[2012] UKUT 426

• Case title: KB (Failed asylum seekers and forced returnees)
• Appellant name: KB
• Status of case: Reported
• Hearing date: 7 Aug 2012
• Promulgation date: 20 Dec 2012
• Publication date: 11 Mar 2013
• Last updated on: 26 Nov 2013
• Country: Syria
• Country guidance: Yes
• Judges: Miss K Eshun, Mr R A McKee, Ms S Pitt
• Keywords: Failed asylum seekers and forced returnees

The decision

Upper Tribunal
(Immigration and Asylum Chamber)

KB (Failed asylum seekers and forced returnees) Syria CG UKUT 00426 (IAC)

THE IMMIGRATION ACTS


Heard at : Field House
Determination Promulgated
On : 6th – 7th March 2012 and 7th August 2012


…………………………………


Before

Upper Tribunal Judge Eshun
Upper Tribunal Judge McKee
Upper Tribunal Judge Pitt


Between

secretary of state for the home department
Appellant
and

KB
Respondent


Representation:

For the Appellant: Mr Stuart Ouseley of the Specialist Appeals Team
For the Respondent: Mr Zia Nasim, instructed by Aman Solicitors Advocates

a. This country guidance replaces previous guidance in SA & IA (Undocumented Kurds) Syria CG [2009] UKAIT 00006.

b. In the context of the extremely high level of human rights abuses currently occurring in Syria, a regime which appears increasingly concerned to crush any sign of resistance, it is likely that a failed asylum seeker or forced returnee would, in general, on arrival face a real risk of arrest and detention and of serious mistreatment during that detention as a result of imputed political opinion. That is sufficient to qualify for refugee protection. The position might be otherwise in the case of someone who, notwithstanding a failed claim for asylum, would still be perceived on return to Syria as a supporter of the Assad regime.

DETERMINATION AND REASONS

1. This appeal was heard by the above named panel on 6 and 7 March 2012. Upper Tribunal Judge McKee became unavailable as a result of which the hearing on 7 August 2012 was presided over by Upper Tribunal Judges Eshun and Pitt. This is a decision of the two remaining members of the panel, to which both contributed.

2. This is an appeal by the Secretary of State against a determination of the First-tier Tribunal (Judge Canavan), allowing an appeal by a Syrian national (of Arab ethnicity and hailing from a village near Tartous) against the decision on 12 April 2010 to remove him as an illegal entrant, consequent on the refusal of his asylum claim. For convenience, we shall retain the designations ‘appellant’ and ‘respondent’ for the parties as they were before the First-tier Tribunal. This case has been listed for country guidance on Syria, but before we turn to more general considerations, we shall set out the factual background to the appellant’s own case.

3. On 17 February 2009 (the same day as he is said to have arrived in the United Kingdom in the back of a lorry), the appellant was arrested by the police in Kent and taken to Bexleyheath Police Station. He initially claimed to be a Palestinian, but a search on ‘livescan’ revealed that he was a Syrian who, on 29 November 2007, had been refused a visit visa by the British Embassy in Beirut. An immigration officer now attended the police station, and in a taped interview the appellant explained that he had pretended to be Palestinian so that his real immigration history would not be known. He now admitted that he had left Syria the previous month and had travelled through many countries before reaching Italy. From there he went by train to Belgium, where he concealed himself in the lorry which brought him to this country. His reason for coming here was to work and thereby support his family in Syria, who were very poor.

4. Bio-Data Information signed by the appellant the next day included the information that he had been employed as a car electrician in Arab Alshatea, near Tartous, from 2004 to 2009. On 24 February 2009 an application form for an Emergency Travel Document was filled in by an immigration officer, but the proposed removal never took place, and a year later, on 1 March 2010, the appellant claimed asylum. At a Screening Interview the same day he said that he had crossed the border between Syria and the Lebanon on 12 July 2007 and had stayed there with cousins until 22 January 2009, when he was smuggled onto a ship. The ship brought him to an unknown country, where he stayed for a month before being put on the lorry which took him to this country on 18 February 2009. He had no documents with him at the time, but he was able subsequently to produce his Syrian passport. His uncle had paid approximately 2,000-3,000 Euros to an agent, in order for him to come here.

5. The appellant now said that he had gone to the Lebanon to avoid being arrested when the police broke up a demonstration which he had attended. He wanted to demonstrate for a change of regime because a lot of his relatives had been arrested, although he himself was not involved with any political party while in Syria.

6. On 11 March 2010 the appellant had his Asylum Interview, in which he said that 15 of his friends were arrested on 1 December 2007, and that he himself fled to the Lebanon just in time, before the security forces came to his house on 7 December 2007 with an arrest warrant. The appellant had become incensed with the regime after completing his military service in 2007, because two of his relatives had been arrested. One was never released, while the other had lost his mind by the time he was released. During his stay in the Lebanon the appellant got involved in political activities, until that country also became too risky for him. The Syrian passport, issued on 18 July 2007, which the appellant brought to the interview, had been stamped by the British Embassy in Beirut on 5 November 2007, and the stamp had been subsequently crossed through to show that the visa application had been rejected. The appellant acknowledged that he had gone to the Lebanon to make the application. It was easy to get there from Arab Shatie (a village in Lebanon) without any ID at all, as it was close to the border and one just had to cross over a small river.

7. At the appeal hearing on 14 June 2010 the appellant added that the security forces had been back to the family home several times, looking for him, and that three of his brothers had been arrested on different occasions and detained for one or two days, to intimidate them. But Judge Canavan was “unable to accept that the authorities came to know about his political activities and approached his family in the way that he says.” Indeed, she made an overall negative credibility finding:

“In the absence of any further evidence to support his claim I find that serious doubts are raised about the credibility of the core aspects of the appellant’s account. His account of his political activities has been vague and his actions in obtaining a passport and applying for entry clearance do not indicate that he was of any interest to the authorities at the time. His subsequent actions in returning to Syria and then travelling back to Lebanon, and his behaviour on arrival in the UK, are not consistent with someone who has a well-founded fear of persecution. His account of the authorities showing interest in his family after he left the country has been confused and contradictory and I found his evidence on this issue to be unclear and unreliable. I conclude that, in the absence of any further evidence, I am unable to accept the core aspects of the appellant’s account even on the low standard of proof. The appellant has failed to establish the overall credibility of his account. His actions show that his main motivation for coming to the UK appears to have been to learn English and find work.”

8. Judge Canavan nevertheless allowed the appeal. She consulted the most recent country guidance in SA & IA (Undocumented Kurds) Syria CG [2009] UKAIT 6, focusing upon paragraphs 6 and 7 of the italicised head-note :

“6. There is no real risk that leaving Syria illegally would, in the absence of additional aggravating factors, result in ill-treatment on return amounting to persecution or a breach of human rights.
7. A failed asylum seeker will not be perceived as being an opponent of the regime simply by reason of having claimed asylum abroad and will not as such be at real risk of persecutory ill-treatment on return.”

9. These two conclusions had, the judge thought, been overtaken by the deteriorating situation in Syria since the country guidance case was heard in November 2008, albeit the evidence for that was slight. Indeed, the only evidence before her was a change in the wording between the US State Department Report for the year 2007 and that for the year 2009. The former said that the Syrian government “routinely arrested dissidents who tried to return to the country after years or even decades in exile”, whereas the latter said that the government “routinely arrested dissidents and former citizens with no known political affiliation who tried to return to the country after years or even decades in exile.” The Report for 2009 also mentioned numerous reports by human rights organisations of the security forces arresting people who were not apparently involved in political activities. The phrases “numerous reports” and “routine arrests” indicated to Judge Canavan that such incidents were now likely to be sufficiently regular and systematic to create at least a ‘serious possibility’ or a ‘reasonable degree of likelihood’ of ill-treatment on return, even to a person with no known political profile.

10. Permission to appeal to the Upper Tribunal was sought by the Secretary of State, on the basis that the phrases “numerous reports” and “routine arrests” were in themselves insufficiently precise to found a departure from the current country guidance. Granting permission on 22 July 2010, Upper Tribunal Judge McKee observed that the phrase “former citizens with no known political affiliation” appeared to mean people who had renounced or otherwise lost their Syrian citizenship, which was not the case with this appellant. This observation was developed by Mr Blundell, a Senior Presenting Officer, when the matter came before Upper Tribunal Judge Moulden on 11 November 2010. Judge Moulden found that there had indeed been an error of law such that the decision of the First-tier Tribunal had to be set aside, in that the country evidence before the First-tier Tribunal was not of sufficient weight to justify departing from the most recent country guidance case. Upper Tribunal Judge Moulden’s decision is in the first appendix to this decision. Paragraph 20 of the decision indicated that Judge Canavan’s findings on credibility and fact were preserved.

11. The appellant, who had previously been unrepresented, subsequently instructed Sheikh & Co., but that firm ceased practice and Aman Solicitors stepped in at short notice to fill the breach. The appeal was adjourned for a further hearing, limited to the issue of whether the appellant would be at risk on return, in the light of Judge Canavan’s findings of credibility and fact. The new solicitors needed time to prepare, and wished to obtain an expert report. In May 2011 it was adumbrated at a Case Management Review Hearing that the case might be suitable for country guidance, and although at another Case Management Review Hearing in October Mr Ouseley argued that the time was not right for a country guidance case, the designation has been maintained. Prior to the substantive hearing in March 2012, Mr Ouseley repeated his view that the appeal should not be set down for country guidance, owing to the volatility of the situation in Syria, but it seems to us that, whatever its ultimate fate, the Assad regime could remain in power for a very long time. There has been no country guidance on Syria since the current unrest began in March 2011, and there is a clear need for an update on whether the guidance in SA & IA is still to be followed.

12. In preparation for this hearing, the appellant signed a Witness Statement on 24 February 2012 in which he says that on five occasions, between July 2011 and 18 February 2012, he attended demonstrations outside the Syrian Embassy in London, and that he attended another one in Trafalgar Square. He has no photographs of himself at these demonstrations. Meanwhile two of the appellant’s brothers in Syria were, he says, arrested at a demonstration, and were detained for two months, suffering regular ill-treatment. The authorities have twice searched the appellant’s family home, looking for evidence.

13. Since signing the Witness Statement the appellant states that he has attended another demonstration outside the Syrian Embassy, and has put together a set of eleven photographs, showing him among a crowd of protestors at this demonstration. At the hearing on 6 March the appellant gave live evidence, adopting his Witness Statement, and told Mr Ouseley that he had now been to a total of eight demonstrations, the most recent being on 3 March and the first approximately six months previously. He told Mr Nasim that a relative in the Lebanon had sent his Syrian passport to him about six months after he had arrived in this country. He did not use the passport in order to travel, lest it be realised that he was a national of Syria.

