Foreign Secretary (): Today, I am updating the
House following my visit to Syria, where I met President
Al-Sharaa and renewed the bilateral diplomatic relationship. This
was the first visit by a UK Minister for over 14 years and marks
the beginning of a new chapter in our relationship with Syria.
Eight months on from the fall of Assad, who subjected the Syrian
people to 14 years of a brutal civil war, it's right that we
engage the new government. A stable Syria is in the UK's
interests: peace means fewer people being exploited by people
smuggling gangs in Europe; and making perilous journeys on small
boats to Britain. By engaging with the Syrian Government, the UK
is helping to ensure the protection of human rights, the safe
destruction of Assad's chemical weapons programme, and progress
towards combatting terrorism and extremism, including from Daesh.
I had a productive meeting with President Al-Sharaa and Foreign
Minister al-Shaibani, during which we discussed the full breadth
of the UK-Syria relationship. We discussed the importance of
stability, and a political transition which delivers for the
Syrian people. I stressed the importance of tackling security
threats to the UK, reducing the drivers of irregular migration
and improving the conditions to enable Syrians in the UK and
across the region to return home.
The pace of change in Syria has been encouraging. I welcome the
commitment to hold free and fair elections and the representative
appointments made to the Cabinet, in March. It is important that
the transition proceeds in a genuinely inclusive and
representative way and respects the rights of all Syrians,
regardless of ethnic or religious background.
The Syrian government has committed to a brighter future.
Immediate priorities should include the implementation of a deal
with the Syrian Democratic Forces; a focus on social cohesion and
an improved response to sectarian violence; and the protection of
human rights.
There still remains much to do. We will continue to judge the new
government on the action it takes to deliver on these
commitments.
We welcome the commitment made by Foreign Minister al-Shaibani to
co-operate fully with the Organisation for the Prohibition of
Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to ensure that the Assad chemical weapons
programme is finally declared and destroyed. During my visit I
announced a further £2 million to support the OPCW in this vital
work. This follows an earlier UK contribution of £837,000, part
of which helped facilitate three OPCW deployments to Syria. The
UK, has also developed a further package of logistical and
technical support for OPCW and Syria, and continues to encourage
partners to follow our lead in supporting this essential work.
The MOD, with FCDO, will provide a further update on this
activity in due course.
The UK has long stood by the people of Syria and will continue to
do so. The scale of the challenge facing the government and
ordinary Syrians, as they emerge from almost 14 years of
conflict, is immense. The economy is broken, 90% of the
population are in poverty and over 16 million people require
humanitarian assistance. While in Damascus, I announced a further
£94.5 million to provide urgent humanitarian aid to Syrians, and
to support Syria's longer-term recovery through
education and livelihoods, and countries hosting Syrian refugees
in the region.
The UK was one of the first to relieve sanctions – and lifted
several sanctions on key sectors in April, and asset freezes in
March on entities including the Central Bank of Syria. Our focus
now is to support Syrians in rebuilding their country and economy
and create the conditions to boost to trade and investment. In my
meeting with al-Shaibani, we agreed to work together on
establishing a UK-Syria Business Council.
As I said on my visit, the UK is re-establishing diplomatic
relations because it is in our interests to support the new
Syrian government to deliver their commitment to build a stable,
more secure and prosperous future for all Syrians.
