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Temporary Truce Announced in Daraa Ahead of Permanent Settlement

A Russian patrol in Daraa, southern Syria, on Wednesday. (Photo: Ahrar Houran Gathering)
A Russian patrol in Daraa, southern Syria, on Wednesday. (Photo: Ahrar Houran Gathering)
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Temporary Truce Announced in Daraa Ahead of Permanent Settlement

A Russian patrol in Daraa, southern Syria, on Wednesday. (Photo: Ahrar Houran Gathering)
A Russian patrol in Daraa, southern Syria, on Wednesday. (Photo: Ahrar Houran Gathering)

Sources in the Central Daraa Committees denied the entry and deployment of Syrian government forces in the city’s neighborhoods, while a temporary truce was announced for three days, which would include the displacement of opponents to the north of the country.

The agreement reached on Tuesday night was put into effect, and stipulates the entry of forces belonging to the Russian Military Police, accompanied by the Russian-backed Eighth Brigade on Wednesday, with the aim of consolidating the ceasefire by establishing three temporary military points south of Daraa al-Balad.

The agreement also included “making new settlements for 34 wanted persons and handing over their weapons in Daraa al-Balad, the dam road and the camps, and the exit of those who refuse a settlement to northern Syria.”

Meanwhile, a source in the southern front of the Free Syrian Army questioned the commitment of the Syrian government forces to the terms of the Daraa city agreement. The source told German news agency, DPA: “Government forces are fabricating arguments and pretexts to break any agreement.”

Sources from the negotiating committees told Asharq Al-Awsat that an agreement was reached with the Russian side and the security committee of the Syrian regime, in coordination with the Fifth Division, for an immediate ceasefire, the entry of the Russian military police into Daraa al-Balad and the raising of the Russian and Syrian flags over government institutions.

The agreement also included, according to the same sources, making settlements for wanted civilians and military personnel fleeing from compulsory service, handing over a number of weapons, and displacing those who do not wish to abide by the truce to northern Syria under a Russian guarantee.

For its part, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported the start of the entry of Russian military forces into the Daraa al-Balad area, accompanied by members of the security committee of the Syrian regime and dignitaries of Daraa, within the framework of the new agreement reached under Russian auspices.

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Arab World

Libya's Anti-NGO Push Seen as Diversion from Internal Failures, Analysts Say

Head of Libya's Government of National Unity Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah - File Photo
Head of Libya's Government of National Unity Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah - File Photo
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Libya's Anti-NGO Push Seen as Diversion from Internal Failures, Analysts Say

Head of Libya's Government of National Unity Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah - File Photo
Head of Libya's Government of National Unity Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah - File Photo

Libya's suspension of 10 international humanitarian groups, part of a broader crackdown on African migrants, is aimed at masking domestic failures and securing external concessions, particularly from Europe, analysts have said, AFP reported.

Libya's Tripoli-based authorities announced on Wednesday a decision to suspend the Norwegian Refugee Council, Doctors Without Borders (MSF), Terre des Hommes, CESVI and six other groups, accusing them of a plan to "settle migrants" from other parts of Africa in the country.

War-torn Libya is a key departure point on North Africa's Mediterranean coast for migrants, mainly from sub-Saharan African countries, risking dangerous sea voyages in the hope of reaching Europe.

Anas al-Gomati, director of the Tripoli-based Sadeq Institute think tank, said "this isn't about NGOs -- it's about creating enemies to distract from failures".

The UN-recognized government of Abdulhamid Dbeibah is "tapping into conservative anxieties while masking their inability to provide basic services", he told AFP.

The ultimate goal, according to Gomati, is to "extract concessions from Europe which, fearing potential migration surges, will offer new funding packages and prop up the government in Tripoli".

On Wednesday, Rome announced the allocation of 20 million euros to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to finance "voluntary repatriations" for 3,300 sub-Saharan migrants who arrived in Algeria, Tunisia and Libya.

"This isn't coincidence -- its coordination. The Libyan authorities shut down NGOs providing monitoring and protection (for migrants) precisely as Italy announces 20 million euros for 'voluntary' returns," said Gomati.

"Italy gets to claim they're funding 'voluntary' returns while Libya gets to demonstrate 'sovereignty', all while vulnerable migrants face extortion in detention before being labelled 'volunteers' for deportation."

Libya analyst Jalel Harchaoui noted that the Tripoli government is adopting a similar tone to Tunisian President Kais Saied, who in early 2023 denounced what he called "hordes of sub-Saharan migrants" who threatened to "change the country's demographic composition".

Harchaoui, of the London-based Royal United Services Institute, said Dbeibah was facing considerable difficulties, particularly in gaining access to public funds, and his once pragmatic relationship with the Haftar family in the east had deteriorated.

Following the NGO ban, aid groups have expressed concern for both their Libyan colleagues and the migrants who have been made more vulnerable in a country that, according to the IOM, is home to more than 700,000 residents from sub-Saharan countries.

The International Commission of Jurists on Friday condemned the "recent collective expulsions, arrests, violent attacks and the surge of hate speech, including that which constitutes incitement to violence, against migrants, refugees and asylum seekers in Libya".

The organization noted that the Libyan interior ministry has pledged "the deportation of 100,000 migrants every four months".