14. We pause at this juncture to emphasize that the appeal before us has proceeded on the basis that the negative credibility findings of the First-tier Tribunal, set out in [7] above, are to stand. Indeed, we regard those findings as amply justified. It is telling that the appellant did not want the authorities in the country of refuge to know that he was from Syria. He tried to pass himself off as a Palestinian and failed to claim asylum for over a year after being served with illegal entry papers. Judge Canavan did not believe that the appellant had been in any trouble with the Syrian authorities, or that his parents and siblings had been harassed on account of his activities. We think it no more likely to be true that his brothers have been detained and ill-treated more recently for taking part in demonstrations, and that his parents have been harassed on that account. Nor do we accept that the appellant has been to as many demonstrations in London as he claims. In his Witness Statement he says that the first of these took place in July 2011, but at the hearing on 6 March 2012 he told us that it was six months ago, counting back from March 2012. There is no corroboration from anyone else that the appellant has been to more demonstrations than the one on 3 March 2012, no letter from an opposition group or even from a friend or fellow-Syrian. It is trite that asylum seekers may not be able to provide corroboration of a genuine claim, but when corroborating evidence should be easy to obtain, its absence may well affect credibility.

Country Guidance Question

15. Aman Solicitors Advocates have provided us with several lever-arch files with material about the unrest which has beset Syria since March 2011 and its brutal suppression by the Ba’athist regime. Most of this is not central to our deliberations but it does provide important background. The violence that has occurred will be familiar to anyone who follows the news. An Amnesty International report published on 14 March 2012 gives graphic details of the torture methods practised in detention centres over the past year. There can be no doubt that opposition activists, or those perceived to be such, who fall into the hands of the regime, are at real risk of serious ill-treatment. So much is acknowledged in paragraphs 59 and 60 and the second paragraph of the head-note to SA & IA: “a person with an actual or perceived profile of being anti-regime would be at real risk of persecution on return to Syria.”

16. We are concerned, rather, with paragraphs 75 to 89 of SA & IA on risks for failed asylum seekers, summarised in paragraph 7 of the head-note as follows:

“7. A failed asylum seeker will not be perceived as being an opponent of the regime simply by reason of having claimed asylum abroad and will not as such be at real risk of persecutory ill-treatment on return.”

17. The question for us is whether the findings in SA & IA on risk to failed asylum seekers remain valid as country guidance, or whether they have been overtaken by current events in Syria. We heard oral evidence on this from the well-known expert on Syria, Dr Alan George, who also provided two written reports – one dated 1 March 2012 (superseding an earlier one of 4 March 2011) and an addendum report dated 13 March 2012, sent to us after the hearing. Amnesty International also put in a report specifically on behalf of the appellant, dated 28 February 2012. For his part, Mr Ouseley relied principally on the Country of Origin Information Report issued in September 2010 (which of course pre-dates the current unrest) and Operational Guidance Notes issued on 10 November 2011 and July 2012 (which are largely concerned with the current unrest) and he was also able to provide a document dated 16 August 2012 setting out the process followed by the respondent when obtaining travel documents for Syrian nationals. Apart from oral submissions, we have also benefited greatly from Mr Nasim’s skeleton argument and written submissions, filed at our request after the hearing. Mr Ouseley’s post-hearing written submissions called forth a Reply from Mr Nasim. We were also provided with written submissions dated 1 July 2012 and 15 August 2012 from the appellant’s solicitors and a short submission from Ms Athi for the respondent dated 16 August 2012. We have taken all of these into account in reaching the conclusions which we set out below.




Failed Asylum Seekers

18. An Interim Operational Instruction of the UK Border Agency, dated 6 January 2012, defers all escorted removals to Syria for the time being. Removals have also been suspended from several other European countries, as recommended by the UNHCR, while Mr Nasim has drawn to our attention the praise given by the US Committee for Refugees and Migrants to the Homeland Security Secretary on 26 March 2012 having been praised for granting ‘temporary protected status’ to all Syrians currently in the United States. None of this demonstrates on its own, however, that Syrian asylum seekers in the United Kingdom must be granted refugee status. As the Zimbabwe litigation shows, enforced removals can be suspended for a very long time, even where real risk on return is not established.

19. Whether, therefore, failed asylum seekers face a real risk of persecution or serious harm or ill treatment contrary to Article 3 is a matter to be considered on the available evidence. Despite the fact that there appear to have been no forced returns to Syria for some time, there was, nevertheless, opinion on this issue in a number of documents before us. Firstly, we had the reports and oral evidence of Dr George as regards which we took an entirely similar view to that of the Tribunal in SA & IA at paragraph 47 where it stated:

“We would observe at this stage that we found Dr George to be well informed about Syrian affairs and his evidence to us was thoughtful, detailed and helpful. We were impressed by the way in which in his oral evidence he was careful to avoid exceeding his brief as an expert witness; to indicate clearly when he did not know the answers to questions; and to indicate where there was in his view a grey area. We also have the benefit of having several written reports from him as well as his oral evidence, which taken together have given us the opportunity to see the evolution of his thinking in the context of the other objective evidence. Of course we have to reach our own conclusions on the evidence as a whole and in line with the law but we have given serious weight to his evidence.”

20. Dr George’s evidence to the Tribunal in SA & IA maintained that the appellant would face mistreatment on return merely because he was a forced returnee. It was also Dr George’s firm view that any Syrian who has claimed asylum abroad will be perceived as an oppositionist, which is quite sufficient cause for him to be detained and maltreated on return. However the Tribunal at paragraph 89 of SA & IA did not find it would agree on this issue. Does the more recent evidence suggest a different conclusion?

21. In his report of 1 March 2012, Dr George confirms that nearly all those who have been arrested and maltreated after being forcibly returned to Syria have had a political profile, as known or suspected members of the Muslim Brotherhood, Kurdish separatists, etc. According to the April 2007 report by the Danish Refugee Council, and indeed according to what a senior official at the Syrian Embassy in London told Dr George in 2006, the Syrian authorities did not regard everyone who seeks asylum abroad as an opponent of the regime, recognising that some Syrians have economic motives for doing so. This was also the view of the UNHCR Representative in Damascus, whereas the London-based Syrian Human Rights Committee insisted in 2008 that “any one who applies for asylum and [is] known to the Syrian security services will be arrested, prosecuted and detained for distributing false information about Syria.”

22. Until a joint report of the Austrian Centre for Country of Origin & Asylum Research and Documentation, the Austrian Red Cross and the Danish Immigration Service was published in May 2010, the most that could be said, according to Dr George, was that “it would have been imprudent to assert categorically that claiming asylum abroad in and of itself would never cause adverse attention from the Syrian authorities. … Evidently, it was something that did happen, albeit that it did not happen routinely or even often.”

23. The Austrian-Danish report of May 2010, however, included this information from a senior researcher with Human Rights Watch (HRW) in Beirut:

“[R]eturned failed asylum seekers are most likely detained upon return to Syria, although not necessarily for a long period of time. It was added that there was a high likelihood of ill-treatment during their initial detention which can amount to torture if the person is expected to know something of interest to the security service. What will happen to a returnee depends on what is in the file (if there is one) or on whether the security services believe what the returnee tells. Usually, the authorities release returnees after making a file on them and probably refer them to an investigative judge. Upon release persons are very commonly required to report regularly.”

and:

“Regarding the situation for failed asylum seekers, Nadim Houry, HRW, state that every returned failed asylum seeker will automatically be detained and interrogated.”

24. The example given by the HRW researcher, however, was that of a Kurdish musician who left Syria in the aftermath of an uprising in 2004 and sought asylum in Norway. He was mistreated on return as a failed asylum seeker but it seems to us that his profile was somewhat different to that of a failed asylum seeker who may have left for purely economic reasons.

25. The Austrian-Danish report indicates, however, that the view of the HRW researcher on failed asylum seekers being likely to be detained on return was also held by a number of Western diplomatic sources who remained unnamed. One ”Western diplomatic source” stated that a failed asylum seeker:

“would be detained upon return to Syria simply because of the fact that he or she has been abroad. The person would be subjected to interrogation by the security services. However, it is unclear how the person would be treated during this detention that in some cases could last for weeks or even longer.”

26. Another comment from “a Western diplomatic source” was that out of the four Syrian nationals repatriated in recent months, three were detained and then released and one was charged with spreading false information abroad. We noted that those returns would have been at some point in late 2009 where the Austrian-Danish report was published in May 2010.

27. Two Operational Guidance Notes (OGNs), dated November 2011 and July 2012 respectively, were provided by the respondent and referred to by both parties in their submissions. We took a careful approach to the OGNs, taking into account the caveat at the beginning of both documents that they did not purport to be comprehensive and had to be “read in conjunction with the relevant COI Service country of origin information and any other relevant information”. At the time that we reserved our decision there was no relevant Country of Origin Information Report (COIR) on Syria against which to read the OGNs, as the most recent report was that of September 2010 which, obviously, did not comment at all on the uprisings of 2011 and ensuing events. However, we were provided with the full versions of all the sources relied on in the OGNs and have set out our views above on what we considered to be the relevant parts. We also noted that the Syria COIR dated 15 August 2012, issued after we reserved our decision, relied on the same sources and did not dissent from anything set out in the OGNs, for example, confirming that the Austrian-Danish report contained evidence of “a number of sources [which] agreed that failed asylum seekers and persons who had left Syria illegally would generally face detention and investigation upon return”. Given that we approached them in that context, we found it appropriate to have regard to the respondent’s guidance to her caseworkers as set out in the OGNs.

