Upper Tribunal 
(Immigration and Asylum Chamber)	

KB (Failed asylum seekers and forced returnees) Syria CG UKUT 00426 (IAC) 

THE IMMIGRATION ACTS

Heard at : Field House	Determination Promulgated	
On : 6th – 7th March 2012 and 7th August 2012		
	…………………………………	

Before

Upper Tribunal Judge Eshun
Upper Tribunal Judge McKee
Upper Tribunal Judge Pitt

Between

secretary of state for the home department
Appellant
and

KB 
Respondent

Representation:

For the Appellant:	Mr Stuart Ouseley of the Specialist Appeals Team
For the Respondent:	Mr Zia Nasim, instructed by Aman Solicitors Advocates

a. 	This country guidance replaces previous guidance in SA & IA (Undocumented Kurds) Syria CG [2009] UKAIT 00006. 

b. 	In the context of the extremely high level of human rights abuses currently occurring in Syria, a regime which appears increasingly concerned to crush any sign of resistance, it is likely that a failed asylum seeker or forced returnee would, in general, on arrival face a real risk of arrest and detention and of serious mistreatment during that detention as a result of imputed political opinion. That is sufficient to qualify for refugee protection. The position might be otherwise in the case of someone who, notwithstanding a failed claim for asylum, would still be perceived on return to Syria as a supporter of the Assad regime.  

DETERMINATION AND REASONS

1.	This appeal was heard by the above named panel on 6 and 7 March 2012.  Upper Tribunal Judge McKee became unavailable as a result of which the hearing on 7 August 2012 was presided over by Upper Tribunal Judges Eshun and Pitt. This is a decision of the two remaining members of the panel, to which both contributed. 

2.	This is an appeal by the Secretary of State against a determination of the First-tier Tribunal (Judge Canavan), allowing an appeal by a Syrian national (of Arab ethnicity and hailing from a village near Tartous) against the decision on 12 April 2010 to remove him as an illegal entrant, consequent on the refusal of his asylum claim.  For convenience, we shall retain the designations ‘appellant’ and ‘respondent’ for the parties as they were before the First-tier Tribunal.  This case has been listed for country guidance on Syria, but before we turn to more general considerations, we shall set out the factual background to the appellant’s own case.

3.	On 17 February 2009 (the same day as he is said to have arrived in the United Kingdom in the back of a lorry), the appellant was arrested by the police in Kent and taken to Bexleyheath Police Station.  He initially claimed to be a Palestinian, but a search on ‘livescan’ revealed that he was a Syrian who, on 29 November 2007, had been refused a visit visa by the British Embassy in Beirut.  An immigration officer now attended the police station, and in a taped interview the appellant explained that he had pretended to be Palestinian so that his real immigration history would not be known.  He now admitted that he had left Syria the previous month and had travelled through many countries before reaching Italy.  From there he went by train to Belgium, where he concealed himself in the lorry which brought him to this country.  His reason for coming here was to work and thereby support his family in Syria, who were very poor.

4.	Bio-Data Information signed by the appellant the next day included the information that he had been employed as a car electrician in Arab Alshatea, near Tartous, from 2004 to 2009.  On 24 February 2009 an application form for an Emergency Travel Document was filled in by an immigration officer, but the proposed removal never took place, and a year later, on 1 March 2010, the appellant claimed asylum.  At a Screening Interview the same day he said that he had crossed the border between Syria and the Lebanon on 12 July 2007 and had stayed there with cousins until 22 January 2009, when he was smuggled onto a ship.  The ship brought him to an unknown country, where he stayed for a month before being put on the lorry which took him to this country on 18 February 2009.  He had no documents with him at the time, but he was able subsequently to produce his Syrian passport.  His uncle had paid approximately 2,000-3,000 Euros to an agent, in order for him to come here.

5.	The appellant now said that he had gone to the Lebanon to avoid being arrested when the police broke up a demonstration which he had attended.  He wanted to demonstrate for a change of regime because a lot of his relatives had been arrested, although he himself was not involved with any political party while in Syria.

6.	On 11 March 2010 the appellant had his Asylum Interview, in which he said that 15 of his friends were arrested on 1 December 2007, and that he himself fled to the Lebanon just in time, before the security forces came to his house on 7 December 2007 with an arrest warrant.  The appellant had become incensed with the regime after completing his military service in 2007, because two of his relatives had been arrested.  One was never released, while the other had lost his mind by the time he was released.  During his stay in the Lebanon the appellant got involved in political activities, until that country also became too risky for him.  The Syrian passport, issued on 18 July 2007, which the appellant brought to the interview, had been stamped by the British Embassy in Beirut on 5 November 2007, and the stamp had been subsequently crossed through to show that the visa application had been rejected.  The appellant acknowledged that he had gone to the Lebanon to make the application.  It was easy to get there from Arab Shatie (a village in Lebanon) without any ID at all, as it was close to the border and one just had to cross over a small river.

7.	At the appeal hearing on 14 June 2010 the appellant added that the security forces had been back to the family home several times, looking for him, and that three of his brothers had been arrested on different occasions and detained for one or two days, to intimidate them.  But Judge Canavan was “unable to accept that the authorities came to know about his political activities and approached his family in the way that he says.”  Indeed, she made an overall negative credibility finding:

“In the absence of any further evidence to support his claim I find that serious doubts are raised about the credibility of the core aspects of the appellant’s account.  His account of his political activities has been vague and his actions in obtaining a passport and applying for entry clearance do not indicate that he was of any interest to the authorities at the time.  His subsequent actions in returning to Syria and then travelling back to Lebanon, and his behaviour on arrival in the UK, are not consistent with someone who has a well-founded fear of persecution.  His account of the authorities showing interest in his family after he left the country has been confused and contradictory and I found his evidence on this issue to be unclear and unreliable.  I conclude that, in the absence of any further evidence, I am unable to accept the core aspects of the appellant’s account even on the low standard of proof.  The appellant has failed to establish the overall credibility of his account.  His actions show that his main motivation for coming to the UK appears to have been to learn English and find work.”

8.	Judge Canavan nevertheless allowed the appeal.  She consulted the most recent country guidance in SA & IA (Undocumented Kurds) Syria CG [2009] UKAIT 6, focusing upon paragraphs 6 and 7 of the italicised head-note :

“6.	There is no real risk that leaving Syria illegally would, in the absence of additional aggravating factors, result in ill-treatment on return amounting to persecution or a breach of human rights.
7. 	A failed asylum seeker will not be perceived as being an opponent of the regime simply by reason of having claimed asylum abroad and will not as such be at real risk of persecutory ill-treatment on return.”

9.	These two conclusions had, the judge thought, been overtaken by the deteriorating situation in Syria since the country guidance case was heard in November 2008, albeit the evidence for that was slight.  Indeed, the only evidence before her was a change in the wording between the US State Department Report for the year 2007 and that for the year 2009.  The former said that the Syrian government “routinely arrested dissidents who tried to return to the country after years or even decades in exile”, whereas the latter said that the government “routinely arrested dissidents and former citizens with no known political affiliation who tried to return to the country after years or even decades in exile.”  The Report for 2009 also mentioned numerous reports by human rights organisations of the security forces arresting people who were not apparently involved in political activities.  The phrases “numerous reports” and “routine arrests” indicated to Judge Canavan that such incidents were now likely to be sufficiently regular and systematic to create at least a ‘serious possibility’ or a ‘reasonable degree of likelihood’ of ill-treatment on return, even to a person with no known political profile. 

10.	Permission to appeal to the Upper Tribunal was sought by the Secretary of State, on the basis that the phrases “numerous reports” and “routine arrests” were in themselves insufficiently precise to found a departure from the current country guidance.  Granting permission on 22 July 2010, Upper Tribunal Judge McKee observed that the phrase “former citizens with no known political affiliation” appeared to mean people who had renounced or otherwise lost their Syrian citizenship, which was not the case with this appellant.  This observation was developed by Mr Blundell, a Senior Presenting Officer, when the matter came before Upper Tribunal Judge Moulden on 11 November 2010. Judge Moulden found that there had indeed been an error of law such that the decision of the First-tier Tribunal had to be set aside, in that the country evidence before the First-tier Tribunal was not of sufficient weight to justify departing from the most recent country guidance case.  Upper Tribunal Judge Moulden’s decision is in the first appendix to this decision.  Paragraph 20 of the decision indicated that Judge Canavan’s findings on credibility and fact were preserved. 

11.	The appellant, who had previously been unrepresented, subsequently instructed Sheikh & Co., but that firm ceased practice and Aman Solicitors stepped in at short notice to fill the breach.  The appeal was adjourned for a further hearing, limited to the issue of whether the appellant would be at risk on return, in the light of Judge Canavan’s findings of credibility and fact.  The new solicitors needed time to prepare, and wished to obtain an expert report.  In May 2011 it was adumbrated at a Case Management Review Hearing that the case might be suitable for country guidance, and although at another Case Management Review Hearing in October Mr Ouseley argued that the time was not right for a country guidance case, the designation has been maintained.  Prior to the substantive hearing in March 2012, Mr Ouseley repeated his view that the appeal should not be set down for country guidance, owing to the volatility of the situation in Syria, but it seems to us that, whatever its ultimate fate, the Assad regime could remain in power for a very long time.  There has been no country guidance on Syria since the current unrest began in March 2011, and there is a clear need for an update on whether the guidance in SA & IA is still to be followed.

12.	In preparation for this hearing, the appellant signed a Witness Statement on 24 February 2012 in which he says that on five occasions, between July 2011 and 18 February 2012, he attended demonstrations outside the Syrian Embassy in London, and that he attended another one in Trafalgar Square.  He has no photographs of himself at these demonstrations.  Meanwhile two of the appellant’s brothers in Syria were, he says, arrested at a demonstration, and were detained for two months, suffering regular ill-treatment.  The authorities have twice searched the appellant’s family home, looking for evidence.

13.	Since signing the Witness Statement the appellant states that he has attended another demonstration outside the Syrian Embassy, and has put together a set of eleven photographs, showing him among a crowd of protestors at this demonstration.  At the hearing on 6 March the appellant gave live evidence, adopting his Witness Statement, and told Mr Ouseley that he had now been to a total of eight demonstrations, the most recent being on 3 March and the first approximately six months previously.  He told Mr Nasim that a relative in the Lebanon had sent his Syrian passport to him about six months after he had arrived in this country.  He did not use the passport in order to travel, lest it be realised that he was a national of Syria.

14.	We pause at this juncture to emphasize that the appeal before us has proceeded on the basis that the negative credibility findings of the First-tier Tribunal, set out in [7] above, are to stand. Indeed, we regard those findings as amply justified.  It is telling that the appellant did not want the authorities in the country of refuge to know that he was from Syria.  He tried to pass himself off as a Palestinian and failed to claim asylum for over a year after being served with illegal entry papers.  Judge Canavan did not believe that the appellant had been in any trouble with the Syrian authorities, or that his parents and siblings had been harassed on account of his activities.  We think it no more likely to be true that his brothers have been detained and ill-treated more recently for taking part in demonstrations, and that his parents have been harassed on that account.  Nor do we accept that the appellant has been to as many demonstrations in London as he claims.  In his Witness Statement he says that the first of these took place in July 2011, but at the hearing on 6 March 2012 he told us that it was six months ago, counting back from March 2012.  There is no corroboration from anyone else that the appellant has been to more demonstrations than the one on 3 March 2012, no letter from an opposition group or even from a friend or fellow-Syrian.  It is trite that asylum seekers may not be able to provide corroboration of a genuine claim, but when corroborating evidence should be easy to obtain, its absence may well affect credibility.

