Russian-Syrian Business Cooperation: Challenges and Prospects Igor A
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Country of Origin Information Report Syria June 2021
Country of origin information report Syria June 2021 Page 1 of 102 Country of origin information report Syria | June 2021 Publication details City The Hague Assembled by Country of Origin Information Reports Section (DAF/AB) Disclaimer: The Dutch version of this report is leading. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands cannot be held accountable for misinterpretations based on the English version of the report. Page 2 of 102 Country of origin information report Syria | June 2021 Table of contents Publication details ............................................................................................2 Table of contents ..........................................................................................3 Introduction ....................................................................................................5 1 Political and security situation .................................................................... 6 1.1 Political and administrative developments ...........................................................6 1.1.1 Government-held areas ....................................................................................6 1.1.2 Areas not under government control. ............................................................... 11 1.1.3 COVID-19 ..................................................................................................... 13 1.2 Armed groups ............................................................................................... 13 1.2.1 Government forces ....................................................................................... -
MIDDLE EAST, NORTH AFRICA China, Russia and Iran Seek to Revive Syrian Railways
MIDDLE EAST, NORTH AFRICA China, Russia and Iran Seek to Revive Syrian Railways OE Watch Commentary: In late November, the Syrian Ministry of Transport announced a major “…China’s ownership of railways lines, in addition to its signing plan to repair, update and expand Syria’s railway of a 2017 agreement with Syria to use the Lattakia Port and system. As detailed in the accompanying excerpt from the Syrian government daily al-Thawra, the maritime transport means that China will own the country…” plan includes completing an earlier project to connect Deir ez-Zor and Albu Kamal, along the border with Iraq’s al-Anbar Province. It also calls for a new line across the Syrian desert, connecting Homs to Deir ez-Zor. Along with helping jump-start the domestic economy, an effective rail network would allow Syria to leverage is strategic location, at the crossroads of historical east-west and north-south trade routes. The accompanying passage from the Syrian opposition news source Enab Baladi highlights the importance of Chinese investment to Syrian reconstruction efforts in general and the railway sector in particular. It cites a Syrian researcher who hints at extensive Chinese involvement in the future ownership of the Syrian rail system, something that, combined with a 2017 agreement allowing China to use the Lattakia Port, means that China will “own the country.” Russia is also involved in revamping the Syrian rail network, and the article notes that Russia’s UralVagonZavod will be providing new railway cars to Syria starting next year. Syria’s planned railroad extension along the Euphrates from Deir ez-Zor to the Iraqi border dates from before the war. -
ASOR Cultural Heritage Initiatives (CHI): Planning for Safeguarding Heritage Sites in Syria and Iraq1
