Urgent Question on deteriorating situation in north-west Syria

The government was forced to ask an Urgent Question on the security situation in north-west Syria yesterday. This year nearly 900,000 people have been uprooted by the violence alone, most of them women and children. The UN Humanitarian Affairs Chief has warned that the conflict, which has been going on for 9 years, has reached a ‘horrifying new level’. There are about 3 million people living in the Idlib region of north-west Syria. Half of them have already been displaced from other parts of the country and will be forced to flee for the second or third time. They are fleeing northwards into dense enclaves and inundated refugee camps, and the temperature remains below freezing. So yesterday I asked whether our country can do the right thing and take more refugees via the resettlement route?I agree with the Foreign Secretary that we need a lasting, genuine, and immediate ceasefire. We must do all we can to work for this and to continue to condemn the violation of international humanitarian law. But we must also offer to resettle more refugees through sustainable pathways like the Global Resettlement Scheme. As the Syrian Resettlement Scheme (VPRS) will end imminently, the government must commit to expanding their Global Resettlement Scheme to support Syrians and others who continue to flee from conflict and persecution. This is something the government must commit to, as well as urgently pursuing other ways to support a lasting peace in the region.

Posted by Thangam Debbonaire on Tuesday, February 25, 2020