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Pedersen Proposes a Plan for ‘Drafting Syria’s New Constitution’

UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen, AFP
UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen, AFP
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Pedersen Proposes a Plan for ‘Drafting Syria’s New Constitution’

UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen, AFP
UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen, AFP

Geir Pedersen, the UN’s special envoy for Syria, has put forth a draft agreement designed to promote progress at the next round of talks on Syria’s constitution in Geneva. Copies of the proposed plan were sent to the two co-chairs of the Syrian Constitutional Committee (SCC), Ahmad Kuzbari, who represents the Syrian government, and Hadi Albahra from the opposition.

The envoy’s initiative comes at a time when Russia, a key ally of the Syrian regime, is pressing for holding the sixth round of SCC talks right after Ramadan and presidential elections in the war-torn country are over.

For Pedersen, Moscow’s current interest in convening the sixth round of SCC talks can help induce a breakthrough in efforts for finding a new settlement and drafting a new constitution for the Levantine country.

Today, three active political tracks are currently steering the Syria peace process.

In one of them, Damascus is pushing for holding presidential elections according to the constitutional referendum passed in 2012.

While Moscow supports Syrians voting according to the 2012 constitution, it also recognizes the importance of promoting SCC efforts for two main reasons: giving legitimacy to elections in May and ensuring the political peace process is moving forward, albeit at a slow pace.

Last week, the Kremlin's Special Envoy for Syria Alexander Lavrentiev met with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad to discuss Russia’s views on current developments in the political process.

Negotiations and shuttle diplomacy led by Pedersen between the regime and opposition representatives in the SCC are also playing a role in shaping future political steps taken in Syria.

During the meetings, Kuzbari rejected drafting a new constitution before first agreeing on certain national doctrines, like opposing the US and Turkish occupation, fighting terrorism, and adhering to the unity and sovereignty of Syria.

Nevertheless, the regime negotiator soon caved under Russian pressure and agreed to weigh up “constitutional principles.”

Despite the Assad government’s attempts to delay the peace process, Russia– which has provided considerable military and financial support to the Syrian government – is arguably keen to achieve a political settlement.

Moreover, Moscow recognizes that the SCC remains the most likely avenue to reach a political settlement for Syria.

Hoping to capitalize on Russia’s current interest, Pedersen is pushing for a written agreement between regime and opposition delegations at the SCC. On April 15, the UN envoy sent a draft agreement, which Asharq Al-Awsat obtained a copy of in both English and Arabic, to each of Kuzbari and AlBahra.

Titled the “Proposed methodology for Sixth Session of the Constitutional Committee Small Body,” the document stressed that SCC was established and given power by an agreement between the Syrian government and the opposition’s High Negotiations Commission (HNC).

It also highlighted that the SCC “operates in accordance with the Terms of Reference and Core Rules of Procedure, as was also confirmed in the Code of Conduct.”

In the proposal, Pedersen presented a five-point plan for the next round of talks.

He requested that written proposals for basic principles to be included in the draft constitution be submitted by both the government and opposition delegations before heading to Geneva for negotiations.

According to Pedersen’s plan, at least one principle would be discussed at each meeting held by the SCC’s Small Body throughout days 1-4 of the sixth round of talks.

It is worth noting that the SCC’s Small Body includes 45 delegates representing the government, opposition, and civil society.

“Each Small Body meeting during days 1-4 of the session shall address and exhaust discussion of at least one of the basic constitutional principles,” said the proposal, adding that on day 5 representatives may seek to deepen any points of provisional agreement identified in the previous four days.

Perhaps one of the most controversial items on the envoy’s suggested scheme is arranging for periodic tripartite meetings between SCC co-chairs Kuzbari and AlBahra and Pedersen with the aim of “strengthening consensus and ensuring the good functioning of the committee.”

Russia, for its part, vowed to back meetings between Kuzbari and AlBahra with its foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, saying that early presidential elections could be held in the case of reaching an agreement on a new draft constitution.

The offered vote, however, would only take place after already holding the presidential elections in which Assad is expected to win another seven years in office.