Country Guidance Question

15.	Aman Solicitors Advocates have provided us with several lever-arch files with material about the unrest which has beset Syria since March 2011 and its brutal suppression by the Ba’athist regime.  Most of this is not central to our deliberations but it does provide important background.  The violence that has occurred will be familiar to anyone who follows the news.  An Amnesty International report published on 14 March 2012 gives graphic details of the torture methods practised in detention centres over the past year.  There can be no doubt that opposition activists, or those perceived to be such, who fall into the hands of the regime, are at real risk of serious ill-treatment.  So much is acknowledged in paragraphs 59 and 60 and the second paragraph of the head-note to SA & IA: “a person with an actual or perceived profile of being anti-regime would be at real risk of persecution on return to Syria.”

16.	We are concerned, rather, with paragraphs 75 to 89 of  SA & IA on risks for failed asylum seekers, summarised in paragraph 7 of the head-note as follows: 

“7. 	A failed asylum seeker will not be perceived as being an opponent of the regime simply by reason of having claimed asylum abroad and will not as such be at real risk of persecutory ill-treatment on return.”

17.	The question for us is whether the findings in SA & IA on risk to failed asylum seekers remain valid as country guidance, or whether they have been overtaken by current events in Syria.  We heard oral evidence on this from the well-known expert on Syria, Dr Alan George, who also provided two written reports – one dated 1 March 2012 (superseding an earlier one of 4 March 2011) and an addendum report dated 13 March 2012, sent to us after the hearing.  Amnesty International also put in a report specifically on behalf of the appellant, dated 28 February 2012.  For his part, Mr Ouseley relied principally on the Country of Origin Information Report issued in September 2010 (which of course pre-dates the current unrest) and Operational Guidance Notes issued on 10 November 2011 and July 2012 (which are largely concerned with the current unrest) and he was also able to provide a document dated 16 August 2012 setting out the process followed by the respondent when obtaining travel documents for Syrian nationals. Apart from oral submissions, we have also benefited greatly from Mr Nasim’s skeleton argument and written submissions, filed at our request after the hearing.  Mr Ouseley’s post-hearing written submissions called forth a Reply from Mr Nasim. We were also provided with written submissions dated 1 July 2012 and 15 August 2012 from the appellant’s solicitors and a short submission from Ms Athi for the respondent dated 16 August 2012. We have taken all of these into account in reaching the conclusions which we set out below.

Failed Asylum Seekers 

18.	An Interim Operational Instruction of the UK Border Agency, dated 6 January 2012, defers all escorted removals to Syria for the time being.  Removals have also been suspended from several other European countries, as recommended by the UNHCR, while Mr Nasim has drawn to our attention the praise given by the US Committee for Refugees and Migrants to the Homeland Security Secretary on 26 March 2012 having been praised for granting ‘temporary protected status’ to all Syrians currently in the United States.  None of this demonstrates on its own, however, that Syrian asylum seekers in the United Kingdom must be granted refugee status.  As the Zimbabwe litigation shows, enforced removals can be suspended for a very long time, even where real risk on return is not established.    

19.	Whether, therefore, failed asylum seekers face a real risk of persecution or serious harm or ill treatment contrary to Article 3 is a matter to be considered on the available evidence.  Despite the fact that there appear to have been no forced returns to Syria for some time, there was, nevertheless, opinion on this issue in a number of documents before us.  Firstly, we had the reports and oral evidence of Dr George as regards which we took an entirely similar view to that of the Tribunal in SA & IA at paragraph 47 where it stated:    
			
“We would observe at this stage that we found Dr George to be well informed about Syrian affairs and his evidence to us was thoughtful, detailed and helpful. We were impressed by the way in which in his oral evidence he was careful to avoid exceeding his brief as an expert witness; to indicate clearly when he did not know the answers to questions; and to indicate where there was in his view a grey area. We also have the benefit of having several written reports from him as well as his oral evidence, which taken together have given us the opportunity to see the evolution of his thinking in the context of the other objective evidence. Of course we have to reach our own conclusions on the evidence as a whole and in line with the law but we have given serious weight to his evidence.”

20.	Dr George’s evidence to the Tribunal in SA & IA maintained that the appellant would face mistreatment on return merely because he was a forced returnee.  It was also Dr George’s firm view that any Syrian who has claimed asylum abroad will be perceived as an oppositionist, which is quite sufficient cause for him to be detained and maltreated on return.   However the Tribunal at paragraph 89 of SA & IA did not find it would agree on this issue.  Does the more recent evidence suggest a different conclusion?

21.	In his report of 1 March 2012, Dr George confirms that nearly all those who have been arrested and maltreated after being forcibly returned to Syria have had a political profile, as known or suspected members of the Muslim Brotherhood, Kurdish separatists, etc.  According to the April 2007 report by the Danish Refugee Council, and indeed according to what a senior official at the Syrian Embassy in London told Dr George in 2006, the Syrian authorities did not regard everyone who seeks asylum abroad as an opponent of the regime, recognising that some Syrians have economic motives for doing so.  This was also the view of the UNHCR Representative in Damascus, whereas the London-based Syrian Human Rights Committee insisted in 2008 that “any one who applies for asylum and [is] known to the Syrian security services will be arrested, prosecuted and detained for distributing false information about Syria.”  

22.	Until a joint report of the Austrian Centre for Country of Origin & Asylum Research and Documentation, the Austrian Red Cross and the Danish Immigration Service was published in May 2010, the most that could be said, according to Dr George, was that “it would have been imprudent to assert categorically that claiming asylum abroad in and of itself would never cause adverse attention from the Syrian authorities. … Evidently, it was something that did happen, albeit that it did not happen routinely or even often.”  

23.	The Austrian-Danish report of May 2010, however, included this information from a senior researcher with Human Rights Watch (HRW) in Beirut:

“[R]eturned failed asylum seekers are most likely detained upon return to Syria, although not necessarily for a long period of time.  It was added that there was a high likelihood of ill-treatment during their initial detention which can amount to torture if the person is expected to know something of interest to the security service.  What will happen to a returnee depends on what is in the file (if there is one) or on whether the security services believe what the returnee tells.  Usually, the authorities release returnees after making a file on them and probably refer them to an investigative judge.  Upon release persons are very commonly required to report regularly.”

and:

“Regarding the situation for failed asylum seekers, Nadim Houry, HRW, state that every returned failed asylum seeker will automatically be detained and interrogated.”

24.	The example given by the HRW researcher, however, was that of a Kurdish musician who left Syria in the aftermath of an uprising in 2004 and sought asylum in Norway.  He was mistreated on return as a failed asylum seeker but it seems to us that his profile was somewhat different to that of a failed asylum seeker who may have left for purely economic reasons.    

25.	The Austrian-Danish report indicates, however, that the view of the HRW researcher on failed asylum seekers being likely to be detained on return was also held by a number of Western diplomatic sources who remained unnamed.  One ”Western diplomatic source” stated that a failed asylum seeker:   

“would be detained upon return to Syria simply because of the fact that he or she has been abroad.  The person would be subjected to interrogation by the security services.  However, it is unclear how the person would be treated during this detention that in some cases could last for weeks or even longer.”

26.	Another comment from “a Western diplomatic source” was that out of the four Syrian nationals repatriated in recent months, three were detained and then released and one was charged with spreading false information abroad.  We noted that those returns would have been at some point in late 2009 where the Austrian-Danish report was published in May 2010.    

27.	Two Operational Guidance Notes (OGNs), dated November 2011 and July 2012 respectively, were provided by the respondent and referred to by both parties in their submissions. We took a careful approach to the OGNs, taking into account the caveat at the beginning of both documents that they did not purport to be comprehensive and had to be “read in conjunction with the relevant COI Service country of origin information and any other relevant information”. At the time that we reserved our decision there was no relevant Country of Origin Information Report (COIR) on Syria against which to read the OGNs, as the most recent report was that of September 2010 which, obviously, did not comment at all on the uprisings of 2011 and ensuing events.  However, we were provided with the full versions of all the sources relied on in the OGNs and have set out our views above on what we considered to be the relevant parts. We also noted that the Syria COIR dated 15 August 2012, issued after we reserved our decision, relied on the same sources and did not dissent from anything set out in the OGNs, for example, confirming that the Austrian-Danish report contained evidence of “a number of sources [which] agreed that failed asylum seekers and persons who had left Syria illegally would generally face detention and investigation upon return”. Given that we approached them in that context, we found it appropriate to have regard to the respondent’s guidance to her caseworkers as set out in the OGNs.

28.	The November 2011 OGN concludes the section on “Returning failed asylum seekers” thus:

“3.9.7 Conclusion: The Syrian authorities have become increasingly repressive in recent years, and there are numerous reports indicating that some returnees, including failed asylum seekers, may be at risk of ill-treatment on return to Syria.  The available evidence suggests that returnees of Kurdish ethnicity and those whose opposition to the government is known or suspected by the security services would be at particular risk. Given the growing civil unrest and increasingly volatile conditions, it is possible that returnees would be viewed with suspicion by the authorities and credible reports of the surveillance of Syrian activists and demonstrators in the UK are likely to increase this risk. (our emphasis)”

29.	The OGN of July 2012 refers at 3.11.4 to reports that failed asylum seekers were likely to be detained on return, “simply because they had been abroad.” Relying on the US State Department Report for 2011 and a further Human Rights Watch report dated 3 July 2012, the July 2012 OGN states at 3.11.5: 

“Since the outbreak of violent civil disorder, the Syrian authorities have become progressively more brutal in their treatment of individuals perceived to be opposed to the Assad regime. Following the lifting of the Emergency Law in April 2011, security forces continued their previous practices and have carried out larger numbers of arbitrary arrests.  As levels of violent repression of political protest have intensified, anyone perceived to be critical of, or hostile to, the Syrian authorities is likely to face arbitrary arrest and extreme ill-treatment in detention (our emphasis).”
 		
	and at 3.11.8:

“Careful consideration should be given to the particular circumstances of the individual, including the reasons for having left Syria, any previous activities within the military or security services, any political profile, or any evidence of having taken part in demonstrations or other expressions of opposition to the regime, including any such activity in the UK. The intention and the ability of the Syrian authorities to monitor all expressions of opposition should not be underestimated.  Even where there has been no previous expression of anti-regime views, a grant of asylum will be appropriate if there is a real risk of the individual being perceived as having opposition sympathies (our emphasis).”