ASOR Cultural Heritage Initiatives (CHI): Planning for Safeguarding Heritage Sites in Syria and Iraq1 S-JO-100-18-CA-004 Weekly Report 209-212 — October 1–31, 2018 Michael D. Danti, Marina Gabriel, Susan Penacho, Darren Ashby, Kyra Kaercher, Gwendolyn Kristy Table of Contents: Other Key Points 2 Military and Political Context 3 Incident Reports: Syria 5 Heritage Timeline 72 1 This report is based on research conducted by the “Cultural Preservation Initiative: Planning for Safeguarding Heritage Sites in Syria and Iraq.” Weekly reports reflect reporting from a variety of sources and may contain unverified material. As such, they should be treated as preliminary and subject to change. 1 Other Key Points ● Aleppo Governorate ○ Cleaning efforts have begun at the National Museum of Aleppo in Aleppo, Aleppo Governorate. ASOR CHI Heritage Response Report SHI 18-0130 ○ Illegal excavations were reported at Shash Hamdan, a Roman tomb in Manbij, Aleppo Governorate. ASOR CHI Incident Report SHI 18-0124 ○ Illegal excavation continues at the archaeological site of Cyrrhus in Aleppo Governorate. ASOR CHI Incident Report SHI 18-0090 UPDATE ● Deir ez-Zor Governorate ○ Artillery bombardment damaged al-Sayyidat Aisha Mosque in Hajin, Deir ez-Zor Governorate. ASOR CHI Incident Report SHI 18-0118 ○ Artillery bombardment damaged al-Sultan Mosque in Hajin, Deir ez-Zor Governorate. ASOR CHI Incident Report SHI 18-0119 ○ A US-led Coalition airstrike destroyed Ammar bin Yasser Mosque in Albu-Badran Neighborhood, al-Susah, Deir ez-Zor Governorate. ASOR CHI Incident Report SHI 18-0121 ○ A US-led Coalition airstrike damaged al-Aziz Mosque in al-Susah, Deir ez-Zor Governorate. -
COVID-19 May Situational Analysis Report
Main Implementing Partner COVID-19 SITUATION ANALYSIS SYRIA CRISIS TYPE: EPIDEMIC MAY 2021 Better Data Better Decisions Better Outcomes The outbreak of disease caused by the virus known as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV-2) or COVID-19 started in China in December 2019. The virus quickly spread across the world, with the WHO Director-General declaring it as a pandemic on March 11th, 2020. The virus’s impact has been felt most acutely by countries facing humanitarian crises due to conflict and natural disasters. As humanitarian access to vulnerable communities has been restricted to basic movements only, monitoring and assessments have been interrupted. To overcome these constraints and provide the wider humanitarian community with timely and comprehensive information on the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, iMMAP initiated the COVID-19 Situational Analysis project with the support of the USAID Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance (USAID BHA), aiming to provide timely solutions to the growing global needs for assessment and analysis among humanitarian stakeholders. CONTENTS 1. COVID-19 Overview Page 4 A. COVID-19 CASES 4 B. CONTAINMENT MEASURES 9 C. PREVENTATIVE MEASURES 13 D. COVID-19 ECONOMIC IMPACTS 15 2. COVID-19 RELATED HUMANITARIAN CONSEQUENCES Page 19 Health: Overwhelmed healthcare system 19 Livelihoods: Inflation and unemployment resulting in lower purchasing power 23 Food security: Critical food insecurity levels, notably due to increase in food prices and decreasing purchasing power 27 Nutrition: Rising malnutrition due to inadequate and less diverse diets 32 Education:Unaffordability leading to high rates of school drop-out 33 Protection: Rise in protection issues and restriction of services 36 WASH: Lack of infrastructure and unaffordable WASH items contributing to the spread of COVID-19 38 Shelter: Overcrowding and harsh conditions exposing IDPs to a greater risk of COVID-19 infection 42 Logistics: Fuel crisis leading to severe shortages and skyrocketing prices 43 3. -
Complaint for of the Estate of MARIE COLVIN, and Extrajudicial Killing, JUSTINE ARAYA-COLVIN, Heir-At-Law and 28 U.S.C
Case 1:16-cv-01423 Document 1 Filed 07/09/16 Page 1 of 33 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CATHLEEN COLVIN, individually and as Civil No. __________________ parent and next friend of minors C.A.C. and L.A.C., heirs-at-law and beneficiaries Complaint For of the estate of MARIE COLVIN, and Extrajudicial Killing, JUSTINE ARAYA-COLVIN, heir-at-law and 28 U.S.C. § 1605A beneficiary of the estate of MARIE COLVIN, c/o Center for Justice & Accountability, One Hallidie Plaza, Suite 406, San Francisco, CA 94102 Plaintiffs, v. SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC, c/o Foreign Minister Walid al-Mualem Ministry of Foreign Affairs Kafar Soussa, Damascus, Syria Defendant. COMPLAINT Plaintiffs Cathleen Colvin and Justine Araya-Colvin allege as follows: INTRODUCTION 1. On February 22, 2012, Marie Colvin, an American reporter hailed by many of her peers as the greatest war correspondent of her generation, was assassinated by Syrian government agents as she reported on the suffering of civilians in Homs, Syria—a city beseiged by Syrian military forces. Acting in concert and with premeditation, Syrian officials deliberately killed Marie Colvin by launching a targeted rocket attack against a makeshift broadcast studio in the Baba Amr neighborhood of Case 1:16-cv-01423 Document 1 Filed 07/09/16 Page 2 of 33 Homs where Colvin and other civilian journalists were residing and reporting on the siege. 