28. The November 2011 OGN concludes the section on “Returning failed asylum seekers” thus:

“3.9.7 Conclusion: The Syrian authorities have become increasingly repressive in recent years, and there are numerous reports indicating that some returnees, including failed asylum seekers, may be at risk of ill-treatment on return to Syria. The available evidence suggests that returnees of Kurdish ethnicity and those whose opposition to the government is known or suspected by the security services would be at particular risk. Given the growing civil unrest and increasingly volatile conditions, it is possible that returnees would be viewed with suspicion by the authorities and credible reports of the surveillance of Syrian activists and demonstrators in the UK are likely to increase this risk. (our emphasis)”

29. The OGN of July 2012 refers at 3.11.4 to reports that failed asylum seekers were likely to be detained on return, “simply because they had been abroad.” Relying on the US State Department Report for 2011 and a further Human Rights Watch report dated 3 July 2012, the July 2012 OGN states at 3.11.5:

“Since the outbreak of violent civil disorder, the Syrian authorities have become progressively more brutal in their treatment of individuals perceived to be opposed to the Assad regime. Following the lifting of the Emergency Law in April 2011, security forces continued their previous practices and have carried out larger numbers of arbitrary arrests. As levels of violent repression of political protest have intensified, anyone perceived to be critical of, or hostile to, the Syrian authorities is likely to face arbitrary arrest and extreme ill-treatment in detention (our emphasis).”

and at 3.11.8:

“Careful consideration should be given to the particular circumstances of the individual, including the reasons for having left Syria, any previous activities within the military or security services, any political profile, or any evidence of having taken part in demonstrations or other expressions of opposition to the regime, including any such activity in the UK. The intention and the ability of the Syrian authorities to monitor all expressions of opposition should not be underestimated. Even where there has been no previous expression of anti-regime views, a grant of asylum will be appropriate if there is a real risk of the individual being perceived as having opposition sympathies (our emphasis).”

30. It appears to us that the respondent’s position in the OGNs (also reflected in the sources set out in the COIR dated 15 August 2012) was consistent with that of Dr George and Human Rights Watch as to the increased likelihood of a failed asylum seeker being imputed with opposition sympathies or views on return to Syria.

31. It is also our view that the developments in the evidence on failed asylum seekers are entirely consistent with the wider and undisputed country evidence on the very marked increase in abuses in Syria from the spring of 2011 onwards. For example, a comparison of the 2010 US State Department report on Human Rights, already dispiriting enough, with that of 2011, makes for profoundly depressing reading. The 2011 report sets out the willingness of the regime to use “indiscriminate” and “deadly force against its citizens” with “victims chosen at random and many of them … not associated with the protests” and “the substantial increase in the use of torture” and states that there “were a significant number of exceptionally brutal cases of abuse of children by the regime during the year.” Prison conditions were “[h]arsh and life-threatening”.

32. How would a failed asylum seeker or forced returnee being returned now fare in that context? Having surveyed the more recent evidence provided by Dr George, the information contained in the joint Austrian-Danish report and the indication that it was the respondent’s position that it was “possible that returnees would be viewed with suspicion” and “that even failed asylum seekers may be at risk of ill-treatment” we find that we have to take a different view to that expressed in paragraphs 75 to 89 of SA & IA. We accept that in the context of the extremely high level of human rights abuses currently occurring in Syria, a regime which appears increasingly concerned to crush any sign of resistance, it is likely that a failed asylum seeker or forced returnee would, in general, on arrival face a real risk of arrest and detention and of serious mistreatment during that detention as a result of imputed political opinion. That is sufficient to qualify for refugee protection. The position might be otherwise in the case of someone who, notwithstanding a failed claim for asylum, would still be perceived on return to Syria as a supporter of the Assad regime.

33. Where a failed asylum seeker would, in general, be at risk on return, the conclusion at paragraph 89 of SA & IA is no longer valid.

34. Since we have found the appellant to be eligible for refugee protection, he cannot succeed in his claim for a grant of subsidiary protection under Article 15(c) of the Qualification Directive 2004/83/EC, implemented as humanitarian protection under paragraph 339C of our Immigration Rules. Where that is so and given that the country evidence continues to show the violence moving to different but limited areas of the country on an unpredictable course, we say nothing more on this ground.

Conclusion

35. The appellant’s appeal is allowed because of what we say at paragraph 32. We are conscious that the usefulness of this country guidance may prove highly contingent and possibly very short-lived. The increasing levels of violence across different areas of Syria may provoke the much debated outside intervention or it may be, as we commented at the outset of this determination that the Assad regime will cling on to power for a long time yet.

Anonymity

36. We make an anonymity order pursuant to rule 14 (1) (b) of the Tribunal Procedure (Upper Tribunal) Rules 2008.


DECISION

37. The decision of the First-tier Tribunal disclosed an error on a point of law and is set aside.

38. We re-make the decision by allowing KB’s appeal on Refugee Convention grounds and on Article 3 grounds. He is not entitled to a grant of Humanitarian Protection.

Signed: Date: 20 December 2012

Upper Tribunal Judge Eshun

APPENDIX 1

ERROR OF LAW DECISION DATED 12 NOVEMBER 2010


APPELLANT: SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT

RESPONDENT: KB

CASE NO: AA/05466/2010

DATE OF INITIAL HEARING IN UPPER TRIBUNAL: 11 November 2010

Representation:

For the Appellant: Mr M Blundell a Senior Home Office Presenting Officer
For the Respondent: Miss K Grant of Counsel instructed by Aman Solicitors


REASONS FOR FINDING THAT TRIBUNAL MADE AN ERROR OF LAW, SUCH THAT ITS DECISION FALLS TO BE SET ASIDE


1. The appellant is the Secretary of State for the Home Department. The respondent is a citizen of Syria who was born on 10 December 1986. The appellant has been given permission to appeal the determination of Immigration Judge Canavan allowing the respondent's appeal against the appellant's decision of 12 April 2010 to give directions for the respondent's removal from the United Kingdom following the refusal of asylum.

2. The respondent claimed to have entered the UK illegally in the back of a lorry on 17 February 2009. He was arrested the same day and claimed asylum on 1 March 2010. He had made an earlier unsuccessful application for entry clearance in Beirut on 29 November 2007.

3. The respondent claimed that he carried out his military service between 2005 and 2007 and during that time he met some young men who wanted to agitate against the government. When he finished his military service he claimed to have become involved with a group who were printing and distributing opposition leaflets. He claimed to have distributed leaflets and to be an opponent of the governing regime. He said that members of his family had been arrested in the past. He claimed that the security forces arrested members of his group and, fearing arrest and torture, he fled the country to Lebanon. He remained in Lebanon for about 10 days before returning to Syria to await the outcome of his visa application, which was refused. He said that he then learnt that further members of his group had been arrested. He left the country with others, illegally, and travelled to Lebanon. He claimed that after he left Syria the security forces came to his family home with an arrest warrant. They had returned at intervals since then. He claimed that three of his brothers had been arrested. He also claimed that two of his friends were arrested in Lebanon and sent back to Syria. He left Lebanon in January 2009, spent about a month in an unknown European country and then travelled to the UK.

4. Neither the appellant nor the respondent was represented before the judge. The respondent attended and gave evidence. The judge found that he was not a credible witness. She did not believe the core aspects of his account. She concluded that his main motivation for coming to the UK was to learn English and find work. The respondent has not sought to challenge these conclusions.

5. The judge made reference to the country guidance case relating to Syria, SA and IA (Undocumented Kurds) Syria CG [2009] UKAIT 00006 which indicated that a failed asylum seeker returning from the UK would not be at risk of persecution absent further aggravating factors. She made reference to the COIR report dated 6 February 2009 and the US State Department Report dated 11 March 2010. In the light of the latter report she concluded that the situation in Syria had deteriorated and that the appellant would be at risk of persecution on return. She allowed the appeal on asylum and Article 3 human rights grounds.

6. The appellant argues that the judge should have followed the country guidance case of SA and IA and there was no evidence of sufficient weight or clarity to depart from this.

7. Mr Blundell submitted that the background to the judge's decision was the finding that the respondent was not a credible witness. His account of events was not believed and if he was return to Syria it would be as nothing more than a returning failed asylum seeker. The judge properly took the country guidance cases as her starting point and he made no criticism of the fact that in the difficult circumstances where neither party was represented she made reference to the used country guidance material contained in the COIR report and the US Department of State Report. She seized on passages which she summarised in paragraph 40 of the determination. He emphasised that the key passage from the March 2010 US State Department Report on which her decision turned stated that the Syrian government "routinely arrested dissidents and former citizens with no known political affiliation who tried to return to the country after years or even decades in exile". The respondent was not a "former citizen". There was no evidence to indicate that he had lost or was being deprived of his Syrian citizenship. Mr Blundell referred me to a number of passages in the country guidance case, in particular between paragraphs 139 and 142. He accepted that at that time the evidence pointed in two directions. The expert witnesses did not agree but UNHCR were of the view that returning failed asylum seekers would not be at risk.

8. Mr Blundell argued that the factors relied on by the judge did not support her decision to depart from country guidance authority. The evidence was not clear. The respondent was not a Kurd, not stateless and not a dissident. The other passages referred to by the judge did not indicate any change from the position assessed by the panel in SA and IA. I was asked to find that there was an error of law, to remake the decision and to dismiss the appeal.

9. Miss Grant asked me to uphold the determination. She argued that the judge was correct in reaching her findings. The US Department of State report was up-to-date and persuasive. The judge did not put too much weight on it. The passage on page 78 supported her conclusion.

10. Miss Grant submitted that the judge had found that the respondent took part in some politically related activities in Lebanon after he left Syria. I asked her to point me to any passage in the determination which supported this submission. She referred me to paragraph 37 but this contains a broad adverse credibility finding and I can find nothing which supports her contention.

11. Miss Grant then drew my attention to what she said were the panel's conclusions in SA and IA at page 103 paragraph 4 and page 116 paragraph 2 (these being the page numbers in the respondent's bundle). Mr Blundell objected. I agreed with him that the passages to which Miss Grant referred were not the conclusions of the panel but a record of submissions made to them. Miss Grant argued that the respondent would be at risk on return because he left Syria illegally. She submitted that there was no error of law and the determination should be upheld.

12. In his reply Mr Blundell pointed out that the respondent had claimed to have taken part in politically related activities in Lebanon. This was addressed in the refusal letter at paragraph 62 but the respondent's claims were rejected by the appellant and the judge. Paragraph 4 of the head note in SA and IA did not assist the respondent. It had not been accepted that he had taken part in any anti-regime activities.

13. Miss Grant submitted that if I did find an error of law then the respondent, who was unrepresented at the hearing before the judge, should be given the opportunity to submit expert evidence in relation to his contention that the situation for returning failed asylum seekers had deteriorated since SA and IA. I reserved my determination.

14. The head note to SA and IA, written by the authors of the determination states, in paragraph 6 and 7;

"6. There is no real risk that leaving Syria illegally would, in the absence of additional aggravating factors, result in ill-treatment on return amounting to persecution or a breach of human rights.