30.	It appears to us that the respondent’s position in the OGNs (also reflected in the sources set out in the COIR dated 15 August 2012) was consistent with that of Dr George and Human Rights Watch as to the increased likelihood of a failed asylum seeker being imputed with opposition sympathies or views on return to Syria. 

31.	It is also our view that the developments in the evidence on failed asylum seekers are entirely consistent with the wider and undisputed country evidence on the very marked increase in abuses in Syria from the spring of 2011 onwards.  For example, a comparison of the 2010 US State Department report on Human Rights, already dispiriting enough, with that of 2011, makes for profoundly depressing reading.  The 2011 report sets out the willingness of the regime to use “indiscriminate” and “deadly force against its citizens” with “victims chosen at random and many of them … not associated with the protests” and “the substantial increase in the use of torture” and states that there “were a significant number of exceptionally brutal cases of abuse of children by the regime during the year.” Prison conditions were “[h]arsh and life-threatening”. 
	
32.	How would a failed asylum seeker or forced returnee being returned now fare in that context?  Having surveyed the more recent evidence provided by Dr George, the information contained in the joint Austrian-Danish report and the indication that it was the respondent’s position that it was “possible that returnees would be viewed with suspicion” and “that even failed asylum seekers may be at risk of ill-treatment” we find that we have to take a different view to that expressed in paragraphs 75 to 89 of SA & IA. We accept that in the context of the extremely high level of human rights abuses currently occurring in Syria, a regime which appears increasingly concerned to crush any sign of resistance, it is likely that a failed asylum seeker or forced returnee would, in general, on arrival face a real risk of arrest and detention and of serious mistreatment during that detention as a result of imputed political opinion. That is sufficient to qualify for refugee protection. The position might be otherwise in the case of someone who, notwithstanding a failed claim for asylum, would still be perceived on return to Syria as a supporter of the Assad regime.  

33.	Where a failed asylum seeker would, in general, be at risk on return, the conclusion at paragraph 89 of SA & IA is longer valid.  

34.	Since we have found the appellant to be eligible for refugee protection, he cannot succeed in his claim for a grant of subsidiary protection under Article 15(c) of the Qualification Directive 2004/83/EC, implemented as humanitarian protection under paragraph 339C of our Immigration Rules. Where that is so and given that the country evidence continues to show the violence moving to different but limited areas of the country on an unpredictable course, we say nothing more on this ground. 

Conclusion

35.	The appellant’s appeal is allowed because of what we say at paragraph 32.  We are conscious that the usefulness of this country guidance may prove highly contingent and possibly very short-lived. The increasing levels of violence across different areas of Syria may provoke the much debated outside intervention or it may be, as we commented at the outset of this determination that the Assad regime will cling on to power for a long time yet.

Anonymity

36.	We make an anonymity order pursuant to rule 14 (1) (b) of the Tribunal Procedure (Upper Tribunal) Rules 2008.

DECISION

37.	The decision of the First-tier Tribunal disclosed an error on a point of law and is set aside.

38.	We re-make the decision by allowing KB’s appeal on Refugee Convention grounds and on Article 3 grounds.  He is not entitled to a grant of Humanitarian Protection.

Signed: 											Date: 21 December 2012

Upper Tribunal Judge Eshun

APPENDIX 1

ERROR OF LAW DECISION DATED 12 NOVEMBER 2010

APPELLANT:	SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT

RESPONDENT: 	KB

CASE NO:		AA/05466/2010

DATE OF INITIAL HEARING IN UPPER TRIBUNAL: 11 November 2010

Representation:

For the Appellant: Mr M Blundell a Senior Home Office Presenting Officer 
For the Respondent: Miss K Grant of Counsel instructed by Aman Solicitors

REASONS FOR FINDING THAT TRIBUNAL MADE AN ERROR OF LAW, SUCH THAT ITS DECISION FALLS TO BE SET ASIDE

1.	The appellant is the Secretary of State for the Home Department. The respondent is a citizen of Syria who was born on 10 December 1986. The appellant has been given permission to appeal the determination of Immigration Judge Canavan allowing the respondent's appeal against the appellant's decision of 12 April 2010 to give directions for the respondent's removal from the United Kingdom following the refusal of asylum.

2.	The respondent claimed to have entered the UK illegally in the back of a lorry on 17 February 2009. He was arrested the same day and claimed asylum on 1 March 2010. He had made an earlier unsuccessful application for entry clearance in Beirut on 29 November 2007.

3.	The respondent claimed that he carried out his military service between 2005 and 2007 and during that time he met some young men who wanted to agitate against the government. When he finished his military service he claimed to have become involved with a group who were printing and distributing opposition leaflets. He claimed to have distributed leaflets and to be an opponent of the governing regime. He said that members of his family had been arrested in the past. He claimed that the security forces arrested members of his group and, fearing arrest and torture, he fled the country to Lebanon. He remained in Lebanon for about 10 days before returning to Syria to await the outcome of his visa application, which was refused. He said that he then learnt that further members of his group had been arrested. He left the country with others, illegally, and travelled to Lebanon. He claimed that after he left Syria the security forces came to his family home with an arrest warrant. They had returned at intervals since then. He claimed that three of his brothers had been arrested. He also claimed that two of his friends were arrested in Lebanon and sent back to Syria. He left Lebanon in January 2009, spent about a month in an unknown European country and then travelled to the UK.

4.	Neither the appellant nor the respondent was represented before the judge. The respondent attended and gave evidence. The judge found that he was not a credible witness. She did not believe the core aspects of his account. She concluded that his main motivation for coming to the UK was to learn English and find work. The respondent has not sought to challenge these conclusions.

5.	The judge made reference to the country guidance case relating to Syria, SA and IA (Undocumented Kurds) Syria CG [2009] UKAIT 00006 which indicated that a failed asylum seeker returning from the UK would not be at risk of persecution absent further aggravating factors. She made reference to the COIR report dated 6 February 2009 and the US State Department Report dated 11 March 2010. In the light of the latter report she concluded that the situation in Syria had deteriorated and that the appellant would be at risk of persecution on return. She allowed the appeal on asylum and Article 3 human rights grounds.

6.	The appellant argues that the judge should have followed the country guidance case of SA and IA and there was no evidence of sufficient weight or clarity to depart from this. 

7.	Mr Blundell submitted that the background to the judge's decision was the finding that the respondent was not a credible witness. His account of events was not believed and if he was return to Syria it would be as nothing more than a returning failed asylum seeker. The judge properly took the country guidance cases as her starting point and he made no criticism of the fact that in the difficult circumstances where neither party was represented she made reference to the used country guidance material contained in the COIR report and the US Department of State Report. She seized on passages which she summarised in paragraph 40 of the determination. He emphasised that the key passage from the March 2010 US State Department Report on which her decision turned stated that the Syrian government "routinely arrested dissidents and former citizens with no known political affiliation who tried to return to the country after years or even decades in exile". The respondent was not a "former citizen". There was no evidence to indicate that he had lost or was being deprived of his Syrian citizenship. Mr Blundell referred me to a number of passages in the country guidance case, in particular between paragraphs 139 and 142. He accepted that at that time the evidence pointed in two directions. The expert witnesses did not agree but UNHCR were of the view that returning failed asylum seekers would not be at risk.

8.	Mr Blundell argued that the factors relied on by the judge did not support her decision to depart from country guidance authority. The evidence was not clear. The respondent was not a Kurd, not stateless and not a dissident. The other passages referred to by the judge did not indicate any change from the position assessed by the panel in SA and IA. I was asked to find that there was an error of law, to remake the decision and to dismiss the appeal.

9.	Miss Grant asked me to uphold the determination. She argued that the judge was correct in reaching her findings. The US Department of State report was up-to-date and persuasive. The judge did not put too much weight on it. The passage on page 78 supported her conclusion.

10.	Miss Grant submitted that the judge had found that the respondent took part in some politically related activities in Lebanon after he left Syria. I asked her to point me to any passage in the determination which supported this submission. She referred me to paragraph 37 but this contains a broad adverse credibility finding and I can find nothing which supports her contention.

11.	Miss Grant then drew my attention to what she said were the panel's conclusions in SA and IA at page 103 paragraph 4 and page 116 paragraph 2 (these being the page numbers in the respondent's bundle). Mr Blundell objected. I agreed with him that the passages to which Miss Grant referred were not the conclusions of the panel but a record of submissions made to them. Miss Grant argued that the respondent would be at risk on return because he left Syria illegally. She submitted that there was no error of law and the determination should be upheld.

12.	In his reply Mr Blundell pointed out that the respondent had claimed to have taken part in politically related activities in Lebanon. This was addressed in the refusal letter at paragraph 62 but the respondent's claims were rejected by the appellant and the judge. Paragraph 4 of the head note in SA and IA did not assist the respondent. It had not been accepted that he had taken part in any anti-regime activities.

13.	Miss Grant submitted that if I did find an error of law then the respondent, who was unrepresented at the hearing before the judge, should be given the opportunity to submit expert evidence in relation to his contention that the situation for returning failed asylum seekers had deteriorated since SA and IA. I reserved my determination.

14.	The head note to SA and IA, written by the authors of the determination states, in paragraph 6 and 7;

"6. There is no real risk that leaving Syria illegally would, in the absence of additional aggravating factors, result in ill-treatment on return amounting to persecution or a breach of human rights.

7. A failed asylum seeker will not be perceived as being an opponent of the regime simply by reason of having claimed asylum abroad and will not as such be at real risk of persecutory ill-treatment on return."

15.	In paragraph 44 of her determination the judge said;

"44. The only evidence before me that seems different to the evidence in November 2008 is a slight, but perhaps significant, change to the wording of the US State Department report relating to the risk to returnees. The US State Department report for 2007 quoted the COIR report (paragraph 14.05) stating that the government "routinely arrested dissidents who tried to return to the country after years or even decades in exile". The tribunal accepted that those with a known or suspected political profile against the regime would be at risk on return. However, in light of a further deterioration in the human rights situation the most recent US State Department report issued in March 2010 now states that the government "routinely arrests dissidents and former citizens with no known political affiliation who tried to return to the country after years or even decades in exile". The judge emphasised the words underlined.

16.	The judge went on to say, in paragraph 45;

"45. Because the appellant has been unable to find a legal representative to take on his case, and doesn't have a realistic prospect of doing so, the case hasn't been prepared in as full a way as I might have expected if he were represented. It would of course assist me to have an expert opinion from someone of the calibre of Dr George, who gave evidence to the tribunal in SA and IA (Syria), and/or to have a broader range of background evidence to assess the risk on return. Unfortunately I don't have such evidence before me so I have to make my assessment based on the more recent US State Department report."

17.	I find that the judge was right to say that the difference between the evidence before her and the evidence before the Tribunal in SA and IA was slight. I do not accept that, on close examination, it was "perhaps significant". A close examination and comparison of the two passages in the US State Department reports for 2007 and 2010 shows that the only change was the addition of the words which I have underlined in the following passage "routinely arrested dissidents and former citizens with no known political affiliation who tried to return to the country after years or even decades in exile". Whilst it can be said that the respondent is a man with no known political affiliation he is not a former citizen of Syria. There is no indication that he is not now a citizen of Syria. I cannot find and it has not been suggested that there was any evidence to help establish what "former citizen" may mean. In the absence of such explanation the judge neglected to address the obvious meaning which would have excluded the respondent from this category. The judge did not find, as Miss Grant suggested, that the respondent left Syria illegally.

