Syria

Since 2011, Syria has descended into civil war, killing more than more than 226,000 civilians. The Syrian civil war has been a disastrous and tragic conflict, which has precipitated a humanitarian disaster. 

According to the latest report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, in 2020 violations amounting to crimes against humanity continued unabated. It is estimated that 6.5 million people are internally displaced, while 5.6 million have sought refuge in neighbouring countries. 

According to the report, 9.3 million people, more than half the population, are food insecure. Households are forced to resort to negative coping mechanisms, including child labour. 

Over the years, the STUC has been dismayed by the lack of action or initiative by the international community in attempting to resolve the Syrian conflict. We believe that this failure to act has been the greatest failure of President Obama’s foreign policy and has resulted in Syria becoming a proxy war for a range of regional powers in the Middle East.  

Furthermore, this inaction has created the vacuum into which the brutal and barbaric Islamic State group has been allowed to develop and grow. 

The STUC has opposed air strikes in Syria. We take the view that bombing Syria fulfils no strategic objectives, other than strengthening support for extremists in the country, and does nothing to help begin the process of finding a peaceful solution to the conflict. 

The STUC has, and will continue to, push for increased support for refugees and asylum seekers from Syria and elsewhere.