Syria’s President Assad would ‘welcome home refugees’

Published

2 years ago

August 10, 2023

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Syrian President Bashar al Assad has said he would welcome home refugees who escaped the country’s long-running civil war.

In an exclusive interview with Sky News Arabia, he blamed the country’s economic situation as the reason why refugees are not returning to their homeland, pointing to the “image of war” in Syria for the lack of much-needed international investment in its economy.

“Over the last few years we’ve seen just under half a million people return and none of them were harmed,” he said.

“What’s stopped more from coming back is the economic situation.

“How can a refugee return without electricity or school for his children or medical treatment? These are life’s essentials.

“That’s the reason.

“We pardoned all refugees who came back apart from people who committed serious crimes.”

But several human rights groups and international organisations including the United Nations, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have said it is unsafe for refugees to return to Syria.

Those who have returned faced “grave human rights abuses and persecution at the hands of the Syria government and affiliated militias”, Human Rights Watch said.

Syria is subject to tough US sanctions – called the Caesar Act – which President Assad says “is an obstacle without doubt but it is not the biggest obstacle”.

“The biggest obstacle is the terrorist demolishing the infrastructure. The biggest obstacle is the image of war in Syria which prohibits any investor from dealing with the Syrian market,” he said.

Syria’s currency is collapsing and the country is suffering from a lack of electricity, medicine and daily essentials, despite support from Russia and Iran.

War in Syria broke out in 2011, with August 2023 marking ten years since then President Obama decided not to bomb Syria after chemical weapons were used in the country.

President Assad has now regained control of the capital Damascus and most urban areas.

The war rages on with the UN estimating that more than 300,000 civilians were killed in the first decade of the conflict.

In the 12-year conflict, more than half of the country’s 22 million pre-war population fled their homes with the civil war a major factor in Europe’s migrant crisis.

The governments of Canada and the Netherlands recently filed torture complaints against Syria in the International Court of Justice over the “unlawful killing” of thousands of civilians.

Assad’s power still limited despite comeback

It is ten years, to the month, since President Obama decided at the last minute not to bomb Syria after chemical weapons were used in the country.

In the years since, tens of thousands more people have been killed in fighting and the civil war continues – but President Bashar al Assad has regained control of the capital, Damascus, and most urban areas in Syria.

Millions of Syrians fled the fighting and are still refugees, unable to return to their homes.

Many have tried to make the dangerous sea crossings into Europe – the Syrian civil war is a large factor in the migrant crisis on European shores.

Assad’s claim in the interview with Sky News Arabia, that he would welcome the refugees home, ignores the reality that many don’t want to return to a country under his rule.

With parts of Syria still in rebel hands, Assad cannot claim outright victory, but he is being accepted back into the Arab world.

He desperately needs investment with Syria’s economy facing tough US sanctions, its currency collapsing and a lack of electricity, medicine and daily essentials.

Support from his allies – Russia and Iran – is not enough.

Bashar al Assad is showing confidence to travel abroad again and is starting to rebuild his power. That power is limited though.

He might have survived the Arab Spring when most leaders didn’t but he is still a pariah in the West, accused of war crimes, and his country is still at war and in ruins.

But accusations of war crimes against President Assad have not stopped him from slowly being reaccepted by Middle Eastern leaders.

He recently attended the annual Arab League summit after he was suspended by the alliance during his crackdown on pro-democracy protests that led to the breakout of the civil war.

President Assad also said fleeing Syria during the war was “never on the cards” for him.

He told Sky News Arabia: “There were no internal demands for the president to depart. It’s important for a president to leave, or to leave his responsibilities to be more precise, when the people demand it – not due to external interference or external wars.

“When it’s due to internal reasons that’s normal but when it’s because of external war that’s called escape or to flee. And me fleeing was never on the cards.”

World

Trump ‘thinking’ of going to Turkey for proposed Zelenskyy-Putin talks – as Russia silent on attending

Published

11 hours ago

May 13, 2025

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Trump 'thinking' of going to Turkey for proposed Zelenskyy-Putin talks - as Russia silent on attending

Donald Trump has said he is “thinking” of going to Turkey on Thursday for potential peace talks between Ukraine and Russia’s leaders.

The US president, who previously claimed he could end the conflict in a day, has pushed for both sides to meet to bring the fighting to an end.

On Sunday, Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy called out Vladimir Putin to meet him on Thursday in Istanbul, but the Kremlin leader has yet to respond.

