Thread by @Syria_Irl

@kierancuddihy @TheHardShoulder

Re the situation in Syria please see Irish Syria Solidarity Movement detailed letter to @simoncoveney and accompanying press release which will provide background to inform future discussions you may have on Syria

Very strange in discussion about the horror of Syria for Assad to be mentioned once, in passing, as far as we heard

Syria is not a civil war but a war of subjugation & extermination by Assad regime vs civilian population, plus actions of other countries pursuing own agendas

Humanitarian crisis in N Syria is hugely exacerbated by closure of all but one border aid crossing by Russia veto at UNSC, & Russia's threat to close the last crossing
@simoncoveney @irishmissionun hold Syria humanitarian file at UNSC & are committed to somehow keep crossing open

Syrians have been working meticulously to hold war criminals & those guilty of crimes against humanity to account, legal cases are being taken in a number of European countries vs perpetrators from the Assad regime, one accused in Germany found guilty of crimes against humsnity

Syrians are clear that the hundreds of thousands of disappeared & murdered in detention in Syria must be top of agenda re future of Syria: survivors must be released, dead returned to families, ongoing arrests must stop

Assads have ruled thru terror of their prisons for 50 yrs

Assad regime wd not surviv without Iran backed militias on the ground enforcing starvation sieges & forced displacement & Russia in the air obliterating towns, hospitals, schools

Must be maximum pressure on Iran & Russia -both have profited hugely - to stop backing Assad terror

In addition Syrians are faced with tyranny of extremists groups, with eg HTS & SDF imitating Assad's tactics, & ISIS continuing their campaign with little intervention by Assad

Syrian civil society exists in spite of all of this & provided with peace & justice can renew Syria