2. The rocket attack was the object of a conspiracy formed by senior members of the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (the “Assad regime”) to surveil, target, and ultimately kill civilian journalists in order to silence local and international media as part of its effort to crush political opposition. -
Chapter 1 Outline of the Syrian Arab Republic
PART I THE PRESENT SITUATION AND MAJOR ISSUES Chapter 1 Outline of the Syrian Arab Republic The Master Plan Study on the Development of Syrian Railways Chapter 1 Chapter 1 Outline of the Syrian Arab Republic 1.1 Background (1) Location The Syrian Arab Republic is located between 32 to 37 degrees of the north latitude in the northern part of the Arabian penisula. It lies on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, bounded by Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Palestine and Jordan from the south and by Lebanon and the Mediterannean Sea to the west. The total land area of the country is 185,180 km2. (2) History The modern state of Syria was established only in 1946. However archaeologists have unearthed evidence of habitation dating back to 5000 B.C. Furthermore many archaeolo- gists consider Damascus to be the world’s oldest continuously inhabited city. The Egyptians, Babylonians, Hittites, Chaldeans and Persians have successively ruled an- cient Syria. It became a part of the Greek empire in 333 B.C., and a province of the Ro- man empire from 64 B.C. to 400 A.D. Remains of the famous Roman roads are still ob- served in Syria attesting to that country’s importance as a transport hub for the empire. Syria fell under the Byzantine Empire up to the 7th century when it became a part of the Arab and Islamic nation. From the 16th century Syria fell under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. At that time Syria was part of the Sham region, which roughly covered the present countries of Syria, Leba- non, and parts of Palestine and Jordan. -
Won't You Be My Neighbor
Won’t You Be My Neighbor: Syria, Iraq and the Changing Strategic Context in the Middle East S TEVEN SIMON Council on Foreign Relations March 2009 www.usip.org Date www.usip.org UNITED STATES INSTITUTE OF PEACE – WORKING PAPER Won’t You Be My Neighbor UNITED STATES INSTITUTE OF PEACE 1200 17th Street NW, Suite 200 Washington, DC 20036-3011 © 2009 by the United States Institute of Peace. The views expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Institute of Peace, which does not advocate specific policy positions. This is a working draft. Comments, questions, and permission to cite should be directed to the author ([email protected]) or [email protected]. This is a working draft. Comments, questions, and permission to cite should be directed to the author ([email protected]) or [email protected]. UNITED STATES INSTITUTE OF PEACE – WORKING PAPER Won’t You Be My Neighbor About this Report Iraq's neighbors are playing a major role—both positive and negative—in the stabilization and reconstruction of post-Saddam Iraq. In an effort to prevent conflict across Iraq's borders and in order to promote positive international and regional engagement, USIP has initiated high-level, non-official dialogue between foreign policy and national security figures from Iraq, its neighbors and the United States. The Institute’s "Iraq and its Neighbors" project has also convened a group of leading specialists on the geopolitics of the region to assess the interests and influence of the countries surrounding Iraq and to explain the impact of these transformed relationships on U.S. -
Countering the Use of Chemical Weapons in Syria: Options for Supporting International Norms and Institutions