7. A failed asylum seeker will not be perceived as being an opponent of the regime simply by reason of having claimed asylum abroad and will not as such be at real risk of persecutory ill-treatment on return."

15. In paragraph 44 of her determination the judge said;

"44. The only evidence before me that seems different to the evidence in November 2008 is a slight, but perhaps significant, change to the wording of the US State Department report relating to the risk to returnees. The US State Department report for 2007 quoted the COIR report (paragraph 14.05) stating that the government "routinely arrested dissidents who tried to return to the country after years or even decades in exile". The tribunal accepted that those with a known or suspected political profile against the regime would be at risk on return. However, in light of a further deterioration in the human rights situation the most recent US State Department report issued in March 2010 now states that the government "routinely arrests dissidents and former citizens with no known political affiliation who tried to return to the country after years or even decades in exile". The judge emphasised the words underlined.

16. The judge went on to say, in paragraph 45;

"45. Because the appellant has been unable to find a legal representative to take on his case, and doesn't have a realistic prospect of doing so, the case hasn't been prepared in as full a way as I might have expected if he were represented. It would of course assist me to have an expert opinion from someone of the calibre of Dr George, who gave evidence to the tribunal in SA and IA (Syria), and/or to have a broader range of background evidence to assess the risk on return. Unfortunately I don't have such evidence before me so I have to make my assessment based on the more recent US State Department report."

17. I find that the judge was right to say that the difference between the evidence before her and the evidence before the Tribunal in SA and IA was slight. I do not accept that, on close examination, it was "perhaps significant". A close examination and comparison of the two passages in the US State Department reports for 2007 and 2010 shows that the only change was the addition of the words which I have underlined in the following passage "routinely arrested dissidents and former citizens with no known political affiliation who tried to return to the country after years or even decades in exile". Whilst it can be said that the respondent is a man with no known political affiliation he is not a former citizen of Syria. There is no indication that he is not now a citizen of Syria. I cannot find and it has not been suggested that there was any evidence to help establish what "former citizen" may mean. In the absence of such explanation the judge neglected to address the obvious meaning which would have excluded the respondent from this category. The judge did not find, as Miss Grant suggested, that the respondent left Syria illegally.

18. I find that the judge reached a conclusion which was not open to her on the evidence and that there was no evidence of sufficient weight to justify departing from a recent country guidance case.

19. However, in considering whether to re-determine the appeal without an adjournment I have taken into account the fact that the respondent was unrepresented at the hearing before the judge. The judge had no assistance by way of representation for the appellant and she had no expert evidence or country material put before her by the parties. She properly relied on well-established country material. The respondent is now represented and Miss Grant asked that he be given the opportunity to obtain expert evidence, perhaps on the lines referred to by the judge in paragraph 45 of her determination mentioned above.

20. I therefore adjourn for a further hearing limited to the issue of whether the appellant would be at risk on return to Syria in the light of the judge's findings of credibility and fact.


Signed:
Upper Tribunal Judge Moulden Dated 12 November 2010
APPENDIX 2

DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE BEFORE THE UPPER TRIBUNAL




Item

Document
Date
United Kingdom Border Agency

1
Country of Origin Information Service Report on the Syrian Arab Republic
3 September 2010

2
Operational Guidance Note on Syria
10 November 2011

3
Interim Operational Guidance Instruction
6 January 2012

4
Operational Guidance Note on Syria
July 2012
United States Department of State

5
2010 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Syria
7 April 2011

6
Human rights in Syria
11 July 2011

7
US policy on Syria
9 November 2011

8
Regime violence in Syria
27 December 2011

9
Syria: the crisis and its implications
1 March 2012

10
2011 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Syria
24 May 2012

11
Country Reports of Terrorism 2011: Syria
31 July 2012
United Kingdom Foreign and Commonwealth Office

12
Country Profile: Syria
7 September 2010

13
Human rights in countries of Concern: Quarterly Update on Syria, March 2011
30 March 2011

14
Human rights and democracy: the 2010 Foreign and Commonwealth Office Report (Syria excerpt)
30 March 2011

15
UK statement on human rights in Syria
28 April 2011

16
Foreign Office urges British nationals to leave Syria immediately
19 June 2011

17
Human rights in Countries of Concern: Quarterly Update on Syria, June 2011
29 June 2011

18
Minister for the Middle East appalled by ongoing violence in Syria
27 September 2011

19
The truth is what big brother says it is
27 September 2011

20
Human rights in Countries of Concern: Quarterly Update on Syria, September 2011
29 September 2011

21
Syria human rights abuses
6 October 2011

22
Foreign Secretary appalled at continuing deaths in Syria
8 November 2011

23
Foreign Secretary welcomes unprecedented Arab League sanctions on Syria
27 November 2011

24
Foreign Office Minister comments on report detailing horrific human rights violations in Syria
28 November 2011

25
Human rights in Countries of Concern: Quarterly Update on Syria, October to December 2011
16 January 2012

26
Foreign Secretary condemns brutal violence in Syria
4 February 2012

27
Syria: ‘An utterly unacceptable situation which demands a united international response’
6 February 2012

28
Why you shouldn’t question what you know is true
9 February 2012

29
Travel advice
17 February 2012

30
Foreign Secretary: ‘We have to intensify the pressure’ on Syria
24 February 2012

31
Syria: ‘This is clearly a criminal regime
24 February 2012

32
Syria Travel Advice
1 March 2012

33
British diplomatic staff in Syria withdrawn
1 March 2012

34
Travel Advice on Syria
14 May 2012

35
Foreign Secretary announces expulsion of Syrian diplomats
29 May 2012

36
Human rights in countries of concern: quarterly update on Syria, April to June 2012
30 June 2012

37
Foreign Secretary updates Parliament on Syria
4 July 2012

38
Foreign Secretary condemns ‘shocking and appalling’ new Syrian massacre
13 July 2012

39
Travel Advice on Syria
20 July 2012
Human Rights Watch

40
Syria: government crackdown leads to protestor deaths
20 March 2011

41
Syria: security forces kill dozens of protestors
24 March 2011

42
Syria: security forces fire on protestors
27 March 2011

43
Syria: stop shooting protestors
5 April 2011

44
Syria: rampant torture of protestors
14 April 2011

45
UN: rights body should investigate Syrian crackdown
29 April 2011

46
Syria: targeted arrests of activists across country
14 May 2011

47
‘We’ve never seen such horror’: crimes against humanity by Syrian forces
31 May 2011

48
UN Security Council: demand end to Syria crackdown
9 June 2011

49
Syria: rising toll in Homs
1 July 2011

50
Syria: shootings, arrests follow Hama protest
5 July 2011

51
Syria: defectors describe orders to shoot unarmed protestors
8 July 2011

52
Syria: mass arrest campaign intensifies
19 July 2011

53
UN: Syria escalates repression after Security Council statement
8 August 2011

54
Syria: security forces remove wounded from hospital
7 September 2011

55
Syria: investigate possible state role in decapitating woman
26 September 2011

56
‘We live as in war’: crackdown on protestors in the Governorate of Homs
11 November 2011

57
Syria: shoot to kill commanders named
15 December 2011

58
‘By all means necessary!’: individual and command responsibility for crimes against humanity in Syria
15 December 2011

59
Syria: detainees hidden from international monitors
27 December 2011

60
Syria: comply with agreement
6 January 2012

61
Syria: army shoots protestors attempting to reach observers
11 January 2012

62
World Report 2012: Syria
22 January 2012

63
Syria: stop torture of children
3 February 2012

64
UN: Russia, China vetoes betray Syrian people
4 February 2012

65
Syria: stop shelling of residential areas
9 February 2012

66
‘Friends of Syria’: push to end indiscriminate shelling
24 February 2012

67
Syria: army planting banned landmines
13 March 2012

68
In cold blood: summary executions by Syrian security forces and pro-government militias
9 April 2012

69
They burned my heart: war crimes in Northern Idlib during peace plan negotiations
2 May 2012

70
Syria: sexual assault in detention
15 June 2012

71
Syria: end indiscriminate shootings of civilians fleeing country
27 June 2012

72
Torture archipelago: arbitrary arrests, torture and enforced disappearances in Syria’s underground prisons since March 2011
3 July 2012

73
Syria: inmate describes fatal assault on prisoners
27 July 2012
Amnesty International

74
Arrests as Syria cracks down on prisoner protests
16 March 2011

75
Syrian death toll climbs as protests spread
25 March 2011

76
Syria: further information: protestors released but many still at risk
29 March 2011

77
Call for United Nations Human rights Council Special Session on Human Rights Situation in the Syrian Arab Republic: Joint NGO letter
5 April 2011

78
Syrians tell of torture in detention amid mass arrests
2 May 2011

79
Syrian death toll rises as city is placed under siege
8 May 2011

80
Annual report 2011: Syria
12 May 2011

81
UN urged to act following deadly weekend in Syria
5 June 2011

82
Crackdown in Syria: terror in Tell Kalakh
5 July 2011

83
Syria: torture fear as dozens arrested in Damascus suburb
17 July 2011

84
Young Syrian activists held amid widespread repression
14 August 2011

85
Deadly detention: deaths in custody amid popular protest in Syria
30 August 2011

86
Fears grow for Syrian activists as deaths in custody increase
12 September 2011

87
New evidence of Syria brutality emerges as woman’s mutilated body is found
22 September 2011

88
Syrian men detained incommunicado
25 September 2011

89
Arrests and death threats silence Syrian activists
26 September 2011

90
The long reach of the Mukhabaraat: violence and harassment against Syrians abroad and their relatives back home
2 October 2011

91
Syria: campaign to silence protestors overseas revealed
3 October 2011

92
Assassination of Syrian Kurdish leader a ‘dangerous escalation’
10 October 2011

93
Syria imposes death penalty for arming ‘terrorists’ as death toll soars
22 December 2011

94
Arab League should clarify human rights situation in Syria
6 January 2012

95
Year of rebellion: the state of human rights in the Middle East and North Africa (Syria excerpt)
9 January 2012

96
Syria: abducted Syrian activist at risk of torture: Georges Moubayed
19 January 2012

97
Arab League findings on Syria build pressure for UN action
23 January 2012

98
Syria: brutal assault on Homs must end
8 February 2012

99
Syria: death toll rise as bombardment of civilian areas escalates in Homs
15 February 2012

100
Syria: fears for activists arrested in Damascus raid
16 February 2012

101
Syria: humanitarian access urged in Homs
24 February 2012

102
‘I wanted to die’: Syria’s torture survivors speak out
March 20121

103
Syria: repression continues despite Annan plan hopes
3 April 2012

104
Syria: deported Palestinian journalist speaks out about torture in custody
17 May 2012

105
Amnesty International Report
24 May 2012

106
Deadly reprisals: deliberate killings and other abuses by Syria’s armed forces
June 2012

107
Syria: detained medics tortured and killed amid Aleppo crackdown
26 June 2012

108
Friends of Syria must use their influence to stop cycle of repression and violence
5 July 2012

109
Syria: Security Council vote will embolden violators
19 July 2012

110
Syria: disturbing reports of summary killings by government and opposition forces
25 July 2012

111
All-out repression: purging dissent in Aleppo, Syria
1 August 2012

112
Syria: from all-out repression to armed conflict in Aleppo
1 August 2012
United Nations

113
Written statement submitted by Amnesty International (The Syrian Arab Republic: a situation that demands action by the Human Rights Council)
27 April 2011

