Syrian Opposition Rejects Meetings with U.N. Special Envoy

The Revolutionary Command Council (RCC), a Syrian insurgent group, called U.N. Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura “biased” following comments on Friday in which the envoy called President Bashar al-Assad “part of the solution for the reduction of the violence” in Syria, and said he would continue to meet with him, Reuters reports.

“The Council with all its factions has decided to reject meeting the U.N. mediator due to his dishonest position towards the revolution of the Syrian people,” the RCC statement said.

De Mistura is trying to advance a proposal for local cease-fire or “incremental freeze zones” across Syria, starting with the city of Aleppo, in an attempt to halt the fighting in the country and provide humanitarian aid to civilians.

De Mistura is scheduled to brief the Security Council today about his meeting last week with President Bashar al-Assad about his freeze proposal in Aleppo, Syria’s second largest city, which is at the heart of clashes between government forces and insurgents that include Jabhat al-Nusra, Islamist brigades and Western-backed rebels.

The briefing will be de Mistura’s first since he introduced his freeze plan in October.

Opposition groups have voiced skepticism about the plan and expressed fears that the government would exploit cease-fires to regroup their forces for more assaults elsewhere.

Earlier this month diplomats said that talks on the plan were deadlocked, with the regime not agreeing to make concessions to disparate armed groups. Previous peace talks held in Geneva almost a year ago failed to produce results or ongoing momentum. Opposition leaders demanded Assad’s departure, while the regime insisted that the focus of the negotiation should be on countering “terrorism,” its term for armed resistance to its rule.

ISIS Issues Strict Dress Code for Women Living in Iraq and Syria

ISIS has issued regulations for dress and movement for women in Iraq and Syria with punishments of death or beatings for those who don’t comply, the Guardian reports.

Residents of Mosul, Raqqa and Deir Ezzor told the Guardian that “women are forced to be accompanied by a male guardian, known as a mahram, at all times, and are compelled to wear double-layered veils, loose abayas and gloves.”

Their testimonies follow the publication in January of an ISIS manifesto to “clarify the role of Muslim women and the life which is desired for them.”

According to the manifesto attributed to the media wing of the Khanssaa Brigade, a female branch of the Islamic State militant group, girls can marry starting at the age of nine; girls considered “pure” will be married by 16 or 17.

“It is always preferable for a woman to remain hidden and veiled, to maintain society from behind this veil,” the manifesto said.

Sama Maher, 20, a resident of Raqqa told the Guardian: “Isis has closed universities in areas under its control. I had to quit my university studies in Aleppo because I’m not allowed to cross the checkpoints without a mahram and leave the city by myself like before.”

A secondary school teacher describes the situation in Deir Ezzor, where the rules for female students appears to be more severe. “Though all the teachers in girls’ schools are female, neither students nor teachers are allowed to lift the veil off their faces inside the classroom.”

The restrictions are rigorously enforced by religious police, Hisbah, who often beat, humiliate, fine or threaten the women.”Men are now forcing their wives and daughters to stay at home to avoid confrontations with Hisbah,” the Guardian writes.

Syrian Refugees Make Up the Majority of Children Working on the Streets of Lebanon

Syrian refugees make up the majority of children living and working on the streets of Lebanon, a study released Monday found.

The survey, commissioned by Save the Children, UNICEF, the International Labour Organisation and the Lebanese Labour Ministry, identified more than 1,500 children living and working on the street in Lebanon, of which 73 percent were from Syria.

“Most of those surveyed, 54 percent, were between 10 and 14 years old, but more than 25 percent were under the age of nine,” AFP reports. Forty-two percent of street children were illiterate. Forty-five percent of them survive by begging, with another 37 percent involved in selling items such as chewing gum, flowers and tissues.

While nearly 40 percent of the children expressed a desire to learn, just three percent were attending classes and working on the streets.

Children working on the street reported working an average of eight hours day, earning just over $11 per day.

“A lot of people mocked me, insulted me and beat me,” an 11-year-old said in a video testimony, describing his life selling flowers to raise money for his family back home. “Once a drunk man came out of a pub and stabbed me in the arm with a knife,” he said.

As a result of the Syrian war, Lebanon has become the country with the highest per capita concentration of refugees in the world: It is home to more than 1.1 million Syrian refugees, who now make up over 20 percent of Lebanon’s population.

The political and social climate in Lebanon has become increasingly hostile to Syrian refugees, with many complaining that refugees are using Lebanon’s already overstretched resources.

Recommended Reads:

• New York Times: From Syria, an Atlas of a Country in Ruins
• TIME: ISIS Sets Sights on Europe in Latest Beheading Video
• Human Rights Watch: Syria: Free Human Rights Defenders Held Three Years
• Guardian: The Situation in Syria Is Only Going to Get Worse … and Here’s Why
• AP: U.N. Envoy on Syria to Brief Security Council on Freeze Plan

Photo Courtesy of AP Images