December 21, 2015 – Our Weekly Selection
Our weekly roundup of articles on Syria.
Burying Heads in Geneva Sands: “Without Dismantling the Sectarian Crux of Assad’s Rule, Syria Peace Talks Are Unlikely to Usher in Stability.”
Yes, Denmark really wants to strip refugees of jewellery: “It’s not a hoax: the Danish government really is legislating to search refugees and confiscate jewellery and other valuables.”
Syrian refugees in Turkey ‘to rise to 3 million’: “Syrian refugees in Turkey may exceed three million in the near future, while employment conditions may further deteriorate, said a report jointly prepared by Turkey’s top employer body and academics.”
Syria civil war: UN taking control of country ‘could provide solution to conflict’: “Former international relief adviser makes call for a new international consensus on the war-torn country.”
ISIL Sells Its Oil, But Who Is Buying It?: “The group hasn’t only recruited suicide bombers, it has also drawn technicians and engineers to manage oil fields under its control.”
Press Availability with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov
Written evidence from The Southern Front of The Free Syrian Army to the UK Parliament
Riyadh, Rumeilan, and Damascus: All You Need to Know About Syria’s Opposition Conferences: “It’s conference time in the Syrian opposition. All of a sudden, three rival meetings have kicked off, all claiming to represent the opposition to President Bashar al-Assad.”
Syria’s Opposition Conferences: Results and Expectations: “Now they’re all done—three conferences for three sets of self-proclaimed representatives of the Syrian opposition.”
How Syrian opposition bypasses Assad’s communication blocks: “In the opposition-controlled regions of Syria, activists have established monitoring observatories to track the regime’s movements and coordinate military and humanitarian action.”
Syria Cancels Mutual Visa Waiver Agreement with Turkey: “Decision follows Ankara’s decision to unilaterally revoke the 2009 mutual visa exemption agreement between the two countries.”
Damascus Welcomes First Banking and Insurance Conference: “Finance minister hails efforts by banking and insurance companies to restore confidence in the Syrian economy despite difficult challenges.”
Cabinet Discusses Options for New Export Markets: “Prime minister stresses need to find new markets in friendly countries for exporting Syrian products.”
CBS: Indicators Suggest Exchange Rate Will Drop: “Central bank chief says achievements being made by the Syrian army will likely have a positively impact on the exchange rate.”
The Aleppo Project: Imaging Reconstruction Amid War: “A collaborative project between academics and the general public is conducting surveys within Syria and among the growing refugee population to get a sense of how Aleppians envision postwar reconstruction in the city hardest hit by the five-year civil war.”
Poverty Pushing War Widows Toward Foreign Fighters: “Driven from their homes by fighting, often with children to care for and with no husband to provide protection, women bereaved by the civil war have severely limited choices in seeking security – especially when local tradition means that many Syrian men are opposed to marrying widows.”
Fear of Checkpoints Spreads in Damascus: “As the war in Syria continues, residents in Damascus say more and more young men are being detained at government checkpoints throughout the capital, in what some fear may be part of a campaign to replenish Bashar al-Assad’s diminished fighting force.”
The most unconventional weapon in Syria: Wheat: “Strategically, bread is as important as oil or water. Civilians are dependent on the authority that distributes it, and profiteers are eager to resell it to hungry people at grotesque prices. “When you control bread and fuel,” says a Syrian analyst from Damascus who spoke on the condition of anonymity, “you control the whole society.”
Online Identification of Conflict Related Environmental Damage: “In November 2015, PAX released the report Amidst the debris…, which provides a snapshot of the environmental hazards associated with the Syrian conflict.”
Syria’s Bombed Water Infrastructure: An OSINT Inquiry: “Water is playing an increasingly important role in the Syrian Civil War. November 2015 witnessed at least two attacks on water facilities in the Aleppo and Deir ez-Zor Governorates.”