114
Resolution S-16/1 – the current human rights situation in the Syrian Arab republic in the context of recent events
28 April 2011

115
Report of the special rapporteur on extrajudicial or arbitrary executions: summary of information, including individual cases transmitted to governments and replies received (Syria excerpt)
26 May 2011

116
Preliminary report of the High Commissioner on the situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic
13 June 2011

117
Security Council, in statement condemns Syrian authorities for ‘widespread violations of human rights, use of force against civilians’
2 August 2011

118
Syria must stop using violent strategies against civilians, now
4 August 2011

119
Report of the fact-finding mission on Syria pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution S-16/1 (advance unedited version)
17 August 2011

120
Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic
14 September 2011

121
General Assembly Resolution: situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic
17 November 2011

122
Report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic
23 November 2011

123
Syria: UN Committee Against Torture concerned about gross
and widespread rights violations
25 November 2011

124
Syrian forces have committed crimes against humanity – UN rights panel
28 November 2011

125
Statement by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay at the Human Rights Council 18th Special Session to examine the situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic
2 December 2011

126
Resolution S-18/1: the human rights situation in the Syrian Arab Republic
2 December 2011

127
Statement delivered on behalf of all Special Procedures mandate-holders of the United Nations Human Rights Council on the situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic
2 December 2011

128
Statement by Paulo Pinheiro, Chairperson of the Independent
International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, on the human rights situation in the Syrian Arab Republic
2 December 2011

129
Written statement submitted by Amnesty International (No more impunity for crimes against humanity in Syria)
2 December 2011

130
UN rights chief says Syria could plunge into civil war as more soldiers defect
9 December 2011

131
Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review
of the Syrian Arabic Republic
24 January 2012

132
UNICEF statement on children caught in the bloodshed in Syria
7 February 2012

133
UN human rights chief urges action to halt escalating violence in Syria
8 February 2012

134
Press statement: SRSG Coomaraswamy calls on Syria to
immediately halt all violations against children
9 February 2012

135
Top UN human rights official says member states ‘must act now’ to protect Syrian people as violent crackdown continues, in briefing to General Assembly
13 February 2012

136
States must ‘act now’ to protect Syrian population, Pillay tells General Assembly
13 February 2012

137
Briefing to General Assembly Navi Pillay, High Commissioner for Human Rights (Syria)
13 February 2012

138
UN adviser warns of potential sectarian split in Syria
14 February 2012

139
General Assembly demands Syria halt violence without delay
16 February 2012

140
General Assembly adopts resolution strongly condemning ‘widespread and systematic’ human rights violations by Syrian authorities
16 February 2012

141
Syria: UN experts raise alarm over arbitrary detentions and likely use of torture
21 February 2012

142
Report of the independent international commission of inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
22 February 2012

143
Ban asks top UN official to visit Syria to assess humanitarian situation
22 February 2012

144
Statement by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
28 February 2012

145
Human Rights Council Resolution: the escalating grave human rights violations and deteriorating humanitarian situation in the Syrian Arab Republic
29 February 2012

146
UN Human Rights Council deplores ‘brutal’ actions by Syria against civilians
1 March 2012

147
UNHCR position on returns to the Syrian Arab Republic
2 March 2012

148
Briefing note on Syria (from the Channel 4 News story showing video footage of torture victims allegedly taken in the Military Hospital in Homs)
6 March 2012

149
Report of the Secretary General on children and armed conflict 2011: Syrian Arab Republic
26 April 2012

150
Amid civil war concerns in Syria, envoy describes ongoing violence as unacceptable
8 May 2012

151
Syria: Pillay says El Houleh killings may amount to international crimes
27 May 2012

152
UN rights committee appalled at deliberate targeting of children in Syria
31 May 2012

153
Concluding observations of the Committee Against Torture: Syrian Arab Republic
1 June 2012

154
House of Commons debate, Hansard Concluding observations of the Committee Against Torture: Syrian Arab Republic, 1 June 2012,

11 June 2012

155
International protection considerations with regards to people fleeing the Syrian Arab Republic
11 June 2012

156
UN suspends monitoring activities in Syria amid escalating violence
16 June 2012

157
Report of the Secretary-General on the implementation of Security Council resolution 2043 (2012) (July 2012)
6 July 2012

158
Attack on Syrian village appears targeted at defectors and activists – UN mission
15 July 2012

159
Increase in registered Syrian refugees, new camps planned in Turkey and Jordan
17 July 2012

160
Syria: Ban alarmed by intensifying violence, condemns attack on government building
18 July 2012

161
UN refugee chief expresses grave concern over numbers of people displaced by violence in Syria
20 July 2012

162
Syria still ‘of utmost concern,’ UN says after sending half of observer force home
25 July 2012

163
Pillay warns of consequences under international law as Syria conflict escalates
27 July 2012

164
Numbers of Syrian displaced rises as violence continues unabated
31 July 2012

165
Press conference by Kofi Anna, Joint Special Envoy for Syria
2 August 2012

166
Syria: amid increase in violence, UN peacekeeping chief warns of ‘main battle’ in Aleppo
2 August 2012
Refugee Review Tribunal (Australia)

167
RRT Research Response
13 October 2008

168
Syria – SYR38180 – opposition – anti-government – detention – torture
3 February 2011

169
Syria – SYR38462 – failed asylum seekers – returnees – Christians
15 April 2011
Institute for War and Peace Reporting

170
Syria’s not-so-secret police
12 April 2011

171
Syrian conflict played out on social media
13 April 2011

172
No going back for Syrian uprising
28 April 2011

173
Syrian refugees describe army violence
14 June 2011

174
Controversy over Syria opposition gathering
30 June 2011

175
Syrians escaping to Jordan tell of suffering
4 August 2011

176
Arab states desert Syrian leader
18 August 2011

177
Syria activist family targeted
9 September 2011

178
Syria conflict – no end in sight
9 September 2011

179
Syria’s endemic corruption
15 September 2011

180
Syrian prisoner speaks of torture regime
10 October 2011

181
Inside the Syrian uprising
14 October 2011

182
Too late for Syrian dialogue
19 October 2011

183
Syria: how far has uprising spread?
25 October 2011

184
Opposition says Assad won’t honour Arab League
3 November 2011

185
Calls for Lebanon to end Syria support
10 November 2011

186
Syrians fear escalation in violence
15 November 2011

187
Syrian opposition activist says NATO must intervene
13 January 2012

188
‘Reformer Assad’ myth finally dead
18 January 2012

189
Fears of divisive conflict grow in Syria
30 January 2012
European Council on Foreign Relations

190
The elusive point of no return: can Syria be saved?
15 June 2011

191
How not to intervene in Syria
2 December 2011

192
Assad’s continued defiance in the face of growing isolation
13 January 2012

193
Calling Russia’s bluff on Syria?
2 February 2012

194
Time to talk to Assad?
8 February 2012

195
Russia’s Syrian dilemma
2 March 2012
Syrian National Council

196
The Alawi community: a hostage and a victim of the Assad regime
11 December 2011

197
Instability in Syria, Anthony Cordesman
13 December 2011

198
Why the Syrian National Council?
25 December 2011

199
The Syrian revolution – no place of refuge
27 December 2011

200
Avec moi, le deluge
2 January 2012

201
The SNC is committed to meeting the goals of the revolution
5 January 2012

202
The regime is responsible for the bombings in Damascus
6 January 2012

203
SNC picking up steam
6 January 2012

204
A failed Observers Mission?
15 January 2012

205
The Netherlands confirms to the SNC that it will maintain
pressure on the Syrian regime
17 January 2012

206
Romanticizing revolutions; the Syrian revolution between
fantasy, mythology and reality
22 January 2012

207
The Arab League needs to get on with it
26 January 2012

208
Wag the dog meets Assad
3 February 2012

209
Massacres continue; SNC demands action
4 February 2012

210
The Russian and Chinese veto gives the Assad regime a license to kill without being held accountable
5 February 2012

211
Hama Rules, 30 years later
8 February 2012

212
SNC says Russia’s credibility badly damaged
8 February 2012

213
The illusion of an opportunity
13 February 2012

214
Safe area for Libya, Strategic Research and
Communication Centre
undated
Miscellaneous Reports

215
Syria: the Syrian government’s attitude towards, and its treatment of, citizens who have made refugee or asylum claims, particularly when the claim was made in Canada for the United States
30 April 2008

216
Report from a joint fact-finding mission by the Danish Immigration Service and ACCORD/Austrian Red Cross to Damascus, Syria, Beirut, Lebanon, and Erbil and Dohuk, Kurdistan Region of Iraq
May 2010

217
SHRC Tenth Annual Report on Human Rights Status in Syria,
Syrian Human Rights Committee
January 2011

218
Freedom in the World 2011: Syria
11 May 2011

219
The ghosts of Hama, Aron Lund
June 2011

220
Popular protest in North Africa and the Middle East (VII): The Syrian regime’s slow motion revolution
6 July 2011

221
Popular protest in North Africa and the Middle East (VII): The Syrian regime’s slow motion suicide
13 July 2011

222
Uncharted Waters: thinking through Syria’s dynamics
24 November 2011

223
Revealing the scale and horror of Assad’s torture chambers, Avaaz
9 January 2012

224
Beyond the fall of the Syrian regime, ICG
24 February 2012

225
Now or never: a negotiated transition for Syria, ICG
5 March 2012

226
Testimony to US Congress Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission
7-28 March 2012

227
Crimes against humanity in Syria: systematic torture to quell public dissent, Alkarama for Human Rights
20 April 2012

