**As a Syrian I know: Even if the war in Syria is less noticed here right now, it is not over yet. The Assad regime wants to regain control of every corner of the country at any cost. To achieve this, it is relying on military force against the civilian population: in its offensives, the regime has used weapons of mass destruction such as poison gas. It deliberately bombs civilian targets such as hospitals, schools, markets, or refugee camps.

Assad has proven that he is prepared to sacrifice hundreds of thousands of lives in order to preserve his dictatorship. Without hesitation, he will have returnees arrested and tortured – or forced into military service to take part in his war.

**As a human rights lawyer I know that even without war nobody is safe in Syria! There is no constitutional state, people are arbitrarily arrested, tortured, executed. I myself have been in prison for years and have experienced first-hand the inhumane actions of the Assad regime.

That is why criminals cannot even be deported to Syria. There is no question that anyone who becomes violent, rapes, or even kills someone must be penalized. Nevertheless, human rights lose their value if they do not apply to all people. Those who do not respect the human rights of offenders will soon no longer respect the human rights of anyone. Whoever starts to deport offenders will soon deport others.

**As a human being I know: In a dictatorship that imprisons, tortures, and kills people arbitrarily, there is no security anywhere and for no one. Deportations to Syria are not justifiable. That is why the United Nations also demands: No one should be sent back to the tortured state of Syria against his will. The Ministers of the Interior must not give up on this principle!

***Please support my demand - thank you very much!