France to help secure Syrians in ‘liberated zones’
France plans to channel aid to rebel-held parts of Syria so that these “liberated zones” can administer themselves and staunch an outflow of refugees, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said.
He said France and Turkey had identified areas in the north and south that had escaped President Bashar Assad’s control, creating a chance for local communities to govern themselves without feeling they had to flee to neighboring countries.
“Maybe in these liberated zones Syrians who want to flee the regime will find refuge which in turn makes it less necessary to cross the border whether in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan or Iraq,” Fabius said after a UN Security Council meeting in New York on Thursday.
However, civilians in rebel-held parts of Syria have suffered frequent deadly air strikes from Assad’s forces.
It was not clear how Fabius’s promise to allocate much of its future 5 million euros ($6.25 million) aid for Syria to these areas would protect civilians and deter them from fleeing.
“What we can see is that the opposition has taken strong positions in liberated zones in the north and south,” Fabius said. “Those resisting who have taken control of certain zones and municipalities need to administer these areas.”
Credible protection for “liberated” areas would require no-fly zones patrolled by foreign aircraft, but there is no chance of securing a UN Security Council mandate for such action, given opposition from veto-wielding members Russia and China