On this day 13 years ago, the Syrian people took to the streets
in peaceful protest to demand their freedom and respect for human
rights. The Assad regime met these protests with a ruthless
campaign of oppression and atrocities that continues to this day.
Since March 2011, the Syria conflict has led to the deaths of
more than 500,000 people, and the forced displacement of more
than half of the Syrian population. The co-ordinated efforts of
the United Kingdom, United States of America, France and Germany
are focused on ending the suffering of the Syrian people. We also
continue to press for accountability and justice, calling for the
release of civilians arbitrarily detained. We welcome and support
the work of organisations such as the Commission of Inquiry and
the International Independent and Impartial Mechanism, which
document the crimes perpetrated in Syria, and the newly
established UN Independent Institution for Missing Persons in
Syria.
The war in Syria is not over. During the last year, the suffering
of ordinary Syrians has continued, whether at the hands of the
Assad regime, its allies, or Daesh terrorists. Since October, the
Assad regime has stepped up its ruthless bombardment campaign,
impacting civilians living outside areas under its control. With
the support of Russia, the Assad regime has conducted attacks
across north-west Syria, resulting in over 500 civilian
casualties and the displacement of over 120,000 people. We call
for an immediate end to these attacks. Northeast Syria has
witnessed further escalation in violence. This includes attacks
by Daesh, whose past atrocities must not be forgotten. In this
regard, we thank the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical
Weapons and the Investigation and Identification Team for their
recent report, concluding that there are reasonable grounds to
believe that Daesh deployed sulfur mustard during attacks in
Marea in 2015. Preventing Daesh’s resurgence remains a top
priority. We call on the international community to rally around
the remaining tasks to ensure durable solutions for the residents
of al-Hol and Roj camps, and for the issue of the Daesh
detainees.
The devastating impact of the February 2023 earthquakes is still
felt today. In 2024, the number of Syrians in need of
humanitarian assistance across Syria has reached 16.7 million. In
the north-west, the unhindered and predictable delivery of
humanitarian aid, including cross-border humanitarian assistance,
is essential to ensuring civilians can access adequate
support. Donors and international partners require greater
predictability for planning and procurement, and we call on the
Assad regime to grant indefinite access at crossing points for as
long as needs persist, to ensure a sustainable and reliable
response.
We are increasingly concerned by the threats posed by the trade
of the illicit drug captagon, from which the Assad regime, with
the support of Iran-aligned militia groups and other actors,
generates vast profits to fund its oppression of the Syrian
people. Global coordination is required to tackle the malign
impact of captagon, which is contributing to instability across
the region. We call on the Assad regime to end its role in this
trade and to take meaningful steps to curb drug trafficking by
others in Syria.
We remain committed to ending the human rights violations and
abuses suffered by the Syrian people at the hands of the Assad
regime. The peaceful demonstrations in Suweida, ongoing since
last summer, show that the demands for peace, freedom and dignity
that led to protests 13 years ago endure.
Our countries see no possibility of normalisation with the Assad
regime, no funding of reconstruction and no lifting of sanctions
until there is authentic, meaningful and enduring progress
towards a political solution. A Syrian-owned, Syrian-led
political settlement in line with UNSCR 2254 is the only viable
mechanism that can bring lasting peace for the Syrian people. The
conditions for safe, dignified and voluntary returns of refugees
to Syria, supported by the international community, are not yet
met and we call on the Assad regime to make the reforms necessary
to protect the freedom, dignity, and human rights of all. We
welcome the announcement by UN Special Envoy Geir Pedersen to
convene a meeting of the Constitutional Committee in April in
Geneva and we urge all sides to accept the invitation and engage
seriously on the work of the Committee.
