3 rd Se ssion for the Forum on Minority Issue s State me nt by YASAEV on Ite ms VII and VIII Madam Chairperson Thanks for giving me the floor. . My name is Aref Gabo, president of the Kurdish Center for Legal Studies and Consultancy (YASA). Our organization is interested in defending the rights of Kurds in Syria, which number about 3 million people, equivalent to about 15% of the population of Syria. But if we compare the number of Kurds and their proportion with their participation in economic life of the country, and what they receive from economic aid and development projects in the government in the Kurdish areas in northern Syria along the border with Turkey, these areas are almost deprived of any development projects. There are no economic development projects in the Kurdish areas, despite its richness of the subsoil wealth, especially oil in the province of Hasaka, in addition to basic agricultural crops such as cotton, wheat, olives, and other crops, which provide the country a large proportion of the need for food. The situation had been exacerbated and tragic in Kurdish areas due to the four-year-old drought. As most of the Kurdish citizens has become unemployed and thousands of them have been forced to leave their homes and emigrate outside the country and to big cities sides, especially the capital, Damascus, where these migrants live in very tragic and difficult conditions deprived of all basic services such as clean water and health housing, Heating in winter. Ladies and Gentlemen … The tragic situation and the deprivation of Kurdish areas of infrastructure and basic services is not new. This is due to several decades. This is the result of a discriminatory policy of the Syrian government, which deprives the Kurds of their economic, social and even cultural and political rights. Health and education. Kurdish children are deprived of social and health care and education due to the lack of schools and health centers in the Kurdish areas compared to other non-Kurdish areas in Syria and due to the decline in the economic and social situation, Kurdish children do not get the necessary nutrition for their growth. The situation in the Kurdish areas and their economic backwardness and the poverty of the Kurds is exacerbated by the existence of numerous laws and decrees in the Kurdish areas that discriminate against the Kurds and deprive them of their basic rights. The last decree was, Decree No. 49 of 2008, Which prevented the sale, rent and all real estate transactions in the border areas, including all the cities and villages and Kurdish areas And thus the economic situation has become stagnate and paralyzed, increased unemployment and poverty among the Kurds . Ladies and Gentlemen …