Monday 03-04-2017 - 09:40

Since 2011, the current conflict in Syria has claimed the lives of over 470,000 people, causing 4.8 Million refugees to flee their homes and into the realms of uncertainty, and displacing 6.6 Million people within the besieged nation’s tattered borders, many of whom at the mercy of Daesh. It has resulted in the biggest humanitarian crisis in the modern era, and it is only continuing to get worse.

The civil war and the resultant refugee crisis is the direct result of President Bashar Hafez al-Assad’s tyrannical regime, bolstered by Russian intervention that intentionally targets innocent civilians by bombing homes, schools, hospitals, neighbourhoods, and destroying livelihoods.

We, the Union of Kingston Students, hereby condemn the actions of the Syrian Government and Russian Forces that have led to the atrocities that have unfolded over the last few years, as well as groups resulting from the war like Daesh for holding the population of Syria and Iraq hostage.

We thus stand in solidarity with the people of Syria, victims of murderous war criminals, who have been forced to embark on long journeys into the unknown; facing harsh terrain, treachery on the high seas, and abuse, persecution, as well as racist and islamophobic discrimination for simply trying to forge a new life for themselves.

We wish for an end to the Syrian Civil War and for an everlasting peace to enable the Syrian people to rebuild their lives, homes, and communities. In addition we call on local, national, and international governments to welcome refugees escaping war and persecution from Syria and beyond with open arms, and end the current agenda of racism, islamophobia, and scapegoating that has resulted in these refugees being treated like criminals for just trying to survive.

Furthermore, we also stand in solidarity with all victims of war, dictatorial regimes, genocide, discrimination, police brutality, racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, islamophobia, and all other atrocities. We stand by all those who are marginalised by society, and we wish all our support to everyone on their path to liberation.

In Unity,

The Union of Kingston Students