Speaking late on Monday, Mr Trump said: “I was thinking about flying over. I don’t know where I am going be on Thursday.

“I’ve got so many meetings.

“There’s a possibility there I guess, if I think things can happen.”

Mr Trump has headed to the Middle East this week on the first major foreign trip of his second administration, visiting Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE.

Mr Zelenskyy backed the prospect of Mr Trump attending the talks.

He said: “I supported President Trump with the idea of direct talks with Putin. I have openly expressed my readiness to meet.

“And of course, all of us in Ukraine would appreciate it if President Trump could be there with us at this meeting in Turkey.”

Russia playing for time?

However, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, speaking on Monday, refused to say who, if anyone, would be travelling to Turkey from the Russian side.

“Overall, we’re determined to seriously look for ways to achieve a long-term peaceful settlement. That is all,” Mr Peskov said.

This came after the “coalition of the willing”, including Sir Keir Starmer, threatened Russia with fresh sanctions if it failed to comply with an unconditional 30-day ceasefire starting on Monday.

Russia effectively rejected this proposal, instead calling for direct negotiations in Istanbul with Ukraine, at which Mr Zelenskyy challenged Mr Putin to make the trip himself.

Despite Russia’s claims towards wanting peace, Ukraine’s allies remained deeply sceptical about prospects for talks and whether Mr Putin was serious.

European Union commission vice president Kaja Kallas said: “We want to see that Russia also wants peace.

“It takes two to want peace, it takes only one to want war, and we see that Russia clearly wants war.”

Meanwhile, Russia continued its nightly attacks on Ukraine.

Overnight into Tuesday, Ukraine said Moscow launched more than 100 drones.

World

Trump set for truly consequential week for his presidency and his ability to effect change

Published

1 day ago

May 12, 2025

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Trump set for truly consequential week for his presidency and his ability to effect change

It has been an extraordinary few hours which may well set the tone for a hugely consequential week ahead.

In the time that it took me to fly from London to Saudi Arabia, where President Donald Trump will begin a pivotal Middle East tour this week, a flurry of news has emerged on a range of key global challenges.

• On the Gaza war: The Trump administration has confirmed it’s holding talks with Hamas, which says it will release a hostage amid renewed hopes of a ceasefire.

• On the Ukraine war: President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he is prepared to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Istanbul – this announcement came minutes after Trump urged Zelenskyy to agree to the meeting.

• On the China-US trade war: The White House says the two countries have agreed to a “trade deal”. China said the talks, in Geneva, were “candid, in-depth and constructive”.

All three of these developments represent dramatic shifts in three separate challenges and hint at the remarkable influence the US president is having globally.

This sets the ground for what could be a truly consequential week for Trump’s presidency and his ability to effect change.

Ask Mark Stone a question

With his unique style, Trump is seeking to align numerous stars as he embarks on his first foreign diplomatic trip of his second presidency.

For days, it’s been unclear how the week ahead would unfold and which global challenge would be dominant.

The Saudi government has been instrumental as a broker in the Ukraine-Russia conflict and Qatar has been a mediator in the Gaza war.

Trump will visit both countries this week.

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Putin under pressure?

On Ukraine, Putin held a late-night news conference at the Kremlin on Saturday at which he made the surprise proposal of talks with Zelenskyy in Istanbul this Thursday.

But he rejected European and US calls for an immediate ceasefire.

The move was widely interpreted as a delay tactic.

Trump then issued a social media post urging Zelenskyy to accept the Russian proposal; effectively to call Putin’s bluff.

The American president wrote: “President Putin of Russia doesn’t want to have a Cease Fire Agreement with Ukraine, but rather wants to meet on Thursday, in Turkey, to negotiate a possible end to the BLOODBATH. Ukraine should agree to this, IMMEDIATELY. At least they will be able to determine whether or not a deal is possible, and if it is not, European leaders, and the U.S., will know where everything stands, and can proceed accordingly! I’m starting to doubt that Ukraine will make a deal with Putin, who’s too busy celebrating the Victory of World War ll, which could not have been won (not even close!) without the United States of America. HAVE THE MEETING, NOW!!!”

Within minutes, Zelenskyy responded, agreeing to the talks.

“We await a full and lasting ceasefire, starting from tomorrow, to provide the necessary basis for diplomacy. There is no point in prolonging the killings. And I will be waiting for Putin in Türkiye on Thursday. Personally. I hope that this time the Russians will not look for excuses,” Zelenskyy wrote on X.