228
ICJ submission to the Committee Against Torture for the special report on the Syrian Arab Republic under article 19 (1) of the Convention Against Torture, ICJ
20 April 2012

229
The worst of the worst: the world’s most repressive societies 2012 – Syria, Freedom House
2 July 2012

230
Syria: a war on childhood, War Child (UK)
23 July 2012

231
Information wars: assessing the social media battlefield in Syria, Combating Terrorism Centre at West Point
24 July 2012

232
Syria: a full scale displacement and humanitarian crisis with no solutions in sight, Norwegian Refugee Council
31 July 2012

233
Syria’s mutating conflict, International Crisis Group
1 August 2012
BBC News

234
Syria unrest: Arab League calls for end to shooting
2 January 2012

235
Syria government ‘deceiving’ Arab League monitors
4 January 2012

236
Syria unrest: Damascus blast and clashes kill many
7 January 2012

237
Syria’s Bashar al-Assad blames ‘foreign conspiracy’
10 January 2012

238
Syria: US condemns Bashar al-Assad ‘conspiracy’ speech
10 January 2012

239
Remembering the child victims of Syria’s military crackdown
16 January 2012

240
Bashar falls back on father’s brutal methods
21 January 2012

241
PJ Crowley: Syria crisis upends Mid-East positions
2 February 2012

242
Fresh protests at Syrian Embassy in London
5 February 2012

243
Guide: Syria crisis
6 February 2012

244
Syria crisis: fear and abandonment in under-fire Homs
6 February 2012

245
Avoiding Syria’s secret police
6 February 2012

246
Syria crisis: Gulf Arab states expel Syrian ambassadors
7 February 2012

247
Asma al-Assad and the tricky role of the autocrat’s wife
8 February 2012

248
Syria opposition dismisses Assad assurances
8 February 2012

249
Syria crisis: shelling ‘kills dozens’ in restive Homs
9 February 2012

250
Newsbeat speaks to Syrian activist
9 February 2012

251
Analysis: Syria’s complex and bloody crisis
10 February 2012

252
Syria government and rivals trade blame for Aleppo blasts
11 February 2012

253
Syria unrest: Arab League observer mission head quits
12 February 2012

254
Syria’s slide towards civil war
12 February 2012

255
Syria rejects new Arab League peace mission proposal
13 February 2012

256
Syria to hold referendum on new constitution
15 February 2012

257
Syria crisis: UN Assembly adopts Arab-backed resolution
17 February 2012

258
UK activist lifting the lid on secret Syria
18 February 2012

259
Egypt recalls ambassador from Syria as violence rages
19 February 2012

260
Syria unrest: West stirring civil war, says China
20 February 2012

261
Syria: US backs Red Cross call for truce
21 February 2012

262
Syria steps up Homs bombardment
21 February 2012

263
UN panel draws up Syria crimes against humanity list
23 February 2012

264
Syria unrest: reporters’ deaths spark Western outrage
23 February 2012

265
UK boosts Syria opposition ties, William Hague reveals
24 February 2012

266
Syria crisis: Red Cross Baba Amr evacuation stalls
25 February 2012

267
Do 55% of Syrians really want President Assad to stay?
25 February 2012

268
Urgency and frustration at Syria talks
25 February 2012

269
Syrian referendum in media spotlight,
27 February 2012

270
Syria shells Homs and northern towns in Idlib
27 February 2012

271
China calls US critique on Syria ‘super arrogant’
27 February 2012

272
Syria unrest: death toll passes 7,500, UN says
28 February 2012

273
Syria unrest: surgeon tells of Homs makeshift hospital
29 February 2012

274
Syria crisis: UN demands Valerie Amos let into country
1 March 2012

275
Hague: British Embassy in Damascus ‘suspended’
1 March 2012

276
Syria forces assault Baba Amr quarter in besieged Homs
1 March 2012

277
Red Cross convoy bringing Baba Amr aid stopped in Homs
2 March 2012

278
UK photographer Paul Conroy – Syria ‘is slaughterhouse’
2 March 2012

279
David Cameron warns Syria of ‘day of reckoning’
2 March 2012

280
Syria unrest: Red Cross urges access to Baba Amr, Homs
3 March 2012

281
Life in Homs is ‘checkpoint hell’
3 March 2012

282
Power cuts and price rises as conflict bites in Syria
3 March 2012

283
Syrian authorities ‘committed crimes’ against civilians
3 March 2012

284
Syria eyewitnesses: Homs refugees tell of ‘slaughter’
5 March 2012

285
Syrian government forces ‘shell rebel-held towns’
6 March 2012

286
Syria crisis: Valerie Amos describes Homs ‘devastation’
7 March 2012

287
Syria crisis: Homs at centre of fresh massacre, activists say
8 March 2012

288
Syria crisis: Assad issues ‘terrorism’ vow to Annan
10 March 2012

289
Syria crisis: Kofi Annan’s Mission Impossible
11 March 2012

290
Assad rejects external solution for Syria crisis
29 June 2012

291
Russia-US split casts shadow over Syria Geneva talks
30 June 2012

292
Syria conflict: heavy fighting stepped un in Aleppo
5 August 2012

293
Syria crisis: Obama rejects US military intervention
undated

294
Step down now, David Cameron urges President Assad
undated
IRIN News

295
Syria: new report indicates over 5,000 deaths since March
21 September 2011

296
Analysis: civil war becoming a real danger in Syria
26 September 2011

297
Briefing: six months into the Syrian uprising
28 September 2011

298
Syria: concerns over ‘rampant torture’
6 October 2011

299
Syria: violence, sectarianism stalks Homs
22 December 2011

300
Analysis: 2012 – ‘the year of crisis’ in the Middle East
12 January 2012

301
Analysis: worrying signs for food security in Syria
21 February 2012

302
Analysis: inside the anti-uprising movement in Syria
23 February 2012

303
Syria: fighting in capital adds to growing displacement challenge
20 July 2012
The Economist

304
Growing steadily less peaceful
19 December 2011

305
Mission failure
3 January 2012

306
No end in sight
7 January 2012

307
Jangling sectarian nerves
7 January 2012

308
Playing the blame game
10 January 2012

309
Visibility before all
14 January 2012

310
It looks like civil war
28 January 2012

311
Hold your horses
28 January 2012

312
Pulling out
30 January 2012

313
The UN stands divided
5 February 2012

314
How to set Syria free
11 February 2012

315
The long road to Damascus
11 February 2012

316
Gloom and bloom
11 February 2012

317
Syria’s crisis: an offensive regime
18 February 2012

318
Syria: a tactical retreat
1 March 2012

319
Syria’s crisis: into the meat-grinder
3 March 2012
Reuters

320
Syria bloodshed defies Arab monitor mission
1 January 2012

321
Head of Syria rebels plans to escalate attacks
3 January 2012

322
Syrian actress treads new stage in Syrian protests
5 January 2012

323
Arab monitors say unable to halt Syrian killings
11 January 2012

324
Syria’s Kurds mistrust government and opposition: activists
11 January 2012

325
Assad promises victory, Syria accused of war crimes
11 January 2012

326
Syria’s Assad speaks to crowd in Damascus square
11 January 2012

327
Some Arab monitors quit over persisting violence
12 January 2012

328
Syria protests erupt, Arab League fears civil war
13 January 2012

329
Analysis: Arab monitors flounder amid Syrian violence
13 January 2012

330
Analysis – defiant Assad seeks to show he’s still in charge
13 January 2012

331
Stop the killing, UN chief tells Syria’s Assad
15 January 2012

332
No plan to send Arab troops to Syria: League source
15 January 2012

333
Syria’s Muslim Brotherhood tells world to isolate Assad
19 January 2012

334
Violence keeps Syria on edge, Arab mission may extend
20 January 2012

335
Syria protestors find little hope in Arab monitor mission
20 January 2012

336
Saudi withdraws Syria monitors, urges world pressure
22 January 2012

337
In cradle of Syrian revolt, army is now in charge
22 January 2012

338
Syria denounces Arab League for telling Assad to quit
23 January 2012

339
Red Cross official shot dead in Syria – ICRC
25 January 2012

340
Outside Syria’s capital, suburbs look like war zone
27 January 2012

341
Sectarian attack kills same family in Syria
27 January 2012

342
UNICEF says 384 children killed so far in Syria
27 January 2012

343
Arab league suspends Syria mission as violence rages
28 January 2012

344
Syria says will foil Western efforts to sow chaos
31 January 2012

345
Syria’s Alawites, a secretive and persecuted sect
2 February 2012

346
Insight – Syria’s Assad set for long conflict
3 February 2012

347
Syrians storm embassies after uprising’s worst violence
4 February 2012

348
Israeli minister says Assad’s end may be ‘long and bloody’
4 February 2012

349
Uprising finally hits Syria’s ‘Silk Road’ city
4 February 2012

350
Clinton warns more bloodshed if Syria action blocked
4 February 2012

351
Clinton calls UN Syria vote a ‘travesty’
5 February 2012

352
UK makes diplomatic protests over Syria violence
6 February 2012

353
US closes embassy in Syria, vows further pressure
6 February 2012

354
UN chief Ban ‘appalled’ by Syrian on Homs
6 February 2012

355
UN rights chief says action on Syria urgent
8 February 2012

356
Syria raises spectre of proxy conflict for US, Russia
8 February 2012

357
Russia UN veto on Syria aimed at crushing West’s crusade
8 February 2012

358
West offers words, only, as Syria killing rages
9 February 2012

359
Scenes of horror as Syria’s Homs bleeds from siege
9 February 2012

360
Syria risks civil war, sanctions pointless: Turkey
9 February 2012

361
Timeline: crackdown on protests in Syria

undated (accessed on 10 February 2012)

