Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-10-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what his recent assessment is of the (a) security situation and (b) state of human rights in Rojava region of Syria.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

The security situation in Syria remains extremely volatile and dangerous. There is widespread fighting throughout Syria. Full scale military operations involving the use of small arms, tanks, artillery and aircraft are ongoing. We advise against all travel to Syria, without geographic exception.

The UK Government does not recognise the self-declared Rojava region in Syria. We continue to have concerns about the human rights situation in areas under the control of the PYD and its allies. Human Rights Watch and others have reported the abduction and arbitrary arrest of political opponents. Amnesty International has also highlighted reports of arbitrary detentions and unfair trials of those deemed to support Daesh without credible evidence, and the demolition of civilian homes and forced displacement of civilians. We continue to press the PYD to address these concerns; and for the PYD and all other actors to adopt a pluralistic approach, inclusive of all ethnic groups, and to abide by international human rights standards.