18.	I find that the judge reached a conclusion which was not open to her on the evidence and that there was no evidence of sufficient weight to justify departing from a recent country guidance case.

19.	However, in considering whether to re-determine the appeal without an adjournment I have taken into account the fact that the respondent was unrepresented at the hearing before the judge. The judge had no assistance by way of representation for the appellant and she had no expert evidence or country material put before her by the parties. She properly relied on well-established country material. The respondent is now represented and Miss Grant asked that he be given the opportunity to obtain expert evidence, perhaps on the lines referred to by the judge in paragraph 45 of her determination mentioned above.

20.	I therefore adjourn for a further hearing limited to the issue of whether the appellant would be at risk on return to Syria in the light of the judge's findings of credibility and fact.

Signed:
Upper Tribunal Judge Moulden 		Dated 12 November 2010

APPENDIX 2

DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE BEFORE THE UPPER TRIBUNAL

	
Item
	Document	Date	
United Kingdom Border Agency 	
	1	Country of Origin Information Service Report on the Syrian Arab Republic  	3 September 2010	
	2	Operational Guidance Note on Syria 	10 November 2011	
	3	Interim Operational Guidance Instruction  	6 January 2012 	
	4	Operational Guidance Note on Syria 	July 2012	
United States Department of State	
	5	2010 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices:  Syria		7 April 2011	
	6	Human rights in Syria	11 July 2011	
	7	US policy on Syria	9 November 2011	
	8	Regime violence in Syria 	27 December 2011	
	9	Syria:  the crisis and its implications	1 March 2012	
	10	2011 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices:  Syria	24 May 2012	
	11	Country Reports of Terrorism 2011:  Syria	31 July 2012	
United Kingdom Foreign and Commonwealth Office 	
	12	Country Profile:  Syria 	7 September 2010	
	13	Human rights in countries of Concern:  Quarterly Update on Syria, March 2011	30 March 2011	
	14	Human rights and democracy:  the 2010 Foreign and  Commonwealth  Office Report (Syria excerpt)        	30 March 2011	
	15	UK statement on human rights in Syria	28 April 2011	
	16	Foreign Office urges British nationals to leave Syria immediately  	19 June 2011 	
	17	Human rights in Countries of Concern: Quarterly Update on Syria, June 2011 	29 June 2011	
	18	Minister for the Middle East appalled by ongoing violence in Syria		27 September 2011	
	19	The truth is what big brother says it is 	27 September 2011	
	20	Human rights in Countries of Concern: Quarterly Update on Syria, September 2011	29 September 2011	
	21	Syria human rights abuses	6 October 2011	
	22	Foreign Secretary appalled at continuing deaths in Syria	8 November 2011 	
	23	Foreign Secretary welcomes unprecedented Arab League sanctions on Syria 	27 November 2011 	
	24	Foreign Office Minister comments on report detailing horrific human rights violations in Syria	28 November 2011	
	25	 Human rights in Countries of Concern: Quarterly Update on Syria, October to December 2011	16 January 2012	
	26	Foreign Secretary condemns brutal violence in Syria	4 February 2012	
	27	Syria:  ‘An utterly unacceptable situation which demands a united international response’		6 February 2012	
	28	Why you shouldn’t question what you know is true	9 February 2012	
	29	Travel advice 	17 February 2012	
	30	Foreign Secretary:  ‘We have to intensify the pressure’ on Syria	24 February 2012	
	31	Syria: ‘This is clearly a criminal regime	24 February 2012	
	32	Syria Travel Advice	1 March 2012 		
	33	British diplomatic staff in Syria withdrawn	1 March 2012	
	34	Travel Advice on Syria		14 May 2012	
	35	Foreign Secretary announces expulsion of Syrian diplomats		29 May 2012	
	36	Human rights in countries of concern:  quarterly update on Syria, April to June 2012	30 June 2012	
	37	Foreign Secretary updates Parliament on Syria	4 July 2012	
	38	Foreign Secretary condemns ‘shocking and appalling’ new Syrian massacre	13 July 2012	
	39	Travel Advice on Syria	20 July 2012	
Human Rights Watch  	
	40	Syria:  government crackdown leads to protestor deaths	20 March 2011	
	41	Syria:  security forces kill dozens of protestors 	24 March 2011	
	42	Syria:  security forces fire on protestors  	27 March 2011	
	43	Syria:  stop shooting protestors	5 April 2011	
	44	Syria:  rampant torture of protestors 	14 April 2011	
	45	UN:  rights body should investigate Syrian crackdown  	29 April 2011	
	46	Syria:  targeted arrests of activists across country 	14 May 2011		
	47	‘We’ve never seen such horror’:  crimes against humanity by Syrian forces	31 May 2011	
	48	UN Security Council:  demand end to Syria crackdown		9 June 2011	
	49	Syria:  rising toll in Homs 	1 July 2011	
	50	Syria:  shootings, arrests follow Hama protest 	5 July 2011	
	51	Syria:  defectors describe orders to shoot unarmed protestors	8 July 2011	
	52	Syria:  mass arrest campaign intensifies	19 July 2011	
	53	UN:  Syria escalates repression after Security Council statement	8 August 2011	
	54	Syria:  security forces remove wounded from hospital 	7 September 2011	
	55	Syria:  investigate possible state role in decapitating woman			26 September 2011	
	56	‘We live as in war’:  crackdown on protestors in the Governorate of Homs 	11 November 2011	
	57	Syria:  shoot to kill commanders named	15 December 2011	
	58	‘By all means necessary!’:  individual and command responsibility for crimes against humanity in Syria  	15 December 2011 	
	59	Syria:  detainees hidden from international monitors 	27 December 2011	
	60	Syria:  comply with agreement 	6 January 2012		
	61	Syria:  army shoots protestors attempting to reach observers 	11 January 2012	
	62	World Report 2012:  Syria 	22 January 2012	
	63	Syria:  stop torture of children 	3 February 2012	
	64	UN:  Russia, China vetoes betray Syrian people 	4 February 2012	
	65	Syria:  stop shelling of residential areas 	9 February 2012 	
	66	‘Friends of Syria’:  push to end indiscriminate shelling 	24 February 2012	
	67	Syria:  army planting banned landmines	13 March 2012	
	68	In cold blood:  summary executions by Syrian security forces and pro-government militias	9 April 2012	
	69	They burned my heart:  war crimes in Northern Idlib during peace plan negotiations	2 May 2012	
	70	Syria:  sexual assault in detention	15 June 2012	
	71	Syria:  end indiscriminate shootings of civilians fleeing country	27 June 2012	
	72	Torture archipelago:  arbitrary arrests, torture and enforced disappearances in Syria’s underground prisons since March 2011	3 July 2012 		
	73	Syria:  inmate describes fatal assault on prisoners	27 July 2012	
Amnesty International 	
	74	Arrests as Syria cracks down on prisoner protests 	16 March 2011	
	75	Syrian death toll climbs as protests spread	25 March 2011	
	76	Syria:  further information:  protestors released but many still at risk	29 March 2011	
	77	Call for United Nations Human rights Council Special  Session on Human  Rights Situation in the Syrian Arab Republic:  Joint NGO letter	5 April 2011	
	78	Syrians tell of torture in detention amid mass arrests	2 May 2011	
	79	Syrian death toll rises as city is placed under siege	8 May 2011	
	80	Annual report 2011:  Syria	12 May 2011		
	81	UN urged to act following deadly weekend in Syria	5 June 2011	
	82	Crackdown in Syria:  terror in Tell Kalakh	5 July 2011	
	83	Syria:  torture fear as dozens arrested in Damascus suburb	17 July 2011	
	84	Young Syrian activists held amid widespread repression	14 August 2011	
	85	Deadly detention:  deaths in custody amid popular protest in Syria	30 August 2011	
	86	Fears grow for Syrian activists as deaths in custody increase		12 September 2011	
	87	New evidence of Syria brutality emerges as woman’s mutilated body is found 	22 September 2011	
	88	Syrian men detained incommunicado	25 September 2011	
	89	Arrests and death threats silence Syrian activists 	26 September 2011	
	90	The long reach of the Mukhabaraat:  violence and harassment against Syrians abroad and their relatives back home	2 October 2011 		
	91	Syria:  campaign to silence protestors overseas revealed 	3 October 2011	
	92	Assassination of Syrian Kurdish leader a ‘dangerous escalation’	10 October 2011	
	93	Syria imposes death penalty for arming ‘terrorists’ as death toll soars		22 December 2011	
	94	Arab League should clarify human rights situation in Syria 	6 January 2012	
	95	Year of rebellion:  the state of human rights in the Middle East and North Africa (Syria excerpt) 	9 January 2012	
	96	Syria:  abducted Syrian activist at risk of torture:  Georges Moubayed	19 January 2012	
	97	Arab League findings on Syria build pressure for UN action 	23 January 2012	
	98	Syria:  brutal assault on Homs must end 	8 February 2012		
	99	Syria:  death toll rise as bombardment of civilian areas escalates in Homs	15 February 2012	
	100	Syria:  fears for activists arrested in Damascus raid 	16 February 2012	
	101	Syria:  humanitarian access urged in Homs	24 February 2012	
	102	‘I wanted to die’:  Syria’s torture survivors speak out 	March 2012 		
	103	Syria:  repression continues despite Annan plan hopes	3 April 2012	
	104	Syria:  deported Palestinian journalist speaks out about torture in custody	17 May 2012	
	105	Amnesty International Report	24 May 2012	
	106	Deadly reprisals:  deliberate killings and other abuses by Syria’s armed forces	June 2012	
	107	Syria:  detained medics tortured and killed amid Aleppo crackdown	26 June 2012	
	108	Friends of Syria must use their influence to stop cycle of repression and violence	5 July 2012	
	109	Syria:  Security Council vote will embolden violators	19 July 2012 	
	110	Syria:  disturbing reports of summary killings by government and opposition forces	25 July 2012	
	111	All-out repression: purging dissent in Aleppo, Syria	1 August 2012	
	112	Syria:  from all-out repression to armed conflict in Aleppo	1 August 2012	
United Nations 	
	113	Written statement submitted by Amnesty International (The Syrian Arab Republic:  a situation that demands action by the Human Rights Council)	27 April 2011		
	114	Resolution S-16/1 – the current human rights situation in the Syrian Arab republic in the context of recent events 		28 April 2011		
	115	Report of the special rapporteur on extrajudicial or arbitrary executions:  summary of information, including individual cases transmitted to governments and replies received (Syria excerpt)	26 May 2011	
	116	Preliminary report of the High Commissioner on the situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic	13 June 2011	
