Vienna-Sana
Ambassador Bassam Sabbagh, the permanent representative of the Syrian Arab Republic to the United Nations office in Vienna, affirmed that Syria is a state party to most of the international instruments concerned with preventing organized crime and is keen to update and develop its national laws in line with these international agreements and facilitate their implementation.
In a statement delivered to the Tenth Conference of the States Parties to the Convention against Transnational Organized Crime in Vienna yesterday evening, Sabbagh said that in this context, the Syrian government, over the past years, has issued a package of laws aimed at confronting transnational organized crime, noting that the Syrian National Committee on Combating Trafficking In persons, a national plan has been prepared covering the period from 2020 to 2022 and aims to draw up a comprehensive policy to prevent trafficking in persons crimes, including through awareness-raising, protection of victims, assistance, prosecution, international cooperation, and building partnerships.
Sabbagh added that the Syrian Arab Republic attaches great importance to close cooperation with the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime in Vienna and appreciates the efforts it exerts in providing technical support to member states, and therefore it looks forward to greater involvement of this office in work and cooperation with Syria, especially in light of the circumstances that have been exposed. Her since 2011.
He added that in this regard, the Syrian Arab Republic renews its invitation to the concerned United Nations office to conduct a field visit to it to review the current reality, assess the size of needs and suggest ways to activate joint cooperation.
Sabbagh explained that the past years witnessed the entry of large numbers of the most dangerous terrorist and criminal elements into Syria and from many countries around the world supported by regional and international parties that provided them with money, weapons and modern means of communication.
Sabbagh added that these barbaric terrorist groups have allowed themselves to practice all forms of organized crime, including trafficking in human beings and human organs, sexual exploitation, and the destruction and looting of Syrian antiquities, many of which date back to before the birth of Christ, as well as the theft and looting of heritage and religious monuments, including the holdings of historical places of worship. The old ones are smuggled out of the country and then offered for sale through social media in full view of the official authorities in the countries in which they are displayed, noting in this regard that more than 900 archaeological sites that constitute an important part of the Syrian cultural heritage have been subjected to looting and plundering by those terrorist groups .
Sabbagh indicated that these tragic circumstances and unilateral coercive economic measures imposed by the European Union and the United States of America on Syria have resulted in the emergence of waves of displacement of the population to refugee camps on the lands of neighboring countries, and this has followed the growing phenomenon of trafficking in persons, especially children, trafficking in human organs, marriage of underage girls, and so on. Which calls for the development of an immediate and serious international action plan to protect the Syrians living in those camps and help in returning them to their homes and to lift the illegal measures that hinder the provision of living and development conditions for them.
In the conclusion of his statement, Sabbagh said that strengthening the effective role of the United Nations in confronting transnational organized crime of all kinds will not be achieved without assuming the collective responsibility of member states, strengthening international cooperation and accompanying them with the availability of sincere political will in the full implementation of relevant international agreements and decisions.