ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - British lawmakers warned on Wednesday that Kurds in northeast Syria (Rojava) face an “immense” threat amid escalating military operations by the Syrian Arab Army and its affiliated armed groups, urging the UK government to act to prevent further violence and protect civilians.
“I know that MPs and Kurds for Labour and colleagues generally have been raising the situation [of] Kurds in Syria,” Bill Ribeiro-Addy, a member of the British Parliament, told Rudaw.
“The threat that they face is immense, and I think the general view at the moment is that everything has to be done to ensure that the threat of violence and the real threat that people will start to be killed comes to an end,” she said.
Her comments come amid continued military escalation by Syrian government forces and allied armed groups against Kurdish-led forces in Rojava.
Videos circulating on social media appear to show captured Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters and civilians being insulted, beaten, and executed by armed men affiliated with Damascus. The SDF has also released footage showing several of its fighters being decapitated.
“I know that there is definitely a commitment to make sure that doesn't happen,” Ribeiro-Addy said.
She added that the UK “definitely has a responsibility to ensure that the violence no longer continues, and I hope to see us do that in the weeks and months moving forward.”
“We in the labor party, stand for human rights and their human rights,” Ribeiro-Addy said.
Labour lawmaker Steve Race echoed those concerns, stressing the need for inclusive governance in Syria.
“They want every community to be involved in the running in Syria. So we want to make sure that is the case for every community in Syria, including the Kurdish community,” Race said.
“We are waiting at the moment to get a briefing with minister [for the Middle East and North Africa Hamish] Falconer across the next few days. We want to hear for him, what the UK government’s position is what its intelligence is so that we have a clearer understanding of what we need to do in the UK to support Kurdish communities both here and across the region as well,” he added.
The comments followed protests in London in support of Kurds in Rojava.
Mohammed Barzanji, president of the Kurdish Community in Britain, said they organized “the largest protest” in front of “the house of the prime minister.”
He said demonstrators chanted “Rojava must not fall” and submitted “an official document” demanding an end to the “slaughter of Kurds again.”
Hundreds of Kurdish protesters gathered outside British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office on Tuesday, calling on the UK to take action against the Syrian military’s offensive on Kurdish-held areas.
“Do you remember when ISIS was attacking the streets of the UK?” Kurdish social media personality Hakar Mirza said at the demonstration in London.
The Kurdish-led SDF, which serves as Rojava’s de facto military force, played a decisive role in defeating ISIS in Syria in 2019 and was the sole on-the-ground partner of the US-led Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS until Syria joined in November.
“We had to fight ISIS. We sacrificed thousands of lives in the Middle East… we stopped them from coming over here and now ISIS is back, and now ISIS is back because of Turkey, because of Syria because of the UK,” Mirza said.
ISIS has previously claimed responsibility for deadly attacks in the UK.
“UK shame on you,” he chanted, with the crowd echoing his words.
Meanwhile, the SDF announced on Tuesday that it had withdrawn from the al-Hol camp in Hasaka, which houses families and affiliates of ISIS members, following reports of “fierce clashes” with Damascus-affiliated armed groups nearby.
Shortly afterward, Syria’s defense ministry declared its “complete readiness to take control of al-Hol camp and ISIS prisons” in areas held by the SDF. It also urged Kurdish-led forces to adhere to the 14-point agreement reached on January 18, stating that “our forces will not enter Kurdish towns and villages.”
SDF spokesperson Farhad Shami told Rudaw early Tuesday that around “1,500 ISIS militants - including both foreign and Syrian nationals - have been released” by Damascus-affiliated armed groups from al-Shaddadi prison in southern Hasaka.