	117	Security Council, in statement condemns Syrian authorities for ‘widespread violations of human rights, use of force against civilians’	2 August 2011	
	118	Syria must stop using violent strategies against civilians, now		4 August 2011	
	119	Report of the fact-finding mission on Syria pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution S-16/1 (advance unedited version)			17 August 2011	
	120	Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic	 14 September 2011	
	121	General Assembly Resolution:  situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic 	17 November 2011 	
	122	Report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic	23 November 2011	
	123	Syria:  UN Committee Against Torture concerned about gross 
and widespread rights violations 	25 November 2011	
	124	Syrian forces have committed crimes against humanity – UN rights panel	28 November 2011	
	125	Statement by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay at the Human Rights Council 18th Special Session to examine the situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic	2 December 2011	
	126	Resolution S-18/1:  the human rights situation in the Syrian Arab Republic  	2 December 2011  	
	127	Statement delivered on behalf of all Special Procedures mandate-holders of the United Nations Human Rights Council on the situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic 	2 December 2011	
	128	Statement by Paulo Pinheiro, Chairperson of the Independent 
International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, on the human rights situation in the Syrian Arab Republic	2 December 2011	
	129	Written statement submitted by Amnesty International (No more impunity for crimes against humanity in Syria) 	2 December 2011	
	130	UN rights chief says Syria could plunge into civil war as more soldiers defect 	9 December 2011	
	131	Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review 
of the Syrian Arabic Republic 	24 January 2012	
	132	UNICEF statement on children caught in the bloodshed in Syria		7 February 2012	
	133	UN human rights chief urges action to halt escalating violence in Syria 	8 February 2012 		
	134	Press statement:  SRSG Coomaraswamy calls on Syria to 
immediately halt all violations against children 	9 February 2012	
	135	Top UN human rights official says member states ‘must act now’ to protect Syrian people as violent crackdown continues, in briefing to General Assembly 	13 February 2012	
	136	States must ‘act now’ to protect Syrian population, Pillay tells General Assembly	13 February 2012	
	137	Briefing to General Assembly Navi Pillay, High Commissioner for Human Rights (Syria) 	13 February 2012	
	138	UN adviser warns of potential sectarian split in Syria	14 February 2012	
	139	General Assembly demands Syria halt violence without delay	16 February 2012	
	140	General Assembly adopts resolution strongly condemning ‘widespread and systematic’ human rights violations by Syrian authorities 	16 February 2012	
	141	Syria:  UN experts raise alarm over arbitrary detentions and  likely use of torture	21 February 2012	
	142	Report of the independent international commission of inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights 	22 February 2012	
	143	Ban asks top UN official to visit Syria to assess humanitarian situation	22 February 2012	
	144	Statement by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights	28 February 2012	
	145	Human Rights Council Resolution:  the escalating grave human rights violations and deteriorating humanitarian situation in the Syrian Arab Republic	29 February 2012	
	146	UN Human Rights Council deplores ‘brutal’ actions by Syria against civilians	1 March 2012	
	147	UNHCR position on returns to the Syrian Arab Republic	2 March 2012	
	148	Briefing note on Syria (from the Channel 4 News story showing video footage of torture victims allegedly taken in the Military Hospital in Homs)	6 March 2012	
	149	Report of the Secretary General on children and armed conflict 2011:  Syrian Arab Republic	26 April 2012	
	150	Amid civil war concerns in Syria, envoy describes ongoing violence as unacceptable	8 May 2012	
	151	Syria:  Pillay says El Houleh killings may amount to international crimes	27 May 2012 		
	152	UN rights committee appalled at deliberate targeting of children in Syria	31 May 2012	
	153	Concluding observations of the Committee Against Torture:  Syrian Arab Republic	1 June 2012	
	154	House of Commons debate, Hansard Concluding observations of the Committee Against Torture:  Syrian Arab Republic, 1 June 2012,  	
11 June 2012	
	155	International protection considerations with regards to people fleeing the Syrian Arab Republic	11 June 2012	
	156	UN suspends monitoring activities in Syria amid escalating violence	16 June 2012	
	157	Report of the Secretary-General on the implementation of Security Council resolution 2043 (2012) (July 2012)	6 July 2012	
	158	Attack on Syrian village appears targeted at defectors and activists – UN mission	15 July 2012	
	159	Increase in registered Syrian refugees, new camps planned in Turkey and Jordan	17 July 2012	
	160	Syria:  Ban alarmed by intensifying violence, condemns attack on government building	18 July 2012	
	161	UN refugee chief expresses grave concern over numbers of people displaced by violence in Syria	20 July 2012	
	162	Syria still ‘of utmost concern,’ UN says after sending half of observer force home	25 July 2012	
	163	Pillay warns of consequences under international law as Syria conflict escalates	27 July 2012	
	164	Numbers of Syrian displaced rises as violence continues unabated	31 July 2012	
	165	Press conference by Kofi Anna, Joint Special Envoy for Syria	2 August 2012	
	166	Syria:  amid increase in violence, UN peacekeeping chief warns of ‘main battle’ in Aleppo	2 August 2012	
Refugee Review Tribunal (Australia) 	
	167	RRT Research Response 	13 October 2008 	
	168	Syria – SYR38180 – opposition – anti-government – detention – torture 	3 February 2011 		
	169	Syria – SYR38462 – failed asylum seekers – returnees – Christians	15 April 2011 	
Institute for War and Peace Reporting 	
	170	Syria’s not-so-secret police 	12 April 2011	
	171	Syrian conflict played out on social media 		13 April 2011	
	172	No going back for Syrian uprising 	28 April 2011	
	173	Syrian refugees describe army violence 	14 June 2011		
	174	Controversy over Syria opposition gathering 				30 June 2011 	
	175	Syrians escaping to Jordan tell of suffering 	4 August 2011	
	176	Arab states desert Syrian leader 	18 August 2011	
	177	Syria activist family targeted		9 September 2011	
	178	Syria conflict – no end in sight	9 September 2011	
	179	Syria’s endemic corruption 	15 September 2011	
	180	Syrian prisoner speaks of torture regime 	10 October 2011	
	181	Inside the Syrian uprising 	14 October 2011		
	182	Too late for Syrian dialogue 	19 October 2011		
	183	Syria:  how far has uprising spread? 	25 October 2011 		
	184	Opposition says Assad won’t honour Arab League	3 November 2011	
	185	Calls for Lebanon to end Syria support 	10 November 2011	
	186	Syrians fear escalation in violence 	15 November 2011	
	187	Syrian opposition activist says NATO must intervene	13 January 2012	
	188	‘Reformer Assad’ myth finally dead 	18 January 2012	
	189	Fears of divisive conflict grow in Syria 	30 January 2012	
European Council on Foreign Relations	
	190	The elusive point of no return: can Syria be saved? 		15 June 2011 	
	191	How not to intervene in Syria		2 December 2011	
	192	Assad’s continued defiance in the face of growing isolation	13 January 2012	
	193	Calling Russia’s bluff on Syria?	2 February 2012	
	194	Time to talk to Assad?	8 February 2012	
	195	Russia’s Syrian dilemma	2 March 2012	
Syrian National Council 	
	196	The Alawi community:  a hostage and a victim of the Assad regime 	11 December 2011 	
	197	Instability in Syria, Anthony Cordesman 	13 December 2011	
	198	Why the Syrian National Council? 	25 December 2011	
	199	The Syrian revolution – no place of refuge 	27 December 2011	
	200	Avec moi, le deluge	2 January 2012	
	201	The SNC is committed to meeting the goals of the revolution 	5 January 2012	
	202	The regime is responsible for the bombings in Damascus 	6 January 2012	
	203	SNC picking up steam 	6 January 2012	
	204	A failed Observers Mission? 	15 January 2012	
	205	The Netherlands confirms to the SNC that it will maintain 
pressure on the Syrian regime 	17 January 2012	
	206	Romanticizing revolutions; the Syrian revolution between 
fantasy, mythology and reality		22 January 2012	
	207	The Arab League needs to get on with it 	26 January 2012	
	208	Wag the dog meets Assad 	3 February 2012	
	209	Massacres continue; SNC demands action 	4 February 2012	
	210	The Russian and Chinese veto gives the Assad regime a license to kill without being held accountable 	5 February 2012	
	211	Hama Rules, 30 years later 	8 February 2012	
	212	SNC says Russia’s credibility badly damaged 	8 February 2012 	
	213	The illusion of an opportunity 	13 February 2012	
	214	Safe area for Libya, Strategic Research and 
Communication Centre	undated	
Miscellaneous Reports	
	215	Syria:  the Syrian government’s attitude towards, and its treatment of, citizens who have made refugee or asylum claims, particularly when the claim was made in Canada for the United States		30 April 2008	
	216	Report from a joint fact-finding mission by the Danish Immigration Service and ACCORD/Austrian Red Cross to Damascus, Syria, Beirut, Lebanon, and Erbil and Dohuk, Kurdistan Region of Iraq	May 2010	
	217	SHRC Tenth Annual Report on Human Rights Status in Syria, 
Syrian Human Rights Committee 	January 2011	
	218	Freedom in the World 2011:  Syria	11 May 2011	
	219	The ghosts of Hama, Aron Lund		June 2011	
	220	Popular protest in North Africa and the Middle East (VII):  The Syrian regime’s slow motion revolution	6 July 2011	
	221	Popular protest in North Africa and the Middle East (VII):  The Syrian regime’s slow motion suicide		13 July 2011	
	222	Uncharted Waters:  thinking through Syria’s dynamics 	24 November 2011	
	223	Revealing the scale and horror of Assad’s torture chambers, Avaaz 	9 January 2012	
	224	Beyond the fall of the Syrian regime, ICG 	24 February 2012	
	225	Now or never:  a negotiated transition for Syria, ICG	5 March 2012	
	226	Testimony to US Congress Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission 		7-28 March 2012	
	227	Crimes against humanity in Syria:  systematic torture to quell public dissent, Alkarama for Human Rights 	20 April 2012 		
	228	ICJ submission to the Committee Against Torture for the special report on the Syrian Arab Republic under article 19 (1) of the Convention Against Torture, ICJ	20 April 2012 		
