Already during October, the project starts in the Palestinian refugee camp Yarmouk. On the outskirts of Syria’s capital, Damascus, Norwegian People’s Aid has employed 30 local Syrians, and the number will increase to several hundred with the work, which will last for many years. – Every 20 minutes a land mine explodes in Syria. Every third Syrian lives near a land mine and it is very dangerous, says Per Håkon Breivik. He is a leader in Norwegian People’s Aid’s humanitarian mine and explosive clearance. – Our work is to help the civilian population in Syria, he says to news. LEADER: Per Håkon Breivik leads Norwegian People’s Aid humanitarian and explosives demining. Photo: Mohammed Alayoubi / news Breivik says that in addition to the usual landmines, which go off if someone steps on them, there are other types of improvised landmines that are larger and do more damage. – Landmines are very dangerous. Reacting to the agreement But not everyone is satisfied with Norwegian People’s Aid’s agreement with the Syrian government. news meets Syrian Sami, who lived in the capital Damascus. He is one of nearly 12 million Syrians who were forced to flee when the civil war broke out in 2011. Along with thousands of other Syrians, he participated in the demonstrations against the incumbent President Bashar al-Assad. For that he was arrested and imprisoned, but later released. WRONG: Sami wonders why the Assad regime’s collaborators, Iran and Russia, are not helping to remove landmines. He believes it is wrong that Norwegian People’s Aid has entered into an agreement with the Syrian authorities. Photo: Mohammed Alayoubi / news He now lives and studies in Norway and is the leader of the Syrian student association in Norway, but he speaks as a private person in this matter. He does not dare to give his full name for fear that the Syrian police will arrest his family members who still live in Syria. – It is good to clear mines to save people, but if demining gives recognition to the Assad regime, it will not help people in Syria. He believes that it is wrong to help the authorities with demining. They should manage that themselves. – Do Assad and his regime need support from Norwegian People’s Aid to remove landmines? Why can’t he ask Iran or Russia or others for help, asks Sami, who fears that the government in Damascus will abuse the landmine agreement with Norwegian People’s Aid to secure recognition from the international community. – There has been a lot of discussion in the organization Breivik from Norwegian People’s Aid says that the organization is among the three largest in the world when it comes to demining. – Syria is among the countries in the world with the greatest need for demining. In the government-controlled areas, they lack competence in this. In other parts of Syria, there are other organizations that are already engaged in such work. LAND MINE: The White Helmets organization evacuates an injured person after he stepped on a land mine. Photo: BAKR ALKASEM / AFP – This is about humanitarian work, Breivik points out. At the same time, he admits that there have been many discussions both internally and externally in connection with the agreement with the authorities in Damascus. – Several people have been critical of this agreement, but we have explained that we must cooperate with the Syrian authorities in order to gain access and to be able to help the civilian population in the country. They also have the right to get help, says Breivik to news. After almost 12 years of civil war in Syria, the conflict is still unresolved. Close to five hundred thousand people have been killed. Syrian and Russian planes, bombs constantly riot in the north of the country. In 2013, the government army was accused of using, among other things, chemical weapons and banned barrel bombs against civilian targets in the country. Several countries, including the United States and Europe, have introduced harsh sanctions against the country, which has been isolated for many years. Sami understands that the need to help is great, but fears that Syrian President Assad will continue the attacks against the civilian population. According to figures from the UN, 170,000 Palestinian refugees lived in the camp in Yarmouk before the civil war broke out in 2011. Now around 10,000 people live there. Photo: Hassan Ammar / AP
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Norwegian People’s Aid to clear mines for the Assad regime – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
