12 years of war in Syria
Cooperation with the Assad regime must stop
Twelve years ago on Wednesday, 15 March 2011, protests began in Damascus for a democratic Syria. This was followed by the Assad regime's brutal response and a proxy war. To this day, the Syrian war continues. The hope for freedom remains.
Green MEP Katrin Langensiepen, member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, warns against cooperating with the Assad regime. At the end of last year, she visited the region of North-East Syria herself.
"With the terrible earthquake, the Syrian population has been dealt another blow in a broken country that was already in chaos and in need of humanitarian aid.
This current emergency situation must not profit the Assad regime and blind our view of its brutal actions. For the EU, it must be clear: Assad is not an ally or a trusted business partner. He remains a dictator who is responsible for countless war crimes and atrocities and does not shy away from using chemical weapons and bombs against his own population.
Cooperation with the Assad regime must stop. EU aid must go specifically to the White Helmets and not through the bloodied hands of Damascus.
The cooperation between international aid organisations and the Assad regime in Syria is heavily criticised by human rights activists and advocacy groups.
Already on the 10th anniversary, the EU Parliament passed a resolution on the Syrian conflict calling for better access to humanitarian aid, the legal prosecution of crimes against humanity and the repatriation of European IS fighters and their children.
Now is the moment for the international community to insist on the long-term opening of humanitarian corridors in the Idlib region.
Furthermore, we must not forget the political prisoners in the Assad regime's torture prisons. The EU must push for the release of these detainees.
In addition, we must take responsibility for the numerous IS orphans and mothers with European passports who are stuck in IS camps under humanitarian unacceptable conditions. The Al-Hol camp is a ticking time bomb. The children I have seen there are extremely radicalised. The EU Member States have a responsibility for these children and also for the legal conviction of their parents. Only if we offer them a future can radicalisation processes be stopped and changed in constructive directions.
Besides humanitarian aid, we must not forget these points now."
To the travel report by Katrin Langensiepen: https://www.katrin-langensiepen.eu/de/article/271.syrien-reisebericht-eine-reise-ins-vergessene-chaos.html
To the resolution of the EU Parliament: https://www.katrin-langensiepen.eu/de/article/149.10-jahre-syrien-konflikt-europa-ist-nicht-machtlos.html