	229	The worst of the worst:  the world’s most repressive societies 2012 – Syria, Freedom House 	2 July 2012	
	230	Syria:  a war on childhood, War Child (UK)	23 July 2012	
	231	Information wars:  assessing the social media battlefield in Syria, Combating Terrorism Centre at West Point 	24 July 2012	
	232	Syria:  a full scale displacement and humanitarian crisis with no solutions in sight, Norwegian Refugee Council	31 July 2012	
	233	Syria’s mutating conflict, International Crisis Group 	1 August 2012	
BBC News	
	234	Syria unrest:  Arab League calls for end to shooting 	2 January 2012	
	235	Syria government ‘deceiving’ Arab League monitors 	4 January 2012	
	236	Syria unrest:  Damascus blast and clashes kill many 	7 January 2012	
	237	Syria’s Bashar al-Assad blames ‘foreign conspiracy’  	10 January 2012	
	238	Syria:  US condemns Bashar al-Assad ‘conspiracy’ speech 	10 January 2012	
	239	Remembering the child victims of Syria’s military  crackdown	16 January 2012	
	240	Bashar falls back on father’s brutal methods 	21 January 2012	
	241	PJ Crowley:  Syria crisis upends Mid-East positions 	2 February 2012	
	242	Fresh protests at Syrian Embassy in London	5 February 2012	
	243	Guide:  Syria crisis	6 February 2012	
	244	Syria crisis:  fear and abandonment in under-fire Homs 	6 February 2012	
	245	Avoiding Syria’s secret police		6 February 2012	
	246	Syria crisis:  Gulf Arab states expel Syrian ambassadors 	7 February 2012	
	247	Asma al-Assad and the tricky role of the autocrat’s wife	8 February 2012	
	248	Syria opposition dismisses Assad assurances 	8 February 2012	
	249	Syria crisis:  shelling ‘kills dozens’ in restive Homs 	9 February 2012	
	250	Newsbeat speaks to Syrian activist 	9 February 2012	
	251	Analysis: Syria’s complex and bloody crisis 		10 February 2012		
	252	Syria government and rivals trade blame for Aleppo blasts 	11 February 2012	
	253	Syria unrest:  Arab League observer mission head quits 	12 February 2012	
	254	Syria’s slide towards civil war 	12 February 2012  	
	255	Syria rejects new Arab League peace mission proposal 	13 February 2012	
	256	Syria to hold referendum on new constitution 	15 February 2012	
	257	Syria crisis:  UN Assembly adopts Arab-backed resolution 	17 February 2012	
	258	UK activist lifting the lid on secret Syria	18 February 2012 	
	259	Egypt recalls ambassador from Syria as violence rages 	19 February 2012	
	260	Syria unrest:  West stirring civil war, says China	20 February 2012	
	261	Syria:  US backs Red Cross call for truce	21 February 2012	
	262	Syria steps up Homs bombardment	21 February 2012	
	263	UN panel draws up Syria crimes against humanity list 	23 February 2012	
	264	Syria unrest:  reporters’ deaths spark Western outrage 	23 February 2012	
	265	UK boosts Syria opposition ties, William Hague reveals 	24 February 2012	
	266	Syria crisis:  Red Cross Baba Amr evacuation stalls	25 February 2012	
	267	Do 55% of Syrians really want President Assad to stay?	25 February 2012	
	268	Urgency and frustration at Syria talks	25 February 2012	
	269	Syrian referendum in media spotlight,		27 February 2012	
	270	Syria shells Homs and northern towns in Idlib	27 February 2012	
	271	China calls US critique on Syria ‘super arrogant’	27 February 2012	
	272	Syria unrest:  death toll passes 7,500, UN says	28 February 2012	
	273	Syria unrest:  surgeon tells of Homs makeshift hospital 	29 February 2012	
	274	Syria crisis:  UN demands Valerie Amos let into country 	1 March 2012	
	275	Hague:  British Embassy in Damascus ‘suspended’ 	1 March 2012	
	276	Syria forces assault Baba Amr quarter in besieged Homs 	1 March 2012	
	277	Red Cross convoy bringing Baba Amr aid stopped in Homs 	2 March 2012 		
	278	UK photographer Paul Conroy – Syria ‘is slaughterhouse’	2 March 2012	
	279	David Cameron warns Syria of ‘day of reckoning’ 	2 March 2012	
	280	Syria unrest:  Red Cross urges access to Baba Amr, Homs 	3 March 2012		
	281	Life in Homs is ‘checkpoint hell’ 	3 March 2012	
	282	Power cuts and price rises as conflict bites in Syria	3 March 2012	
	283	Syrian authorities ‘committed crimes’ against civilians	3 March 2012	
	284	Syria eyewitnesses:  Homs refugees tell of ‘slaughter’	5 March 2012	
	285	Syrian government forces ‘shell rebel-held towns’	6 March 2012	
	286	Syria crisis: Valerie Amos describes Homs ‘devastation’	7 March 2012	
	287	Syria crisis: Homs at centre of fresh massacre, activists say 		8 March 2012	
	288	Syria crisis:  Assad issues ‘terrorism’ vow to Annan	10 March 2012	
	289	Syria crisis:  Kofi Annan’s Mission Impossible	11 March 2012	
	290	Assad rejects external solution for Syria crisis	29 June 2012	
	291	Russia-US split casts shadow over Syria Geneva talks	30 June 2012	
	292	Syria conflict:  heavy fighting stepped un in Aleppo	5 August 2012	
	293	Syria crisis:  Obama rejects US military intervention	undated	
	294	Step down now, David Cameron urges President Assad	undated	
IRIN News	
	295	Syria: new report indicates over 5,000 deaths since March		21 September 2011	
	296	Analysis:  civil war becoming a real danger in Syria			26 September 2011	
	297	Briefing:  six months into the Syrian uprising	28 September 2011	
	298	Syria:  concerns over ‘rampant torture’	6 October 2011	
	299	Syria:  violence, sectarianism stalks Homs 		22 December 2011	
	300	Analysis: 2012 – ‘the year of crisis’ in the Middle East	12 January 2012	
	301	Analysis:  worrying signs for food security in Syria	21 February 2012	
	302	Analysis:  inside the anti-uprising movement in Syria	23 February 2012	
	303	Syria:  fighting in capital adds to growing displacement challenge	20 July 2012	
The Economist	
	304	Growing steadily less peaceful 	19 December 2011	
	305	Mission failure	3 January 2012	
	306	No end in sight 	7 January 2012	
	307	Jangling sectarian nerves		7 January 2012	
	308	Playing the blame game 	10 January 2012	
	309	Visibility before all	14 January 2012	
	310	It looks like civil war 	28 January 2012	
	311	Hold your horses	28 January 2012	
	312	Pulling out	30 January 2012	
	313	The UN stands divided 	5 February 2012	
	314	How to set Syria free	11 February 2012	
	315	The long road to Damascus	11 February 2012	
	316	Gloom and bloom 	11 February 2012	
	317	Syria’s crisis:  an offensive regime	18 February 2012	
	318	Syria:  a tactical retreat	1 March 2012	
	319	Syria’s crisis:  into the meat-grinder	3 March 2012	
Reuters	
	320	Syria bloodshed defies Arab monitor mission	1 January 2012	
	321	Head of Syria rebels plans to escalate attacks 	3 January 2012	
	322	Syrian actress treads new stage in Syrian protests 	5 January 2012	
	323	Arab monitors say unable to halt Syrian killings 	11 January 2012	
	324	Syria’s Kurds mistrust government and opposition: activists 	11 January 2012	
	325	Assad promises victory, Syria accused of war crimes 	11 January 2012	
	326	Syria’s Assad speaks to crowd in Damascus square 	11 January 2012	
	327	Some Arab monitors quit over persisting violence 	12 January 2012	
	328	Syria protests erupt, Arab League fears civil war 	13 January 2012	
	329	Analysis:  Arab monitors flounder amid Syrian violence		13 January 2012	
	330	Analysis – defiant Assad seeks to show he’s still in charge	13 January 2012	
	331	Stop the killing, UN chief tells Syria’s Assad 	15 January 2012	
	332	No plan to send Arab troops to Syria:  League source 	15 January 2012	
	333	Syria’s Muslim Brotherhood tells world to isolate Assad	19 January 2012	
	334	Violence keeps Syria on edge, Arab mission may extend 		20 January 2012	
	335	Syria protestors find little hope in Arab monitor mission 	20 January 2012	
	336	Saudi withdraws Syria monitors, urges world pressure 	22 January 2012	
	337	In cradle of Syrian revolt, army is now in charge 	22 January 2012	
	338	Syria denounces Arab League for telling Assad to quit 	23 January 2012 	
	339	Red Cross official shot dead in Syria – ICRC	25 January 2012 	
	340	Outside Syria’s capital, suburbs look like war zone 	27 January 2012	
	341	Sectarian attack kills same family in Syria 	27 January 2012	
	342	UNICEF says 384 children killed so far in Syria 	27 January 2012 	
	343	Arab league suspends Syria mission as violence rages 	28 January 2012 	
	344	Syria says will foil Western efforts to sow chaos 	31 January 2012	
	345	Syria’s Alawites, a secretive and persecuted sect 	2 February 2012	
	346	Insight – Syria’s Assad set for long conflict 	3 February 2012	
	347	Syrians storm embassies after uprising’s worst violence		4 February 2012	
	348	Israeli minister says Assad’s end may be ‘long and bloody’ 	4 February 2012	
	349	Uprising finally hits Syria’s ‘Silk Road’ city 	4 February 2012	
	350	Clinton warns more bloodshed if Syria action blocked 		4 February 2012	
	351	Clinton calls UN Syria vote a ‘travesty’ 	5 February 2012	
	352	UK makes diplomatic protests over Syria violence 	6 February 2012	
	353	US closes embassy in Syria, vows further pressure 	6 February 2012	
	354	UN chief Ban ‘appalled’ by Syrian on Homs 	6 February 2012	
	355	UN rights chief says action on Syria urgent 	8 February 2012	
	356	Syria raises spectre of proxy conflict for US, Russia 	8 February 2012	
	357	Russia UN veto on Syria aimed at crushing West’s crusade		8 February 2012	
	358	West offers words, only, as Syria killing rages 				9 February 2012 		
	359	Scenes of horror as Syria’s Homs bleeds from siege 	9 February 2012	
	360	Syria risks civil war, sanctions pointless:  Turkey 	9 February 2012	
	361	Timeline: crackdown on protests in Syria
	undated (accessed on 10 February 2012)	
	362	As Syria bleeds, neighbours brace for refugees 	11 February 2012	 	
	363	Russia accuses West of arming Syrian rebels 	11 February 2012	
	364	Syria forces shell Homs, Saudis push UN resolution 	11 February 2012	
	365	Access getting harder as Syria violence intensifies –  IRRC 	11 February 2012	
	366	Assad’s forces intensify shelling on Syria’s Homs 	11 February 2012	
	367	Arabs seek joint UN-Arab force on Syria:  resolution			12 February 2012	
	368	Diplomatic inaction fuelling Syria crackdown – UN 	13 February 2012 	
	369	Syria launched ‘indiscriminate attack’ on civilians:  UN		13 February 2012	
	370	Expat Syrian activists turned away at border 	13 February 2012	
	371	Insight:  Arabs open way for arming Syrians, civil war feared	14 February 2012	
	372	Iraqi fighters, arms trickle into Syria as violence grows 	14 February 2012	
	373	China says ‘wrong steps’ by UN could worsen bloodshed  in Syria	15 February 2012	
	374	US dismisses Assad referendum promise as ‘laughable’	15 February 2012	
	375	In growing Syria, Obama has few options 	15 February 2012	
