Alwaght- Syrian government has warned that US proposed plans to enforce safe zones inside the country could endanger the lives of civilians.
Syrian foreign minister said such safe areas need coordination with the central government as failing to do so may endanger civilians that are supposed to live in those areas.
Setting up safe zones in Syria without any authorization from the Damascus government would certainly violate the country’s sovereignty, Walid al-Muallem said during a visit with the head of the United Nations refugee agency, Filippo Grandi.
The comments came a day after the White House said President Donald Trump had agreed in a phone conversation with Saudi King Salman to create safe zones in Syria.
Trump said last week that he would “absolutely do safe zones in Syria” for refugees fleeing crisis in the country.
During his Monday meeting with the UN official, Muallem also called on all Syrians who have left the country during the six-year war to return home, saying the Syrian government would meet all the needs of refugees. The call comes amid increasing criticism about an executive order by Trump, which has banned the entry of all Syrian refugees into the US for an indefinite time.
Millions have been displaced in and outside Syria since the foreign backed militancy began in the country in March 2011. Most of the Syrian refugees have fled their homeland for Europe.