For the time being, observers have shifted their focus to how Kuzbari and AlBahra will respond to Pedersen’s plan in light of Moscow’s keenness for holding the sixth round of talks soon.

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10 Years after Europe's Migration Crisis, the Fallout Reverberates in Greece and Beyond

File photo: Migrants of African origin trying to flee to Europe are crammed on board of a small boat, as Tunisian coast guards prepare to transfer them onto their vessel, at sea between Tunisia and Italy, on August 10, 2023. (Photo by FETHI BELAID / AFP)
File photo: Migrants of African origin trying to flee to Europe are crammed on board of a small boat, as Tunisian coast guards prepare to transfer them onto their vessel, at sea between Tunisia and Italy, on August 10, 2023. (Photo by FETHI BELAID / AFP)
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10 Years after Europe's Migration Crisis, the Fallout Reverberates in Greece and Beyond

File photo: Migrants of African origin trying to flee to Europe are crammed on board of a small boat, as Tunisian coast guards prepare to transfer them onto their vessel, at sea between Tunisia and Italy, on August 10, 2023. (Photo by FETHI BELAID / AFP)
File photo: Migrants of African origin trying to flee to Europe are crammed on board of a small boat, as Tunisian coast guards prepare to transfer them onto their vessel, at sea between Tunisia and Italy, on August 10, 2023. (Photo by FETHI BELAID / AFP)

Fleeing Iran with her husband and toddler, Amena Namjoyan reached a rocky beach of this eastern Greek island along with hundreds of thousands of others. For months, their arrival overwhelmed Lesbos. Boats fell apart, fishermen dove to save people from drowning, and local grandmothers bottle-fed newly arrived babies.

Namjoyan spent months in an overcrowded camp. She learned Greek. She struggled with illness and depression as her marriage collapsed. She tried to make a fresh start in Germany but eventually returned to Lesbos, the island that first embraced her. Today, she works at a restaurant, preparing Iranian dishes that locals devour, even if they struggle to pronounce the names. Her second child tells her, “‘I’m Greek.’”

“Greece is close to my culture, and I feel good here,” Namjoyan said. “I am proud of myself.”

In 2015, more than 1 million migrants and refugees arrived in Europe — the majority by sea, landing in Lesbos, where the north shore is just 10 kilometers (6 miles) from Türkiye. The influx of men, women and children fleeing war and poverty sparked a humanitarian crisis that shook the European Union to its core. A decade later, the fallout still reverberates on the island and beyond.

For many, Greece was a place of transit. They continued on to northern and western Europe. Many who applied for asylum were granted international protection; thousands became European citizens. Countless more were rejected, languishing for years in migrant camps or living in the streets. Some returned to their home countries. Others were kicked out of the European Union.

For Namjoyan, Lesbos is a welcoming place — many islanders share a refugee ancestry, and it helps that she speaks their language. But migration policy in Greece, like much of Europe, has shifted toward deterrence in the decade since the crisis. Far fewer people are arriving illegally. Officials and politicians have maintained that strong borders are needed. Critics say enforcement has gone too far and violates fundamental EU rights and values.

“Migration is now at the top of the political agenda, which it didn’t use to be before 2015,” said Camille Le Coz Director of the Migration Policy Institute Europe, noting changing EU alliances. “We are seeing a shift toward the right of the political spectrum.”

A humanitarian crisis turned into a political one

In 2015, boat after boat crowded with refugees crashed onto the doorstep of Elpiniki Laoumi, who runs a fish tavern across from a Lesbos beach. She fed them, gave them water, made meals for aid organizations.

“You would look at them and think of them as your own children," said Laoumi, whose tavern walls today are decorated with thank-you notes.

From 2015 to 2016, the peak of the migration crisis, more than 1 million people entered Europe through Greece alone. The immediate humanitarian crisis — to feed, shelter and care for so many people at once — grew into a long-term political one.

Greece was reeling from a crippling economic crisis. The influx added to anger against established political parties, fueling the rise of once-fringe populist forces.

EU nations fought over sharing responsibility for asylum seekers. The bloc’s unity cracked as some member states flatly refused to take migrants. Anti-migration voices calling for closed borders became louder.