	376	Assad proposes referendum in strife-torn Syria 	15 February 2012	
	377	Syria sets February 26 referendum on new constitution 	15 February 2012	
	378	China paper says foreign meddling in Syria risks global economy		16 February 2012	
	379	UN head sees possible crimes against humanity is [sic] Syria 	16 February 2012	
	380	Syrian troops attack Deraa, cradle of uprising 		16 February 2012	
	381	UN assembly adopts resolution condemning Syria 	16 February 2012	
	382	EU likely to build up sanctions on Syria: diplomat 		16 February 2012	
	383	Chinese envoy to meet Syrian leader after UN condemnation 	17 February 2012	
	384	France, Britain urge unity among Syrian opposition 		17 February 2012	
	385	NATO to stay out of Syria even if UN mandate emerges 	18 February 2012	
	386	Syrian forces fire on anti-Assad crowd in capital 	18 February 2012	
	387	Exclusive:  Venezuela ships fuel to war torn Syria	18 February 2012	
	388	Syrian security forces clamp down on Damascus	19 February 2012	
	389	Egypt recalls its ambassador to Syria	19 February 2012	
	390	Syria intervention drive mirrors Bosnia’s history	20 February 2012	
	391	China paper says West stirring up civil war in Syria	20 February 2012	
	392	Watching the wounded die in Syria’s besieged Homs 		21 February 2012	
	393	Red Cross seeks daily humanitarian truce in Syria	21 February 2012	
	394	For Syrian children, a picture tells a thousand words 	22 February 2012	
	395	As Syrians flee Homs, sectarian faultlines deepen	22 February 2012	
	396	Syrian opposition calls for referendum boycott 	22 February 2012	
	397	Russia boosts arms sales to Syria despite world pressure 		22 February 2012	
	398	Inside and out, divisions keep Syria in stalemate	22 February 2012	
	399	Assad forces bomb Syria’s Homs	22 February 2012	
	400	Force may be only solution in Syria:  opposition SNC 	22 February 2012 	
	401	China says will not attend ‘Friends of Syria’ meeting	23 February 2012	
	402	Republican candidates back arming Syria rebels	23 February 2012	
	403	Syrian forces committing crimes on orders from top: UN 	24 February 2012	
	404	Obama says time for killing of Syrian citizens to end	24 February 2012	
	405	‘Friends of Syria’ condemn Assad but see more killing 	24 February 2012	
	406	Russia urges Syria truce, says rebels share blame	24 February 2012	
	407	Kofi Annan appointed UN-Arab League envoy to Syria 	24 February 2012	
	408	Syria to have ‘more blood on hands’ if blocks aid – Clinton 	24 February 2012 	
	409	Assad’s forces kill 103 in Homs, rest of Syria: group 	24 February 2012	
	410	No clear successor to Assad’s ‘coup proof’ rule in Syria 	27 February 2012	
	411	Syria approves new constitution amid bloodshed	27 February 2012	
	412	Iran objects to holding UN rights debate on Syria	27 February 2012	
	413	New Syrian constitution won 89.4 percent approval: state TV 	27 February 2012	
	414	Rift develops in Syrian opposition group	27 February 2012	
	415	Russia’s Putin warns West not to meddle	27 February 2012	
	416	China calls US criticism over Syria ‘totally unacceptable’ 			27 February 2012	
	417	Syria’s once urbane Assad shows ruthless streak 	28 February 2012	
	418	Syria civilian death toll ‘well over 7,500’ – UN	28 February 2012	
	419	Clinton says argument can be made Assad a war criminal 	28 February 2012	
	420	Bombardment on Syrian town kills 20:  activists	28 February 2012	
	421	Syria storms out of UN rights meeting 	28 February 2012	
	422	‘Pray for us’ say Syria rebels as army closes in	29 February 2012	
	423	Smuggling ‘path of death’ a lifeline for Syria revolt	29 February 2012	
	424	Syrian rebels say they face 7,000 government troops	29 February 2012	
	425	UN humanitarian aid chief denied entry into Syria	29 February 2012	
	426	UK withdraws diplomats from Syria, not breaking ties	1 March 2012	
	427	Most Syria rebels pull out of Baba Amro in Homs	1 March 2012	
	428	UN rights body condemns Syria over violations	1 March 2012	
	429	UN concerned Syria may have chemical weapons	1 March 2012	
	430	Arab League chief says fuelling violence will not help Syria 	1 March 2012	
	431	Britain’s Cameron sees day of reckoning for Syrian government 	2 March 2012	
	432	UN chief slams Syria for ‘atrocious’ Homs assault 	2 March 2012	
	433	France to shut Syria embassy, awaits UN mandate to act	2 March 2012	
	434	WRAPUP 4-Red Cross aid convoy reaches Homs, massacre feared 	2 March 2012	
	435	I would not have survived in Baba Amr:  MSF surgeon 	2 March 2012	
	437	Syria extends crackdown, refugees flee	5 March 2012	
	438	Syria faces outrage; ‘smell of death’ in Homs	6 March 2012	
	439	Syrian district Baba Amr ‘pretty devastated’: UN aid chief	7 March 2012	
	440	Panetta defends cautious approach toward Syria	8 March 2012	
	441	France will not accept ‘equal blame’ Syria resolution	9 March 2012	
	442	US glum on prospects for a new UN Syria resolution 	10 March 2012 	
	443	Annan ends Syria visit with no clear progress	11 March 2012	
	444	Dozens of Syrian civilians killed in Homs	12 March 2012	
	445	UN chief speaks of ‘grisly reports’ from Syria	undated	
	446	Exclusive:  Venezuela ships fuel to war-torn Syria	undated	
	447	Syria opposition’s SNC seeks backers but lacks leaders	undated	
	448	NATO to stay out of Syria if UN mandate emerges	undated	
	449	Syrian forces fire on anti-Assad crown in capital		undated	
	450	Russia says no shift on Syria after Putin victory	undated	
	451	Ill-armed Syrian rebels wage unequal struggle	undated	
	452	Update 1 – Syrian torture increasingly serious, UN investigator says	undated	
	453	Syria begins pulling envoys out of EU: diplomats	undated	
	454	Russia says can’t blame one side in Syria crisis	undated	
	455	31 dead in Syria, mortars land on protests	undated	
	456	Russia says 15,000 foreign ‘terrorists’ in Syria	undated 	
	457	Russia accuses Libya of training Syrian rebels	undated	
	458	Homs leaves UN’s Amos ‘devastated’	undated	
	459	Former Lebanon PM says Syrian regime murderous	undated	
	460	Air France suspends all flights to Damascus	undated	
	461	Canada closes embassy in Syria, imposes sanctions	undated	
	462	Heavy clashes erupt in south Syria near Jordan border	undated	
	463	Video from Homs hospital shows Syrian torture – report	undated	
	464	Syrians flee through snow and gunfire to Lebanon	undated	
The Telegraph	
	465	Britain under pressure to withdraw diplomatic recognition of Syria	5 February 2012	
	466	Assad regime vows to ‘hunt’ down rebels as death toll rises in Syria 	7 February 2012	
	467	Syria: Gulf Co-operation Council denounces Assad for ‘mass slaughter’ 	7 February 2012	
	468	Graphic:  death toll in Syria reaches 6,000 	7 February 2012	
	469	Syria activists:  up to 100 die in 24 hours as Assad’s tanks roll into Homs	8 February 2012	
	470	Syria:  three families ‘murdered in their homes by Assad’s forces’ as tanks move towards Homs 	8 February 2012 		
	471	Syria:  Iran’s elite Quds force ‘advising Assad regime’	9 February 2012	
	472	Syrian regime is ‘hell bent’ on ‘murdering and maiming’ its own people, David Cameron says	9 February 2012	
	473	US satellite photographs show Syrian artillery 	10 February 2012	
	474	Syria:  Russia accuses West of being ‘accomplices’ in violence		10 February 2012	
	475	New British initiative to gather evidence on Syrian war crimes 	11 February 2012	
	476	Britain to launch new initiative against Syrian war crimes	12 February 2012	
	477	Syrian rebels are losing faith in the West 		14 February 2012	
	478	Can you judge a nation by the company it keeps?  Syria’s thuggish coalition shows how evil this regime is 	17 February 2012	
	479	Syria:  Assad digs in for assault on town of the doomed	17 February 2012	
The Guardian	
	480	Arab League monitoring mission criticised for failing to stop bloodshed	2 January 2012	
	481	Syria’s protestors are on their own	9 January 2012	
	482	Most Syrians back President Assad, but you’d never know from the western media	17 January 2012	
	483	Syria violence has risen significantly, says Arab League mission chief	27 January 2012	
	484	Arab league suspends Syria monitoring mission 	28 January 2012 		
	485	Syria hurtling towards a bloodier crisis 	29 January 2012	
	486	Syria army digs in after retaking Damascus suburbs	30 January 2012	
	487	Syrian resolution vetoed by Russia and China at United Nations	4 February 2012	
	488	Syria:  ‘300 killed’ as regime launches huge attack on besieged city of Homs 	4 February 2012	
	489	Syria on brink of civil war as diplomacy fails to dislodge Assad	5 February 2012	
	490	Syria:  ‘You cannot imagine how brutal it has been’	6 February 2012	
	491	Syria envoys recalled by Britain and the US in protest at ‘murderous’ regime	6 February 2012	
	492	Syria:  death and division thwart hopes of opposition unity	7 February 2012	
	493	Syrian siege of Homs is genocidal, say trapped residents	7 February 2012	
	494	Syria:  rockets rain down on Homs as violence escalates	8 February 2012	
	495	Inside Homs:  ‘We are seriously dying here.  It is really war		8 February 2012	
	496	Syria uprising is now a battle to death	9 February 2012	
	497	Syria bloodshed is outrageous, says Obama 	10 February 2012	
	498	Syria violence spreads to Aleppo as bomb blast kills 28 		10 February 2012	
	499	Syria ‘relaunches’ assault on Homs 	11 February 2012	
	500	We can’t stop the bloodshed in Syria without talking to Assad	12 February 2012	
	501	Al-Qaida leader Zawahiri urges Muslim support for Syrian uprising 	12 February 2012	
	502	Syrian regime ‘emboldened’ by UN inaction, says human rights chief	13 February 2012	
	503	Syrian troops attack residential areas in Hama and Homs 	15 February 2012	
	504	France’s Syrian aid ‘corridors’ on course for UN dead end	15 February 2012	
	505	Assad offer of Syrian multi-party elections branded laughable by US		15 February 2012	
	506	Ban Ki-moon accuses Syrian regime of potential crimes against humanity	16 February 2012	
	507	They are pushing Syria into a religious war that they will certainly get	16 February 2012	
	508	UN General Assembly backs call for Assad to quit as Syrian president 	16 February 2012	
	509	Western intervention in Syria will do more harm than good 	17 February 2012	
	510	Syrian government blocks live video streaming site Bambuser 	17 February 2012	
	511	Syrian security forces increase pressure on Damascus protestors 	19 February 2012	
	512	In Homs we are all wading in blood	21 February 2012 	
	513	Syrian regime accused of crimes against humanity by UN	24 February 2012	
	514	Syria votes on new constitution as shelling of Homs continues 	27 February 2012	
	515	Razing Homs to the ground will only harden Syrian resistance	1 March 2012	