362
As Syria bleeds, neighbours brace for refugees
11 February 2012

363
Russia accuses West of arming Syrian rebels
11 February 2012

364
Syria forces shell Homs, Saudis push UN resolution
11 February 2012

365
Access getting harder as Syria violence intensifies – IRRC
11 February 2012

366
Assad’s forces intensify shelling on Syria’s Homs
11 February 2012

367
Arabs seek joint UN-Arab force on Syria: resolution
12 February 2012

368
Diplomatic inaction fuelling Syria crackdown – UN
13 February 2012

369
Syria launched ‘indiscriminate attack’ on civilians: UN
13 February 2012

370
Expat Syrian activists turned away at border
13 February 2012

371
Insight: Arabs open way for arming Syrians, civil war feared
14 February 2012

372
Iraqi fighters, arms trickle into Syria as violence grows
14 February 2012

373
China says ‘wrong steps’ by UN could worsen bloodshed in Syria
15 February 2012

374
US dismisses Assad referendum promise as ‘laughable’
15 February 2012

375
In growing Syria, Obama has few options
15 February 2012

376
Assad proposes referendum in strife-torn Syria
15 February 2012

377
Syria sets February 26 referendum on new constitution
15 February 2012

378
China paper says foreign meddling in Syria risks global economy
16 February 2012

379
UN head sees possible crimes against humanity is [sic] Syria
16 February 2012

380
Syrian troops attack Deraa, cradle of uprising
16 February 2012

381
UN assembly adopts resolution condemning Syria
16 February 2012

382
EU likely to build up sanctions on Syria: diplomat
16 February 2012

383
Chinese envoy to meet Syrian leader after UN condemnation
17 February 2012

384
France, Britain urge unity among Syrian opposition
17 February 2012

385
NATO to stay out of Syria even if UN mandate emerges
18 February 2012

386
Syrian forces fire on anti-Assad crowd in capital
18 February 2012

387
Exclusive: Venezuela ships fuel to war torn Syria
18 February 2012

388
Syrian security forces clamp down on Damascus
19 February 2012

389
Egypt recalls its ambassador to Syria
19 February 2012

390
Syria intervention drive mirrors Bosnia’s history
20 February 2012

391
China paper says West stirring up civil war in Syria
20 February 2012

392
Watching the wounded die in Syria’s besieged Homs
21 February 2012

393
Red Cross seeks daily humanitarian truce in Syria
21 February 2012

394
For Syrian children, a picture tells a thousand words
22 February 2012

395
As Syrians flee Homs, sectarian faultlines deepen
22 February 2012

396
Syrian opposition calls for referendum boycott
22 February 2012

397
Russia boosts arms sales to Syria despite world pressure
22 February 2012

398
Inside and out, divisions keep Syria in stalemate
22 February 2012

399
Assad forces bomb Syria’s Homs
22 February 2012

400
Force may be only solution in Syria: opposition SNC
22 February 2012

401
China says will not attend ‘Friends of Syria’ meeting
23 February 2012

402
Republican candidates back arming Syria rebels
23 February 2012

403
Syrian forces committing crimes on orders from top: UN
24 February 2012

404
Obama says time for killing of Syrian citizens to end
24 February 2012

405
‘Friends of Syria’ condemn Assad but see more killing
24 February 2012

406
Russia urges Syria truce, says rebels share blame
24 February 2012

407
Kofi Annan appointed UN-Arab League envoy to Syria
24 February 2012

408
Syria to have ‘more blood on hands’ if blocks aid – Clinton
24 February 2012

409
Assad’s forces kill 103 in Homs, rest of Syria: group
24 February 2012

410
No clear successor to Assad’s ‘coup proof’ rule in Syria
27 February 2012

411
Syria approves new constitution amid bloodshed
27 February 2012

412
Iran objects to holding UN rights debate on Syria
27 February 2012

413
New Syrian constitution won 89.4 percent approval: state TV
27 February 2012

414
Rift develops in Syrian opposition group
27 February 2012

415
Russia’s Putin warns West not to meddle
27 February 2012

416
China calls US criticism over Syria ‘totally unacceptable’
27 February 2012

417
Syria’s once urbane Assad shows ruthless streak
28 February 2012

418
Syria civilian death toll ‘well over 7,500’ – UN
28 February 2012

419
Clinton says argument can be made Assad a war criminal
28 February 2012

420
Bombardment on Syrian town kills 20: activists
28 February 2012

421
Syria storms out of UN rights meeting
28 February 2012

422
‘Pray for us’ say Syria rebels as army closes in
29 February 2012

423
Smuggling ‘path of death’ a lifeline for Syria revolt
29 February 2012

424
Syrian rebels say they face 7,000 government troops
29 February 2012

425
UN humanitarian aid chief denied entry into Syria
29 February 2012

426
UK withdraws diplomats from Syria, not breaking ties
1 March 2012

427
Most Syria rebels pull out of Baba Amro in Homs
1 March 2012

428
UN rights body condemns Syria over violations
1 March 2012

429
UN concerned Syria may have chemical weapons
1 March 2012

430
Arab League chief says fuelling violence will not help Syria
1 March 2012

431
Britain’s Cameron sees day of reckoning for Syrian government
2 March 2012

432
UN chief slams Syria for ‘atrocious’ Homs assault
2 March 2012

433
France to shut Syria embassy, awaits UN mandate to act
2 March 2012

434
WRAPUP 4-Red Cross aid convoy reaches Homs, massacre feared
2 March 2012

435
I would not have survived in Baba Amr: MSF surgeon
2 March 2012

437
Syria extends crackdown, refugees flee
5 March 2012

438
Syria faces outrage; ‘smell of death’ in Homs
6 March 2012

439
Syrian district Baba Amr ‘pretty devastated’: UN aid chief
7 March 2012

440
Panetta defends cautious approach toward Syria
8 March 2012

441
France will not accept ‘equal blame’ Syria resolution
9 March 2012

442
US glum on prospects for a new UN Syria resolution
10 March 2012

443
Annan ends Syria visit with no clear progress
11 March 2012

444
Dozens of Syrian civilians killed in Homs
12 March 2012

445
UN chief speaks of ‘grisly reports’ from Syria
undated

446
Exclusive: Venezuela ships fuel to war-torn Syria
undated

447
Syria opposition’s SNC seeks backers but lacks leaders
undated

448
NATO to stay out of Syria if UN mandate emerges
undated

449
Syrian forces fire on anti-Assad crown in capital
undated

450
Russia says no shift on Syria after Putin victory
undated

451
Ill-armed Syrian rebels wage unequal struggle
undated

452
Update 1 – Syrian torture increasingly serious, UN investigator says
undated

453
Syria begins pulling envoys out of EU: diplomats
undated

454
Russia says can’t blame one side in Syria crisis
undated

455
31 dead in Syria, mortars land on protests
undated

456
Russia says 15,000 foreign ‘terrorists’ in Syria
undated

457
Russia accuses Libya of training Syrian rebels
undated

458
Homs leaves UN’s Amos ‘devastated’
undated

459
Former Lebanon PM says Syrian regime murderous
undated

460
Air France suspends all flights to Damascus
undated

461
Canada closes embassy in Syria, imposes sanctions
undated

462
Heavy clashes erupt in south Syria near Jordan border
undated

463
Video from Homs hospital shows Syrian torture – report
undated

464
Syrians flee through snow and gunfire to Lebanon
undated
The Telegraph

465
Britain under pressure to withdraw diplomatic recognition of Syria
5 February 2012

466
Assad regime vows to ‘hunt’ down rebels as death toll rises in Syria
7 February 2012

467
Syria: Gulf Co-operation Council denounces Assad for ‘mass slaughter’
7 February 2012

468
Graphic: death toll in Syria reaches 6,000
7 February 2012

469
Syria activists: up to 100 die in 24 hours as Assad’s tanks roll into Homs
8 February 2012

470
Syria: three families ‘murdered in their homes by Assad’s forces’ as tanks move towards Homs
8 February 2012

471
Syria: Iran’s elite Quds force ‘advising Assad regime’
9 February 2012

472
Syrian regime is ‘hell bent’ on ‘murdering and maiming’ its own people, David Cameron says
9 February 2012

473
US satellite photographs show Syrian artillery
10 February 2012

474
Syria: Russia accuses West of being ‘accomplices’ in violence
10 February 2012

475
New British initiative to gather evidence on Syrian war crimes
11 February 2012

476
Britain to launch new initiative against Syrian war crimes
12 February 2012

477
Syrian rebels are losing faith in the West
14 February 2012

478
Can you judge a nation by the company it keeps? Syria’s thuggish coalition shows how evil this regime is
17 February 2012

