We must not let America sell out the Syrian rebels to Putin and Assad
By Jo Cox MP and Omid Nouripour MdB
11:22AM GMT 04 Feb 2016
The time is gone when Europe could consider the Syrian conflict a distant problem to be kept at arm’s length. The country’s descent from peaceful protest to violent anarchy has evident ramifications for us, from the
desperate people fleeing violence to find safety in the EU to the rising threat of terrorism on our streets.
So this is Europe’s crisis. And yet, despite this, our governments have spent years wringing their hands watching it worsen. In the gap created by our inaction and the absence of a coherent, coordinated European response, Russia has added fuel to the fire and exacerbated the suffering.
Today’s conference in London to support Syria and the region is welcome. It is co-hosted by David Cameron and the German Chancellor Angela Merkel and will be attended by world leaders and the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon. Their first priority should be getting to the roots of this crisis.
The problem is that until now Europe has never spoken with one voice on this conflict. In negotiations for a Syrian peace plan there has been weak cooperation, no joint strategy and a distinct lack of sustained pressure that will be necessary to contain the conflict and put a stop to Assad’s brutal tactics.
This is a problem because the US seems intent on a peace settlement that will be dangerously unbalanced. Such is the US determination to secure deal at any cost that they are prepared to offer far too many concessions to Assad and their Russian allies. This undermines the Syrian opposition, who feel betrayed by the international community. It also diminishes the chance for a sustainable peace and relegates the protection of civilians virtually out of the conference room. If we don't stand up for them, nobody will.
The fact that Russia has intensified its bombing campaign in Syria during the build up to peace talks speaks to the futility of the US approach and the need for a much more muscular European response. One which must start today, on two fronts.
Firstly, Europe should be working together, putting our considerable diplomatic weight behind a coordinated approach to finding a political solution to the Syria conflict. The focus cannot simply be on Isil. Isil and Assad are not separate problems.
The brutality of the Assad regime has helped nurture extremism and been its main recruiting sergeant. The British and the German governments pressed hard to secure a seat at the table for the peace talks. It's about time their commitment to play a leading, constructive role to secure a peaceful solution materialised.
Secondly, we should call time on the humanitarian appeasement of Assad. It is just weeks after
the plight of civilians in the besieged town of Madaya finally came to the world’s attention. Under a complete siege for six months by Syrian government and allied forces, the 42,000 civilians trapped in Madaya suffered from a severe shortage of food with many resorting to eating plants, insects, and even cats in order to survive. Despite a minor breakthrough on access in December their suffering continues today. Indeed, the medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières reported this week a further 16 deaths in the town.
And civilians in Madaya are not alone. The UN estimates that 400,000 Syrians are still living in areas under siege, while the Siege Watch project puts that number at over 1 million people, for whom access to international assistance is deliberately and systematically being withheld as a weapon of war. All UN Security Council members, including Russia, have demanded an end to the starvation and targeting of civilians. This should not be up for negotiation. In the event that the UN doesn’t negotiate sustained ongoing access, our governments should start urgent planning for air drops of aid.
The idea that you can build trust while the Syrian government and some opposition groups continue to systematically kill and starve civilians is absurd. Broad coalitions of Syrian civil society groups have made clear that if they don’t see progress to end the regime’s medieval tactics of war, the peace talks will not be credible in their eyes – and so any agreements will not last. If nothing is done to improve the humanitarian situation of the many suffering Syrians,
more of the Sunni population will be alienated, driven closer to Da'esh rather than towards a negotiated settlement to this war.
Europe can no longer duck this challenge. Our governments must be bold, relentless and, most importantly, united. Anything less and the flames of the Syria conflict will continue to rise, driving those people from the country or into the arms of extremism. And for Europe, uniquely, that means a deeper refugee crisis and a greater terrorist threat.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/12140058/We-must-not-let-America-sell-out-the-Syrian-rebels-to-Putin-and-Assad.html