	516	Paul Conroy warns of Syria massacre	2 March 2012	
	517	David Cameron demands Assad face war crimes trial over Syria bloodshed	2 March 2012	
	518	Homs shelled again as Syrian troops keep Red Cross out	3 March 2012	
Aljazeera	
	519	Syria:  the revolution will be weaponised 	23 September 2011	
	520	Syria and the unfolding hegemonic game 		25 November 2011	
	521	Inside Homs with Free Syrian Army		8 February 2012	
	522	The battle for Homs	11 February 2012	
	523	Syrian violence spills over into Lebanon 		12 February 2012	
	524	Russia ‘to consider’ Syria peacekeeping plan	13 February 2012	
	525	Israel hedges bets on Syria	14 February 2012	
	526	Syrian violence continues to stymie UN, NATO 	17 February 2012	
	527	Chinese diplomat in Syria for talks on unrest 	18 February 2012	
	528	Iran and Syria:  a show of strength and unity  	20 February 2012 	
	529	Friends of Syria 	27 February 2012 	
	530	Moscow’s Syrians eye post election change	4 March 2012 	
Sky News	
	531	The Assad regime:  who are Bashar’s allies? 	6 December 2011 	
	532	Syrians still being shot at, despite monitors 	2 January 2012	
	533	‘Dozens killed’ in Damascus suicide bomb 	6 January 2012	
	534	Arab monitors injured in Syria protest	11 January 2012	
	535	French journalist killed in Syria mortar blast 	11 January 2012	
	536	Qatari leader:  send Arab troops into Syria 	14 January 2012	
	537	Saudi Arabia to pull monitors from Syria 	23 January 2012	
	538	Assad rejects Arab League’s call for reform 	23 January 2012 		
	539	Sky smuggled past Army checkpoints in Homs 	23 January 2012 	
	540	Civilians being killed in Syria massacre 	27 January 2012	
	541	Syria hits out at Arab League over mission 		28 January 2012	
	542	Syria:  violence continues amid talks 	30 January 2012	
	543	Russia stands firm over Syrian peace plan	31 January 2012 		
	544	Syria clashes:  Homs death toll ‘soars to 350’ 	4 February 2012	
	545	Bloodshed and danger ‘a way of life’ in Homs  	4 February 2012 	
	546	UN seeks to talk Russia round on Syria 	4 February 2012	
	547	Syria:  Russia and China veto UN resolution 	5 February 2012	
	548	UK ambassador pulled from Syria for talks 	6 February 2012	
	549	Syrian Army pounds Homs in deadly offensive 	6 February 2012	
	550	Secret memos reveal Assad regime tactics	6 February 2012	
	551	Syria’s First Lady backs regime amid attacks	7 February 2012	
	552	Hospitals in Homs turned into makeshift hospitals 		7 February 2012	
	553	Syria:  shelling ‘kills 56’ amid anger at veto 				7 February 2012 		
	554	Homs attack:  is this Syria’s Benghazi moment? 		8 February 2012	
	555	Russia:  Assad ‘committed’ to ending conflict 	8 February 2012	
	556	Troops continue relentless assault on Homs	8 February 2012	
	557	Defiant Russia hails Syria trip’s success 	8 February 2012	
	558	Syria bloodshed:  ‘why isn’t the world helping us?’ 	10 February 2012	
	559	Syrian forces ‘enter town near Lebanon’ 	11 February 2012	
	560	Escape from Homs:  despair amid onslaught 		12 February 2012	
	561	Opposition stronghold prepares for assault 	12 February 2012	
	562	Fears of ‘all all ground assault’ in Homs 	13 February 2012	
	563	More bloodshed as UN boss slams Syria	13 February 2012	
	564	Syrians under siege amid new bomb attacks 	13 February 2012	
	565	UN accuses Syria of crimes against humanity	13 February 2012	
	566	Clinton:  UN unlikely to send Syria peacekeepers 	14 February 2012	
	567	‘Six more dead’ in intense Homs shelling 	14 February 2012	
	568	Obama presses China’s heir apparent on trade 	15 February 2012	
	569	Syria:  scores killed in Aleppo fight 	15 February 2012	
	570	Syria:  UN Assembly passes new resolution	17 February 2012	
	571	Syria tops agenda at Cameron-Sarkozy talks	17 February 2012	
	572	Syria:  fears of renewed assault on rebel city	21 February 2012	
	573	World’s hands tied as Syria horror worsens	24 February 2012	
	574	The deadly reality of Syria’s referendum day	26 February 2012	
	575	Syria:  Assad to allow aid into besieged city	1 March 2012	
	576	Syrian ground forces move into rebel Homs	2 March 2012	
Miscellaneous news articles	
	577	Family fears for missing deportee, Sydney Morning Herald 	29 May 2011	
	578	Syria:  continued repression through use of enforced disappearances Alkarama for Human rights	5 January 2012	
	579	UN warns of surge in violence in Syria, Voice of America News		10 January 2012	
	580	Thousands rally in Syria as Arab League chief warns of civil war, Voice of America News	 13 January 2012	
	581	More arrests of journalists and bloggers despite Arab League observer presence, Reporters Sans Frontiers 	14 January 2012	
	582	At least 30 reported killed in new Syrian violence, Voice of America News	17 January 2012	
	583	Reports:  Syrian security forces kill 34 civilians, Radio Free Europe	26 January 2012	
	584	Almost 100 killed in Syrian violence Monday: activists, Relief Web	31 January 2012	
	585	Syrian troops retake Damascus suburbs as UN showdown unfolds, Voice of America News	31 January 2012	
	586	Church leader martyred while helping wounded parishioner in Syria, Barnabas Aid 	31 January 2012 	
	587	Jean-Claude Mignon:  ‘the slaughter in Syria must cease immediately’, Council of Europe	2 February 2012	
	588	Activists:  Syrian troops kill more than 217 in Homs, Voice of America News	3 February 2012	
	589	United Nations fiddles while Syria burns, Channel 4 News 	3 February 2012	
	590	Syrian state media denies army role in Homs, Radio Free Europe		4 February 2012	
	591	More than 200 dead after shelling in Syrian city, Voice of America News	4 February 2012	
	592	Syria:  medicine used as a weapon of persecution, MSF	8 February 2012	
	593	Q&A:  why is Syria’s violence worsening now, CNN 		10 February 2012	
	594	Terror grips besieged city, CNN	11 February 2012	
	595	Syrians suffer as government crackdown continues, Voice of America News	13 February 2012	
	596	News:  Syria:  crackdown escalates; fears for safety 	13 February 2012	
	597	Syrian crackdown widens, Voice of America News 	16 February 2012	
	598	Syrian forces clamp down on Damascus, Voice of America News 	19 February 2012	
	599	Activists:  Syrian forces kill 63 as Red Cross seeks daily truce, Voice of America News	21 February 2012	
	600	Syria:  urgent call for daily halts in fighting, ICRC 	21 February 2012	
	601	Syria:  continued crackdown on human rights defenders and political activists despite increasing international attention, Alkarama for Human Rights 	21 February 2012 	
	602	Syria shelling kills 74, including two journalists, Voice of America News 	22 February 2012 	
	603	Trapped journalists killed in hell of Homs bombardment, Reporters Without Borders	22 February 2012	
	604	UN:  ‘well over’ 7,500 killed in Syrian fighting, Radio Free Europe 	29 February 2012	
	605	Tortured by the very doctors who should be saving their lives:  smuggled images reveal horror of Syrian hospital patients, Mail Online 	5 March 2012	
	606	UN rights office documents torture in Syria, Voice of America News 	6 March 2012 		
	607	Syrian army defectors tell of atrocities, Voice of America News	13 March 2012 		
	608	Syrian refugees in Jordan confirm reports of abuse,  torture, Voice of America News	16 March 2012	
	609	Intense fighting rocks Syrian capital, Voice of America News 	19 March 2012 		
	610	Syrian groups:  at least 60 dead in fresh violence, Voice of America News	22 March 2012 		
	611	US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants Praises Obama Administration Decision to Guarantee Syrians Temporary Protected Status, US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (press release)	26 March 2012	
	612	Growing Islamist influence in Syrian uprising; Christians vulnerable, Barnabas Aid (UK)	28 March 2012	
	613	Gunfire from Syria hits border camp in Turkey, IPS	9 April 2012	
	614	Syrian forces widen attacks as cease fire unravels, Voice of America News	17 April 2012 		
	615	Syrian  cease-fire deteriorates with more violence, Voice of America News 	24 April 2012	
	616	Red Cross:  Syria’s rebels shifting to guerrilla tactics, Voice of America News	8 May 2012	
	617	Syrian troops storm rebellious village; violence spills into Lebanon, Voice of America News		13 May 2012	
	618	Activists:  Syrian government shelling leave s 90 dead, Voice of America News 	26 May 2012	
	619	Is Syria’s Bashar al-Assad guilty of war crimes?, Voice of America News	 31 May 2012 		
	620	Statement by Navi Pillay, High Commissioner for Human Rights to the Human Rights Council on the deteriorating human rights situation in the Syrian Arab Republic and the killings in El-Houleh 	1 June 2012 		
	621	All-out civil war looms in Syria, Annan says, IPS	7 June 2012	
	622	UN says Syrian regime killing, torturing children, Radio Free Europe	12 June 2012	
	623	Clinton challenges Russia on Syria, UN peacekeeping chief says Syria in civil war, Voice of America News 	12 June 2012	
	624	Is Syria seeing start of sectarian war?, Radio Free Europe 	15 June 2012 	
	625	Syrian government forces escalate attacks, Voice of America News	17 June 2012 		
	626	Q&A:  children killed with impunity in Syria, IPS 	27 June 2012 		
	627	Syrian opposition rejects UN transition deal, Voice of America News	1 July 2012	
	628	Outrage mounts over Syria massacre, Voice of America News	13 July 2012	
	629	Red Cross widens area involved in Syrian civil war, Voice of America News	16 July 2012	
	630	Battles rage in Damascus, Voice of America News 	17 July 2012	
	631	Syria blast strikes at heart of Assad’s rule, Inter Press Service Agency	18 July 2012	
	632	Alawites fear future as Syrian conflict intensifies, Voice of America News	19 July 2012	
	633	More than 300 killed in Syria, rights group says, Voice of America News 	20 July 2012	
	634	Why it matters whether Syria is designated as a civil war, Radio Free Europe 	20 July 2012 		
	635	Council conclusions on Syria, Council of the European Union	23 July 2012	
	636	Syria bolsters troops in battle for Aleppo, Inter Press Service News Agency	25 July 2012	
	637	Thousands flee fighting in Syria’s Aleppo, Voice of America News	30 July 2012	
	638	Statement from Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva on worsening humanitarian crisis in Syria, European Commission	31 July 2012	
	639	Syrian rebels execute Assad loyalists in Aleppo, Voice of America News	1 August 2012	
	640	As fighting escalates in Syria, a frustrated mediator resigns, Inter Press News Agency	3 August 2012	
	641	Syria’s Assad must go, and Libya’s resources must benefit all Libyans, says MEPs, Press Release, European Parliament		undated	
	642	The Swedish Migration Boards stops all deportations to Syria, Migrationsverket 	undated