 |
Iran
and |
20 February 2012 |
|
529 |
Friends of |
27 February 2012 |
|
530 |
Moscow’s Syrians eye post election change |
4 March 2012 |
Sky News |
|||
|
531 |
The Assad regime: who are Bashar’s allies? |
6 December 2011 |
|
532 |
Syrians still being shot at, despite monitors |
2 January 2012 |
|
533 |
‘Dozens killed’ in Damascus suicide bomb |
6 January 2012 |
|
534 |
Arab monitors injured in |
11 January 2012 |
|
535 |
French journalist killed in
|
11 January 2012 |
|
536 |
Qatari leader: send Arab
troops into |
14 January 2012 |
|
537 |
Saudi Arabia to pull monitors from |
23 January 2012 |
|
538 |
Assad rejects Arab League’s call for reform |
23 January 2012 |
|
539 |
Sky smuggled past Army checkpoints in Homs |
23 January 2012 |
|
540 |
Civilians being killed in |
27 January 2012 |
|
541 |
|
28 January 2012 |
|
542 |
|
30 January 2012 |
|
543 |
Russia stands firm over Syrian peace plan |
31 January 2012 |
|
544 |
|
4 February 2012 |
|
545 |
Bloodshed and danger ‘a way of life’ in Homs |
4 February 2012 |
|
546 |
UN seeks to talk Russia round on |
4 February 2012 |
|
547 |
|
5 February 2012 |
|
548 |
UK
ambassador pulled from |
6 February 2012 |
|
549 |
Syrian Army pounds Homs in deadly offensive |
6 February 2012 |
|
550 |
Secret memos reveal Assad regime tactics |
6 February 2012 |
|
551 |
|
7 February 2012 |
|
552 |
Hospitals in Homs turned into makeshift hospitals |
7 February 2012 |
|
553 |
|
7 February 2012 |
|
554 |
Homs
attack: is this |
8 February 2012 |
|
555 |
Russia: Assad ‘committed’ to ending conflict |
8 February 2012 |
|
556 |
Troops continue relentless assault on Homs |
8 February 2012 |
|
557 |
Defiant Russia hails |
8 February 2012 |
|
558 |
|
10 February 2012 |
|
559 |
Syrian forces ‘enter town near Lebanon’ |
11 February 2012 |
|
560 |
Escape from Homs: despair amid onslaught |
12 February 2012 |
|
561 |
Opposition stronghold prepares for assault |
12 February 2012 |
|
562 |
Fears of ‘all all ground assault’ in Homs |
13 February 2012 |
|
563 |
More bloodshed as UN boss slams |
13 February 2012 |
|
564 |
Syrians under siege amid new bomb attacks |
13 February 2012 |
|
565 |
UN accuses |
13 February 2012 |
|
566 |
Clinton: UN unlikely to send |
14 February 2012 |
|
567 |
‘Six more dead’ in intense Homs shelling |
14 February 2012 |
|
568 |
Obama presses China’s heir apparent on trade |
15 February 2012 |
|
569 |
|
15 February 2012 |
|
570 |
|
17 February 2012 |
|
571 |
|
17 February 2012 |
|
572 |
|
21 February 2012 |
|
573 |
World’s hands tied as |
24 February 2012 |
|
574 |
The deadly reality of |
26 February 2012 |
|
575 |
|
1 March 2012 |
|
576 |
Syrian ground forces move into rebel Homs |
2 March 2012 |
Miscellaneous news articles |
|||
|
577 |
Family fears for missing deportee, Sydney Morning Herald |
29 May 2011 |
|
578 |
|
5 January 2012 |
|
579 |
UN warns of surge in violence in |
10 January 2012 |
|
580 |
Thousands rally in |
13 January 2012 |
|
581 |
More arrests of journalists and bloggers despite Arab League observer presence, Reporters Sans Frontiers |
14 January 2012 |
|
582 |
At least 30 reported killed in new Syrian violence, Voice of America News |
17 January 2012 |
|
583 |
Reports: Syrian security forces kill 34 civilians, Radio Free Europe |
26 January 2012 |
|
584 |
Almost 100 killed in Syrian violence Monday: activists, Relief Web |
31 January 2012 |
|
585 |
Syrian troops retake Damascus suburbs as UN showdown unfolds, Voice of America News |
31 January 2012 |
|
586 |
Church leader martyred
while helping wounded parishioner in |
31 January 2012 |
|
587 |
Jean-Claude Mignon: ‘the
slaughter in |
2 February 2012 |
|
588 |
Activists: Syrian troops kill more than 217 in Homs, Voice of America News |
3 February 2012 |
|
589 |
United Nations fiddles while |
3 February 2012 |
|
590 |
Syrian state media denies army role in Homs, Radio Free Europe |
4 February 2012 |
|
591 |
More than 200 dead after shelling in Syrian city, Voice of America News |
