Ottawa urged to close embassy in Damascus
OTTAWA — Amid reports the Syrian government is deploying tanks and other forces for an assault on the rebel-held city of Homs, senior members of Canada’s Syrian community are lamenting the federal government’s refusal to downgrade diplomatic ties with Bashar Assad’s regime.
While the government says maintaining a diplomatic presence is “key” to the task of aiding the thousands of Canadians still inside the country, a former Canadian diplomat says another country could take over that role.
The issue highlights a growing frustration within the Syrian-canadian community over what is seen as reluctance to take a real leadership role and help bring an end to the conflict, which has cost as many as 7,000 lives.
Egypt became the latest country on Sunday to withdraw its ambassador from Syria in retaliation for continuing violence against anti-assad demonstrators, including the expected offensive against Homs. The city, which has been at the centre of the uprising against Bashar’s regime, already has sustained heavy shelling.
The United States closed its own embassy earlier this month, while the United Kingdom, France, Tunisia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and several other countries withdrew their ambassadors, either permanently or for “consultations” back home.
Canada announced the withdrawal of some diplomats on Jan. 31 for safety rea- sons, but so far has refused to pull out Ambassador Glenn Davidson, let alone shutter its own mission. A spokesman for Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird indicated that decision was not about to change.
“As we’ve seen on several occasions this year, the presence of an ambassador is a key element in protecting and providing service to Canadians during turbulent times,” Joseph Lavoie wrote in an email.
“FOR US, CLOSING THE EMBASSY IS A GREAT SYMBOLIC STEP” AFRA JALABI
“Canada will maintain a diplomatic presence in Syria to serve the large number of Canadians on the ground in need of consular assistance.”
Upwards of 4,700 Canadians are believed to be still in the Middle Eastern country, despite continued government efforts to get them to leave. Gar Pardy, who oversaw consular issues at the Foreign Affairs Department for 11 years, said if the government wanted to close the Canadian Embassy, it could ask another country to help its citizens still in the country, as other nations have done.
The U.S., for example, is using the services of the Polish Embassy in Syria to help Americans there.
The reality is the government must have determined that Canada would have a negligible effect on the actions of the Syrian regime by withdrawing its ambassador or closing its embassy, and so opted to stay put, Pardy said.
That reasoning doesn’t sit well with Canadian members of the multinational Syrian National Council. “For us, closing the embassy is a great symbolic step,” said Montreal-based SNC member Afra Jalabi. “If Canada closes its embassy, it’s telling not just the Assad regime but it’s also telling the Syrian population that a country like Canada has completely withdrawn its recognition of this regime.” Over the past two months, Canada has tightened sanctions against Syria several times, backed Arab League efforts to resolve the crisis and supported initiatives at the United Nations to do the same. The government also has voiced anger at recent Chinese and Russian Security Council vetoes that have largely blocked any international intervention.
Lavoie said the government is working with international partners “to bring increasing pressure to bear against the Assad regime.”
But Jalabi said the government needs to do more.
When the SNC met Baird and other government officials in December, they drew up a number of requests, with withdrawing the Canadian ambassador and closing the Syrian Embassy in Ottawa at the top of that list.
Two months later, none of those requests have been fulfilled.
“They can and should do more,” Jalabi said.
“What really bothers me is if a hundred Canadians or Americans died in such circumstances, they would not stand for it.”