Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad on Wednesday approved an amnesty for those who have defected should they appear before the authorities within a maximum period of four months, amid the war unleashed in the country in 2011.
According to reports carried by the Syrian state agency, SANA, the decision is part of a decree on a «general amnesty» for «crimes committed before December 21, 2022», including people who have avoided conscription and fled the country.
The possibility of forced conscription if they return to the country is among the reasons why refugees do not want to return to Syria, in addition to possible reprisals for their flight in the context of the war, which has caused one of the largest humanitarian catastrophes worldwide.
The war broke out in 2011 due to the repression by the security forces of a series of pro-democracy demonstrations in the framework of the ‘Arab Spring’ and which led to calls for the resignation of Al Assad and later to the creation of dozens of rebel groups to fight the Army.
The Syrian government has since announced a series of amnesties and called on the population to return to the areas it controls in the face of diminishing fighting after gaining ground in 2015 thanks to Russia’s intervention in favor of government troops.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
