Aleppo parish priest warns not to forget Syria too quickley
Fr. Karakach reaches out to AsiaNews, sharing that the country still has ‘a long way to go’ to become a true ‘rule of law, stable and democratic state’. Among the positives are an open economy and conflict resolution with neighbours, concerns about ‘political freedom’ and an ‘Islamist’ matrix. Summary executions of at least 35 former Assad officials over the weekend.
Aleppo (AsiaNews) - It is still ‘too early’ for the world to forget Syria, a nation that still has ‘a long way to go’ before becoming a true ‘rule of law, stable and democratic state,' writes Fr Bahjat Karakach, parish priest of the Church of St Francis of Assisi in Aleppo, to AsiaNews. The rise of the Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham militias, once affiliated with the al-Nusra front (formerly al-Qaeda), led by their leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, capable in a few weeks of overthrowing the regime of Bashar al-Assad, has brought some positive news: ‘The openness of the new authorities,’ explains the parish priest, ‘towards the international community; the promises not to be a country in conflict with its neighbours; the vision of a new open economy, are positive elements. However, there is no lack of ‘concerns’ about the future and the ‘form of government’ and ‘political freedom’ of a government with a clear ‘Islamist’ matrix, although he relies on a fundamental element: ‘Our faith and our hope,’ he says, ‘have not failed.
In the past three days, meanwhile, the new Syrian leaders have carried out at least 35 summary executions of former officials of the deposed Assad regime and numerous arrests in the Homs region. In addition, Hts leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (al-Jolani) met in Damascus with UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo grandi to discuss the humanitarian situation and the return of those who have fled in the past, although there are no public statements on the content of the talks.
Below is the testimony of the parish priest of Aleppo:
Since the last message I sent you [about a month ago, for the Christmas celebrations], many things have happened that I could not summarise in a short message like this. However, I felt it was important to write to you today, both because many people are asking for an update, and to prevent the public from getting the impression that all is well. It is still too early for the world to forget about Syria: we have a long way to go before we reach a rule of law, stable and democratic state. In this journey, we need the contribution both of Syrians, inside and outside the country, and of our friends all over the world. Without this solidarity, we will not be able to face the immense challenges ahead of us.
To begin, I would like to share some positive facts before moving on to the emergencies that cause concern.
In fact, there are some areas where there is hope: the openness of the new authorities towards the international community; the promises not to be a country in conflict with its neighbours; the vision of a new open economy, are positive elements. Already the cost of some goods on the market has fallen, so much so that it is now possible to procure fuel, gas and bread without having to stand in long queues or suffer humiliation to obtain basic necessities. Added to this is a good level of freedom of expression, which we Syrians were not used to. During the decades of the regime, expressing a political opinion was a crime that could cost one's life. Today, on the other hand, we see various initiatives springing up spontaneously to discuss the Res publica.
On the other hand, however, there is no lack of concern among the people about the future of the country, the form of government that will be established. Will political freedom be maintained or will it be an Islamist government that excludes anyone who does not share a narrow view of religion?
The international delegations, including the Italian one, report a positive impression of the meetings they had in Damascus. They claim to have heard messages of openness and tolerance from the representatives of the new government: there will be no vendettas or bloodshed, and Syria will be a civilised country, in which all components will play an active role. This official discourse, which I dare call ‘seductive’, does not (yet?) fully reflect the reality on the ground. In fact, various armed groups - whose membership is unclear - continue to carry out acts of violence and discrimination, while there is no clear strategy to prosecute war criminals.
Many times, these vendettas take on a religious character, resulting in innocent victims. It is not uncommon to observe expressions of extremist-oriented Islamic thought: on public transport, women are separated from men, and some groups distribute the burqa, a black dress that covers the entire body, including the face, to women. The most dangerous phenomenon, however, is related to the new police and security officers: before being trained, they must take a course in sharia, the Islamic law. This fact implies de facto that not all Syrians will be able to access these positions, including moderate Muslims. The risk is the creation of second-class citizens on a large scale.
We do not know how long this ‘emergency’ situation will last, as the authorities claim that it will not be possible to organise elections without a census. In our case, this is an extremely complex operation, given the presence of millions of Syrian refugees or homeless people. We talk about three or four years... but what is currently missing is a road map to guide us until then.
In parallel, economic emergencies must be addressed. In fact, it has emerged that hundreds of thousands of people are fictitiously employed by the government institutions of the old regime: all of them will be made redundant, leaving them without a livelihood. On the other hand, promises to increase salaries by 400% have not yet been fulfilled. On the contrary, pensioners have been excluded from the increase, and so far many civil servants have not received a salary at the end of December! This has paralysed the market: today people are not working, money is not circulating, and the needy are increasing.
We are aware that there is no magic wand to solve problems. However, the fact that our faith and hope have not failed is the real ‘magic’ made in Syria!
* parish priest of the Church of St Francis of Assisi in Aleppo
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06/12/2016 10:06
05/12/2016 09:44