EU Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Consortium NON-PROLIFERATION AND DISARMAMENT PAPERS Promoting the European network of independent non-proliferation and disarmament think tanks No. 63 June 2019 COUNTERING THE USE OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS IN SYRIA: OPTIONS FOR SUPPORTING INTERNATIONAL NORMS AND INSTITUTIONS una becker-jakob* INTRODUCTION SUMMARY For more than six years the people of Syria and the Chemical weapons are banned by international law. international community have had to face the fact Nonetheless, there have been numerous alleged and proven that chemical weapons have become part of the chemical attacks during the Syrian civil war. The international community has found ways to address this weapons arsenal in the Syrian civil war. By using these problem, but it has not managed to exclude the possibility weapons, those responsible—the Syrian Government of further chemical attacks once and for all. Nor has it included—have violated one of the most robust taboos created accountability for the perpetrators. The in international humanitarian law. In recent years, establishment in 2018 of the Investigation and the international community, the United Nations Identification Team within the Organisation for the and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is a step in the Weapons (OPCW) have found creative ways to address right direction, but it came at the price of increased this situation, but no strategy has so far succeeded in polarization among member states. To maintain the truly redressing -
Anglo-French Relations in Syria: from Entente Cordiale to Sykes-Picot a Thesis Presented to the Faculty of the College of Arts A
Anglo-French Relations in Syria: From Entente Cordiale to Sykes-Picot A thesis presented to the faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences of Ohio University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts James L. Bowman May 2020 © 2020 James L. Bowman. All Rights Reserved. 2 This thesis titled Anglo-French Relations in Syria: From Entente Cordiale to Sykes-Picot by JAMES L. BOWMAN has been approved for the Department of History and the College of Arts and Sciences by Peter John Brobst Associate Professor of History Florenz Plassmann Dean, College of Arts and Sciences 3 Abstract BOWMAN, JAMES L., M.A., May 2020, History Anglo-French Relations in Syria: From Entente Cordiale to Sykes-Picot Director of Thesis: Peter John Brobst Though the Entente Cordiale of 8 April, 1904 addressed several outstanding imperial tensions between the British Empire and the French Third Republic, other imperial disputes remained unresolved in the lead-up to World War I. This thesis explores Anglo-French tensions in Ottoman Syria, from the signing of the Entente to the secret Sykes-Picot Agreement in 1916. Syria proved to be a cause of frictions that brought many buried Anglo-French resentments back to the surface and created new ones. Cultural, strategic, and economic interests were at stake, interests which weighed heavily upon the Entente powers and which could not easily be forgone for the sake of ‘cordiality’. This thesis presents evidence that unresolved Anglo-French tensions in Syria raised serious concerns among officials of both empires as to the larger future of their Entente, and that even after the Entente joined in war against their common enemies, such doubts persisted. -
Economic Sanctions Case 2011-2: EU, US V. Syrian Arab Republic (2011
Case Studies in Economic Sanctions and Terrorism Case 2011-2 EU, US v. Syrian Arab Republic (2011– : human rights, democracy) Gary Clyde Hufbauer, Peterson Institute for International Economics Jeffrey J. Schott, Peterson Institute for International Economics Kimberly Ann Elliott, Peterson Institute for International Economics Julia Muir, Peterson Institute for International Economics July 2011 © Peterson Institute for International Economics. All rights reserved. See also: Cases 86-1 US v. Syria (1986– : Terrorism) Additional country case studies can be found in Economic Sanctions Reconsidered, May 2008 Summary Post‐2000 the United States has imposed three rounds of sanctions against Syria, in response to: (1) Syria’s support for terrorist groups and terrorist activities in Iraq; (2) its pursuit of missiles and weapons of mass destruction (WMD) programs; and (3) the occupation of Lebanon. In May 2004, President George W. Bush issued Executive Order 