The prospect of Putin and Zelenskyy together in Istanbul on Thursday is remarkable.

It raises the possibility that Trump would want to be there too.

Israel’s war in Gaza

On Gaza, it’s been announced that US envoy Steve Witkoff will arrive in Israel on Monday to finalise details for the release of Idan Alexander, an Israeli-American hostage being held by Hamas.

The development comes after it was confirmed that Mr Witkoff has been holding discussions with Israel, Qatar and Egypt and, through them, with Hamas.

The talks focused on a possible Gaza hostage deal and larger peace discussions for a ceasefire.

Just days ago, Israel announced a new military plan to move back into Gaza.

When do candid talks become a trade deal?

Meanwhile, officials from the United States and China have been holding talks in Geneva, Switzerland, to resolve their trade war, which was instigated by Trump’s tariffs against China.

Late on Sunday evening, the White House released a statement claiming that a trade deal had been struck.

In a written statement, titled “U.S. Announces China Trade Deal in Geneva”, treasury secretary Scott Bessent said: “I’m happy to report that we made substantial progress between the United States and China in the very important trade talks… We will be giving details tomorrow, but I can tell you that the talks were productive. We had the vice premier, two vice ministers, who were integrally involved, Ambassador Jamieson, and myself. And I spoke to President Trump, as did Ambassador Jamieson, last night, and he is fully informed of what is going on. So, there will be a complete briefing tomorrow morning.”

Beijing Global Times newspaper quoted the Chinese vice premier as saying that the talks were candid, in-depth and constructive.

However, the Chinese fell short of calling it a trade deal.

A Qatari gift

In a separate development, US media reports say that Qatar is preparing to gift Trump a Boeing 747 from its royal fleet, which he would use as a replacement for the existing and aging Air Force One plane.

The Qatari government says no deal has been finalised, but the development is already causing controversy because of the optics of accepting gifts of this value.

World

Why Trump blinked in US-China trade war

Published

1 day ago

May 12, 2025

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Of all the fronts in Donald Trump’s trade war, none was as dramatic and economically threatening as the sky-high tariffs he imposed on China.

There are a couple of reasons: first, because China is and was the single biggest importer of goods into the US and, second, because of the sheer height of the tariffs imposed by the White House in recent months.

In short, tariffs of over 100% were tantamount to a total embargo on goods coming from the United States’ main trading partner. That would have had enormous economic implications, not just for the US but every other country around the world (these are the world’s biggest and second-biggest economies, after all).

Trump latest: US and China slash tariffs in trade war de-escalation

So the truce announced on Monday by treasury secretary Scott Bessent is undoubtedly a very big deal indeed.

In short, China will still face an extra 30% tariffs (the 20% levies cast as punishment for China’s involvement in fentanyl imports and the 10% “floor” set on “Liberation Day”) on top of the residual 10% average from the Biden era.

But the rest of the extra tariffs will be paused for 90 days. China, in turn, has suspended its own retaliatory tariffs on the US.

The market has responded as you would probably have expected, with share prices leaping in relief. But that raises a question: is the trade war now over? Now that the two sides have blinked, can globalisation continue more or less as it had before?

That, it turns out, is a trickier and more complex question than it might first seem.

For one thing, even if one were to assume this is a permanent truce rather than a suspended one, it still leaves tariffs considerably higher than they were only last year. And China faces tariffs far higher than most other countries (tot up the existing ones and the Trump era ones and China faces average tariffs of around 40%, while the average for most countries is between 8% and 14%, according to Capital Economics).

In other words, the US is still implementing an economic policy designed to increase the cost of doing business with China, even if it no longer attempts to prevent it altogether. The fact that last week’s trade agreement with the UK contains clauses seemingly designed to encourage it to raise trade barriers against China for reasons of “security” only reinforces this suspicion. The trade war is still simmering, even if it’s no longer as hot as it was a few days ago.

And more broadly, the deeper impact of the trade rollercoaster in recent months is unlikely to disappear altogether. Companies remain more nervous about investing in factories and expansions in the face of such deep economic instability. No-one is entirely sure the White House won’t just U-turn once again.

That being said, it’s hard not to escape the conclusion that the US president has blinked in this trade war. In the face of a potential recession, he has pulled back from the scariest and most damaging of his tariffs, earlier and to a greater extent than many had expected.