479
Syria: Assad digs in for assault on town of the doomed
17 February 2012
The Guardian

480
Arab League monitoring mission criticised for failing to stop bloodshed
2 January 2012

481
Syria’s protestors are on their own
9 January 2012

482
Most Syrians back President Assad, but you’d never know from the western media
17 January 2012

483
Syria violence has risen significantly, says Arab League mission chief
27 January 2012

484
Arab league suspends Syria monitoring mission
28 January 2012

485
Syria hurtling towards a bloodier crisis
29 January 2012

486
Syria army digs in after retaking Damascus suburbs
30 January 2012

487
Syrian resolution vetoed by Russia and China at United Nations
4 February 2012

488
Syria: ‘300 killed’ as regime launches huge attack on besieged city of Homs
4 February 2012

489
Syria on brink of civil war as diplomacy fails to dislodge Assad
5 February 2012

490
Syria: ‘You cannot imagine how brutal it has been’
6 February 2012

491
Syria envoys recalled by Britain and the US in protest at ‘murderous’ regime
6 February 2012

492
Syria: death and division thwart hopes of opposition unity
7 February 2012

493
Syrian siege of Homs is genocidal, say trapped residents
7 February 2012

494
Syria: rockets rain down on Homs as violence escalates
8 February 2012

495
Inside Homs: ‘We are seriously dying here. It is really war
8 February 2012

496
Syria uprising is now a battle to death
9 February 2012

497
Syria bloodshed is outrageous, says Obama
10 February 2012

498
Syria violence spreads to Aleppo as bomb blast kills 28
10 February 2012

499
Syria ‘relaunches’ assault on Homs
11 February 2012

500
We can’t stop the bloodshed in Syria without talking to Assad
12 February 2012

501
Al-Qaida leader Zawahiri urges Muslim support for Syrian uprising
12 February 2012

502
Syrian regime ‘emboldened’ by UN inaction, says human rights chief
13 February 2012

503
Syrian troops attack residential areas in Hama and Homs
15 February 2012

504
France’s Syrian aid ‘corridors’ on course for UN dead end
15 February 2012

505
Assad offer of Syrian multi-party elections branded laughable by US
15 February 2012

506
Ban Ki-moon accuses Syrian regime of potential crimes against humanity
16 February 2012

507
They are pushing Syria into a religious war that they will certainly get
16 February 2012

508
UN General Assembly backs call for Assad to quit as Syrian president
16 February 2012

509
Western intervention in Syria will do more harm than good
17 February 2012

510
Syrian government blocks live video streaming site Bambuser
17 February 2012

511
Syrian security forces increase pressure on Damascus protestors
19 February 2012

512
In Homs we are all wading in blood
21 February 2012

513
Syrian regime accused of crimes against humanity by UN
24 February 2012

514
Syria votes on new constitution as shelling of Homs continues
27 February 2012

515
Razing Homs to the ground will only harden Syrian resistance
1 March 2012

516
Paul Conroy warns of Syria massacre
2 March 2012

517
David Cameron demands Assad face war crimes trial over Syria bloodshed
2 March 2012

518
Homs shelled again as Syrian troops keep Red Cross out
3 March 2012
Aljazeera

519
Syria: the revolution will be weaponised
23 September 2011

520
Syria and the unfolding hegemonic game
25 November 2011

521
Inside Homs with Free Syrian Army
8 February 2012

522
The battle for Homs
11 February 2012

523
Syrian violence spills over into Lebanon
12 February 2012

524
Russia ‘to consider’ Syria peacekeeping plan
13 February 2012

525
Israel hedges bets on Syria
14 February 2012

526
Syrian violence continues to stymie UN, NATO
17 February 2012

527
Chinese diplomat in Syria for talks on unrest
18 February 2012

528
Iran and Syria: a show of strength and unity
20 February 2012

529
Friends of Syria
27 February 2012

530
Moscow’s Syrians eye post election change
4 March 2012
Sky News

531
The Assad regime: who are Bashar’s allies?
6 December 2011

532
Syrians still being shot at, despite monitors
2 January 2012

533
‘Dozens killed’ in Damascus suicide bomb
6 January 2012

534
Arab monitors injured in Syria protest
11 January 2012

535
French journalist killed in Syria mortar blast
11 January 2012

536
Qatari leader: send Arab troops into Syria
14 January 2012

537
Saudi Arabia to pull monitors from Syria
23 January 2012

538
Assad rejects Arab League’s call for reform
23 January 2012

539
Sky smuggled past Army checkpoints in Homs
23 January 2012

540
Civilians being killed in Syria massacre
27 January 2012

541
Syria hits out at Arab League over mission
28 January 2012

542
Syria: violence continues amid talks
30 January 2012

543
Russia stands firm over Syrian peace plan
31 January 2012

544
Syria clashes: Homs death toll ‘soars to 350’
4 February 2012

545
Bloodshed and danger ‘a way of life’ in Homs
4 February 2012

546
UN seeks to talk Russia round on Syria
4 February 2012

547
Syria: Russia and China veto UN resolution
5 February 2012

548
UK ambassador pulled from Syria for talks
6 February 2012

549
Syrian Army pounds Homs in deadly offensive
6 February 2012

550
Secret memos reveal Assad regime tactics
6 February 2012

551
Syria’s First Lady backs regime amid attacks
7 February 2012

552
Hospitals in Homs turned into makeshift hospitals
7 February 2012

553
Syria: shelling ‘kills 56’ amid anger at veto
7 February 2012

554
Homs attack: is this Syria’s Benghazi moment?
8 February 2012

555
Russia: Assad ‘committed’ to ending conflict
8 February 2012

556
Troops continue relentless assault on Homs
8 February 2012

557
Defiant Russia hails Syria trip’s success
8 February 2012

558
Syria bloodshed: ‘why isn’t the world helping us?’
10 February 2012

559
Syrian forces ‘enter town near Lebanon’
11 February 2012

560
Escape from Homs: despair amid onslaught
12 February 2012

561
Opposition stronghold prepares for assault
12 February 2012

562
Fears of ‘all all ground assault’ in Homs
13 February 2012

563
More bloodshed as UN boss slams Syria
13 February 2012

564
Syrians under siege amid new bomb attacks
13 February 2012

565
UN accuses Syria of crimes against humanity
13 February 2012

566
Clinton: UN unlikely to send Syria peacekeepers
14 February 2012

567
‘Six more dead’ in intense Homs shelling
14 February 2012

568
Obama presses China’s heir apparent on trade
15 February 2012

569
Syria: scores killed in Aleppo fight
15 February 2012

570
Syria: UN Assembly passes new resolution
17 February 2012

571
Syria tops agenda at Cameron-Sarkozy talks
17 February 2012

572
Syria: fears of renewed assault on rebel city
21 February 2012

573
World’s hands tied as Syria horror worsens
24 February 2012

574
The deadly reality of Syria’s referendum day
26 February 2012

575
Syria: Assad to allow aid into besieged city
1 March 2012

576
Syrian ground forces move into rebel Homs
2 March 2012
Miscellaneous news articles

577
Family fears for missing deportee, Sydney Morning Herald
29 May 2011

578
Syria: continued repression through use of enforced disappearances Alkarama for Human rights
5 January 2012

579
UN warns of surge in violence in Syria, Voice of America News
10 January 2012

580
Thousands rally in Syria as Arab League chief warns of civil war, Voice of America News
13 January 2012

581
More arrests of journalists and bloggers despite Arab League observer presence, Reporters Sans Frontiers
14 January 2012

582
At least 30 reported killed in new Syrian violence, Voice of America News
17 January 2012

583
Reports: Syrian security forces kill 34 civilians, Radio Free Europe
26 January 2012

584
Almost 100 killed in Syrian violence Monday: activists, Relief Web
31 January 2012

585
Syrian troops retake Damascus suburbs as UN showdown unfolds, Voice of America News
31 January 2012

586
Church leader martyred while helping wounded parishioner in Syria, Barnabas Aid
31 January 2012

587
Jean-Claude Mignon: ‘the slaughter in Syria must cease immediately’, Council of Europe
2 February 2012

588
Activists: Syrian troops kill more than 217 in Homs, Voice of America News
3 February 2012

589
United Nations fiddles while Syria burns, Channel 4 News
3 February 2012

590
Syrian state media denies army role in Homs, Radio Free Europe
4 February 2012

591
More than 200 dead after shelling in Syrian city, Voice of America News
4 February 2012

592
Syria: medicine used as a weapon of persecution, MSF
8 February 2012

593
Q&A: why is Syria’s violence worsening now, CNN
10 February 2012

594
Terror grips besieged city, CNN
11 February 2012

595
Syrians suffer as government crackdown continues, Voice of America News
13 February 2012

596
News: Syria: crackdown escalates; fears for safety
13 February 2012

597
Syrian crackdown widens, Voice of America News
16 February 2012

598
Syrian forces clamp down on Damascus, Voice of America News
19 February 2012

599
Activists: Syrian forces kill 63 as Red Cross seeks daily truce, Voice of America News
21 February 2012

600
Syria: urgent call for daily halts in fighting, ICRC
21 February 2012

601
Syria: continued crackdown on human rights defenders and political activists despite increasing international attention, Alkarama for Human Rights
21 February 2012

602
Syria shelling kills 74, including two journalists, Voice of America News
22 February 2012

603
Trapped journalists killed in hell of Homs bombardment, Reporters Without Borders
22 February 2012

604
UN: ‘well over’ 7,500 killed in Syrian fighting, Radio Free Europe
29 February 2012

605
Tortured by the very doctors who should be saving their lives: smuggled images reveal horror of Syrian hospital patients, Mail Online
5 March 2012

606
UN rights office documents torture in Syria, Voice of America News
6 March 2012

607
Syrian army defectors tell of atrocities, Voice of America News
13 March 2012

608
Syrian refugees in Jordan confirm reports of abuse, torture, Voice of America News
16 March 2012

609
Intense fighting rocks Syrian capital, Voice of America News
19 March 2012

610
Syrian groups: at least 60 dead in fresh violence, Voice of America News
22 March 2012

611
US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants Praises Obama Administration Decision to Guarantee Syrians Temporary Protected Status, US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (press release)
26 March 20122

612
Growing Islamist influence in Syrian uprising; Christians vulnerable, Barnabas Aid (UK)
28 March 2012

613
Gunfire from Syria hits border camp in Turkey, IPS
9 April 2012

614
Syrian forces widen attacks as cease fire unravels, Voice of America News
17 April 2012

615
Syrian cease-fire deteriorates with more violence, Voice of America News
24 April 2012

616
Red Cross: Syria’s rebels shifting to guerrilla tactics, Voice of America News
8 May 2012

617
Syrian troops storm rebellious village; violence spills into Lebanon, Voice of America News
13 May 2012

618
Activists: Syrian government shelling leave s 90 dead, Voice of America News
26 May 2012

619
Is Syria’s Bashar al-Assad guilty of war crimes?, Voice of America News
31 May 2012

620
Statement by Navi Pillay, High Commissioner for Human Rights to the Human Rights Council on the deteriorating human rights situation in the Syrian Arab Republic and the killings in El-Houleh
1 June 2012

621
All-out civil war looms in Syria, Annan says, IPS
7 June 2012

622
UN says Syrian regime killing, torturing children, Radio Free Europe
12 June 2012

623
Clinton challenges Russia on Syria, UN peacekeeping chief says Syria in civil war, Voice of America News
12 June 2012

624
Is Syria seeing start of sectarian war?, Radio Free Europe
15 June 2012

625
Syrian government forces escalate attacks, Voice of America News
17 June 2012

626
Q&A: children killed with impunity in Syria, IPS
27 June 2012

627
Syrian opposition rejects UN transition deal, Voice of America News
1 July 2012

628
Outrage mounts over Syria massacre, Voice of America News
13 July 2012

629
Red Cross widens area involved in Syrian civil war, Voice of America News
16 July 2012

630
Battles rage in Damascus, Voice of America News
17 July 2012

631
Syria blast strikes at heart of Assad’s rule, Inter Press Service Agency
18 July 2012

632
Alawites fear future as Syrian conflict intensifies, Voice of America News
19 July 2012

633
More than 300 killed in Syria, rights group says, Voice of America News
20 July 2012

634
Why it matters whether Syria is designated as a civil war, Radio Free Europe
20 July 2012

635
Council conclusions on Syria, Council of the European Union
23 July 2012

636
Syria bolsters troops in battle for Aleppo, Inter Press Service News Agency
25 July 2012

637
Thousands flee fighting in Syria’s Aleppo, Voice of America News
30 July 2012

638
Statement from Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva on worsening humanitarian crisis in Syria, European Commission
31 July 2012

639
Syrian rebels execute Assad loyalists in Aleppo, Voice of America News
1 August 2012

640
As fighting escalates in Syria, a frustrated mediator resigns, Inter Press News Agency
3 August 2012

641
Syria’s Assad must go, and Libya’s resources must benefit all Libyans, says MEPs, Press Release, European Parliament
undated

642
The Swedish Migration Boards stops all deportations to Syria, Migrationsverket
undated