13338, implementing the provisions in the Syria Accountability Act, including a freeze of assets of specified individuals and a ban on munitions and dual use items, a ban on exports to Syria other than food and medicine, and a ban on Syrian aircraft landing in or overflying the United States. Sanctions also required US financial institutions to sever correspondent accounts with the Commercial Bank of Syria because of money laundering concerns. In April 2006, Executive Order 13399 was implemented, which designates the Commercial Bank of Syria, including its subsidiary, Syrian Lebanese Commercial Bank, as a financial institution of primary money laundering concern and orders US banks to sever all ties with the institution. In February 2008 the United States issued Executive Order 13460, which freezes the assets of additional individuals. -
9Th February, 2005
Overseas Information Tender Information Angola Bid security : - EUR 1,000 or its equivalent for lot 1 - EUR 3,500 or its equivalent for lot 2 (EEPC Ref. No. DB-1360) Bid deadline : 16.11.2005 Project : Social Action Fund Project Credit No. 3816-ANG; TF 053490-ANG DB Ref. No. WB2714-663/05, on line version dated 09.09.2005 Project ID No. P081558 Credit from IDA Georgia (EEPC Ref. No. DB-1362) Issued by : FAS Fundo de Apoio Social Project : Municipal Development and Decentralization Largo do Palacio, Edif. do Ministério do Project II Planeamento Credit No. 3701-GE; Project ID No. P077368 Floor-Room No. 1º Andar Esquerdo Credit from IDA Salas 215 – 223, Luanda 1205, Angola Issued by : Municipal Development Fund of Georgia Attn. : Director Executivo 7b Yetim Gurjy Street, Room #302 Tel. : (244-2) 2233-3835 0105 Tbilisi, Georgia Fax : (244-2) 2233-0191 Attn. : Mr. Mindia Gadaevi E-mail : [email protected] Executive Director For : Supply and delivery of 20 four-wheel drive motor Tel. : (995-32) 94-32-40, 94-29-47, 92-34-70 vehicles. 92-34-69 - Lot 1 : Four-wheel drive station wagons (14) Fax : (995-32) 94-04-39 - Lot 2 : Four-wheel drive double cabin pick-ups (6) E-mail : [email protected] For : Improvement of Gori Water Supply System Tender cost : Non-refundable fee in Kwanzas equivalent to or (Verkvebi, Kvernaki, Railway Settlements), which US$ 200 includes installation of d=400 mm and d=315 mm Bid security : (i) US$ 5,000 for lot 1; and (ii) US$ 2,000 for lot 2, or polyethylene pipes and d=219 mm steel pipes an equivalent amount in a freely convertible with the total length of 13,400 meters. -
Jordan National Railway Network Project
With : Jordan National Railway Network Project And : June 8, 2010 Project rationale Technical description of project Revenue and cost projections Financial structuring of the project Next steps DRAFT Jordan Railway 3 Existing rail network Existing rail network comprises: The ancient Hedjaz railway Existing Rail Network connected Syria to Saudi Arabia The more recent Aqaba Railway (ARC) connects Jordan phosphate mines to the port of Aqaba (although the Shidyia Phosphate Mine is located approximately 30 kilometers from theexistingrailline,requiringthe Abiad trucking of phosphate from the mine to the rail terminal at Aqaba Hassa Hedjaz Station ) ARC is a narrow gauge track Shidiya Legend network with no rail connections Hedjaz Railway to neighbouring countries Aqaba Railway Corporation ARC connects to Aqaba Port in the Phosphate Mines south EXISTING Railway Network = Hedjaz + ARC ARC will be included in the operating concession, to ensure seamless transfer of traffic and cost synergies Jordan Railway 4 New Railway overview Syrian railroad to Irak Damascus and Standard gauge rail network beyond Syria Estimated total length of the system within in Jordan: 1,080km. Zarqa Links major centers, ports and Amman entry points within Jordan (Aqaba, Amman, Zarqa, Mafraq) and integrate Jordan with its neighbors Single track running Train length ( 1,500 to 3,000 meters Saudi Arabia in length) powered by diesel locomotives. As traffic grows, capacity is augmented by a combination of additional passing stations and longer trains. Includes: .North-south corridor linking the Syrian border to Aqaba, via Zarqa and the loggpistics area planned West of Amman Shidiya The Southern section includes a 39 km long dual track segment .Extension to the Saudi with approx.