4 February 2012 |
|
592 |
|
8 February 2012 |
|
593 |
Q&A: why is |
10 February 2012 |
|
594 |
Terror grips besieged city, CNN |
11 February 2012 |
|
595 |
Syrians suffer as government crackdown continues, Voice of America News |
13 February 2012 |
|
596 |
News: |
13 February 2012 |
|
597 |
Syrian crackdown widens, Voice of America News |
16 February 2012 |
|
598 |
Syrian forces clamp down on Damascus, Voice of America News |
19 February 2012 |
|
599 |
Activists: Syrian forces kill 63 as Red Cross seeks daily truce, Voice of America News |
21 February 2012 |
|
600 |
|
21 February 2012 |
|
601 |
|
21 February 2012 |
|
602 |
|
22 February 2012 |
|
603 |
Trapped journalists killed in hell of Homs bombardment, Reporters Without Borders |
22 February 2012 |
|
604 |
UN: ‘well over’ 7,500 killed in Syrian fighting, Radio Free Europe |
29 February 2012 |
|
605 |
Tortured by the very doctors who should be saving their lives: smuggled images reveal horror of Syrian hospital patients, Mail Online |
5 March 2012 |
|
606 |
UN rights office documents torture in |
6 March 2012 |
|
607 |
Syrian army defectors tell of atrocities, Voice of America News |
13 March 2012 |
|
608 |
Syrian refugees in Jordan confirm reports of abuse, torture, Voice of America News |
16 March 2012 |
|
609 |
Intense fighting rocks Syrian capital, Voice of America News |
19 March 2012 |
|
610 |
Syrian groups: at least 60 dead in fresh violence, Voice of America News |
22 March 2012 |
|
611 |
US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants Praises Obama Administration Decision to Guarantee Syrians Temporary Protected Status, US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (press release) |
26 March 2012[2] |
|
612 |
Growing Islamist influence in Syrian uprising; Christians vulnerable, Barnabas Aid (UK) |
28 March 2012 |
|
613 |
Gunfire from |
9 April 2012 |
|
614 |
Syrian forces widen attacks as cease fire unravels, Voice of America News |
17 April 2012 |
|
615 |
Syrian cease-fire deteriorates with more violence, Voice of America News |
24 April 2012 |
|
616 |
Red Cross: |
8 May 2012 |
|
617 |
Syrian troops storm rebellious village; violence spills into Lebanon, Voice of America News |
13 May 2012 |
|
618 |
Activists: Syrian government shelling leave s 90 dead, Voice of America News |
26 May 2012 |
|
619 |
Is |
31 May 2012 |
|
620 |
Statement by Navi Pillay, High Commissioner for Human Rights to the Human Rights Council on the deteriorating human rights situation in the Syrian Arab Republic and the killings in El-Houleh |
1 June 2012 |
|
621 |
All-out civil war looms in |
7 June 2012 |
|
622 |
UN says Syrian regime killing, torturing children, Radio Free Europe |
12 June 2012 |
|
623 |
Clinton challenges Russia on |
12 June 2012 |
|
624 |
Is |
15 June 2012 |
|
625 |
Syrian government forces escalate attacks, Voice of America News |
17 June 2012 |
|
626 |
Q&A: children killed with impunity in |
27 June 2012 |
|
627 |
Syrian opposition rejects UN transition deal, Voice of America News |
1 July 2012 |
|
628 |
Outrage mounts over |
13 July 2012 |
|
629 |
Red Cross widens area involved in Syrian civil war, Voice of America News |
16 July 2012 |
|
630 |
Battles rage in Damascus, Voice of America News |
17 July 2012 |
|
631 |
|
18 July 2012 |
|
632 |
Alawites fear future as Syrian conflict intensifies, Voice of America News |
19 July 2012 |
|
633 |
More than 300 killed in |
20 July 2012 |
|
634 |
Why it matters whether |
20 July 2012 |
|
635 |
Council conclusions on |
23 July 2012 |
|
636 |
|
25 July 2012 |
|
637 |
Thousands flee fighting in |
30 July 2012 |
|
638 |
Statement from Commissioner
Kristalina Georgieva on worsening humanitarian crisis in |
31 July 2012 |
|
639 |
Syrian rebels execute Assad loyalists in Aleppo, Voice of America News |
1 August 2012 |
|
640 |
As fighting escalates in |
3 August 2012 |
|
641 |
|
undated |
|
642 |
The Swedish Migration
Boards stops all deportations to |
undated |