Today, illegal migration is down across Europe While illegal migration to Greece has fluctuated, numbers are nowhere near 2015-16 figures, according to the International Organization for Migration. Smugglers adapted to heightened surveillance, shifting to more dangerous routes.

Overall, irregular EU border crossings decreased by nearly 40% last year and continue to fall, according to EU border and coast guard agency Frontex.

That hasn’t stopped politicians from focusing on — and sometimes fearmongering over — migration. This month, the Dutch government collapsed after a populist far-right lawmaker withdrew his party’s ministers over migration policy.

In Greece, the new far-right migration minister has threatened rejected asylum seekers with jail time.

A few miles from where Namjoyan now lives, in a forest of pine and olive trees, is a new EU-funded migrant center. It's one of the largest in Greece and can house up to 5,000 people.

Greek officials denied an Associated Press request to visit. Its opening is blocked, for now, by court challenges.

Some locals say the remote location seems deliberate — to keep migrants out of sight and out of mind.

“We don’t believe such massive facilities are needed here. And the location is the worst possible – deep inside a forest,” said Panagiotis Christofas, mayor of Lesbos’ capital, Mytilene. “We’re against it, and I believe that’s the prevailing sentiment in our community.”

A focus on border security

For most of Europe, migration efforts focus on border security and surveillance.

The European Commission this year greenlighted the creation of “return” hubs — a euphemism for deportation centers — for rejected asylum seekers. Italy has sent unwanted migrants to its centers in Albania, even as that faces legal challenges.

Governments have resumed building walls and boosting surveillance in ways unseen since the Cold War.

In 2015, Frontex was a small administrative office in Warsaw. Now, it's the EU's biggest agency, with 10,000 armed border guards, helicopters, drones and an annual budget of over 1 billion euros.

On other issues of migration — reception, asylum and integration, for example — EU nations are largely divided.

The legacy of Lesbos

Last year, EU nations approved a migration and asylum pact laying out common rules for the bloc's 27 countries on screening, asylum, detention and deportation of people trying to enter without authorization, among other things.

“The Lesbos crisis of 2015 was, in a way, the birth certificate of the European migration and asylum policy,” Margaritis Schinas, a former European Commission vice president and a chief pact architect, told AP.

He said that after years of fruitless negotiations, he's proud of the landmark compromise.

“We didn’t have a system,” Schinas said. “Europe’s gates had been crashed."

The deal, endorsed by the United Nations refugee agency, takes effect next year. Critics say it made concessions to hardliners. Human rights organizations say it will increase detention and erode the right to seek asylum.

Some organizations also criticize the “externalization” of EU border management — agreements with countries across the Mediterranean to aggressively patrol their coasts and hold migrants back in exchange for financial assistance.

The deals have expanded, from Türkiye to the Middle East and across Africa. Human rights groups say autocratic governments are pocketing billions and often subject the displaced to appalling conditions.

Lesbos still sees some migrants arrive Lesbos' 80,000 residents look back at the 2015 crisis with mixed feelings.

Fisherman Stratos Valamios saved some children. Others drowned just beyond his reach, their bodies still warm as he carried them to shore.

“What’s changed from back then to now, 10 years on? Nothing,” he said. “What I feel is anger — that such things can happen, that babies can drown.”

Those who died crossing to Lesbos are buried in two cemeteries, their graves marked as “unknown.”

Tiny shoes and empty juice boxes with faded Turkish labels can still be found on the northern coast. So can black doughnut-shaped inner tubes, given by smugglers as crude life preservers for children. At Moria, a refugee camp destroyed by fire in 2020, children’s drawings remain on gutted building walls.

Migrants still arrive, and sometimes die, on these shores. Lesbos began to adapt to a quieter, more measured flow of newcomers.

Efi Latsoudi, who runs a network helping migrants learn Greek and find jobs, hopes Lesbos’ tradition of helping outsiders in need will outlast national policies.

“The way things are developing, it’s not friendly for newcomers to integrate into Greek society,” Latsoudi said. "We need to do something. ... I believe there is hope.”