Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

There are massive issues arising, including death, destruction and displacement. I have made three visits to the area. The first was pre-politics and pre-conflict and Damascus struck me as an amazing, cultured, cultural and inclusive city and society, which was very proud of its history and its place in the area. The second visit was in the company of a predecessor of the GOAL representatives. We went to the Turkish-Syrian border and met GOAL staff who were coming in and out of Syria at that stage. We met Syrians who were living in the south of Turkey. Some were with organisations and they did much better than those who were trying to forage for themselves. The way they were being exploited and mistreated by the Turkish population was appalling.

The third visit was a few months ago with three other Deputies. We came into Damascus from Lebanon and stayed in Damascus. We went by bus north towards Aleppo stopping in Maaloula on the way. We got a different picture of that part of Syria. Certainly the destruction was extremely obvious but what came across was the resilience and the spirit of the Syrian people we met on that journey. They were not all a certain type provided for us to hear what they had to say. They were casual encounters we had when we were on the street, out eating or whatever. What came across to us was that they were getting on with the rebuilding work and re-establishing their schools and businesses. Certainly more had been done in Damascus. The work was only starting in Aleppo. We met some of the Syrians who had returned and we heard their stories as well.

We were in Yarmouk and met the Palestinians who had stayed. We also met the Palestinian group with UNRWA who were providing education and so on. We got a different sense of what is happening from what the witnesses have provided today. I know their work is in a certain part of Syria but certainly I came home last July with a more positive view of Syria getting back on its feet, like other countries, post conflict, have been able to do. The issue is about how to support that. The witnesses' organisations are working in a certain part of Syria, which is extremely difficult, and they are working with refugees, but do they envisage their organisations supporting other parts of Syria in that rebuilding programme?

Some of the group had visited the Palestinian camp in Lebanon. They came away absolutely horrified by the conditions in which the Palestinian people were living in Lebanon. The Palestinians whom we met in both Palestine and Syria would say their lives in Syria health-wise and education-wise were much better than in other countries where they have been living. Certainly those Palestinians were staying. They wanted to start rebuilding in Yarmouk. Reference was made to 1 million Syrians in Lebanon. Are they other Syrians besides the Palestinian Syrians?

Safe return is vital. As I said, we met some people who had returned. What can we do to ensure that? I read some of the witnesses' briefings which refer to Syrian-owned, Syrian-led processes on that rebuilding work, but are the organisations willing to engage with those on the government side because as far as we could see, they are there to stay and they have started the rebuilding. We saw the extent of the destruction and that was very difficult, particularly in Yarmouk. Did all Yarmouk have to be destroyed in the way it was? The officials we met would say they are assured that they will start that rebuilding work and that they can do it.

Conflict resolution will be a key element to how people can come back together and work in that society. We have seen in other conflict situations where that has happened. We have been driven by a certain agenda and that is not to take from the horror, destruction, displacement and everything that has happened, and I am thinking particularly of the children. When we talk about this being Syrian-led and Syrian-owned, that is another conversation and I am not sure that people are willing to have that at the moment. Obviously, there is the big question of accountability for the war crimes on every side. There are no winners in a war situation; there are only losers.