Changes from report parliamentary committee draft to plenary report

AddedEXPLANATORY STATEMENT

AddedAs all eyes are once again turned towards the Middle East, Syria remains the land of a forgotten conflict in the area, despite half a million deaths and millions of refugees. Assad’s bloody dictatorship survives only through Russia and Iran’s support, and serves as a pawn in the latter's strategy of regional destabilisation. Terrorist cells are still active. There cannot be peace without justice, a return of refugees without a political settlement and a normalisation of EU relations with Damascus without significant changes.

AddedThree years after Parliament adopted a resolution on the 10th anniversary of the violently repressed Syrian uprising and subsequent ongoing conflict, the situation in the country has, unfortunately, stagnated, if not worsened. Bashar Al-Assad's Syria is ravaged by arms and drug trafficking, with his brother commanding the army unit responsible for facilitating Captagon's production. Al-Assad's regime is personally responsible for the death of half a million civilians, the destruction of the country, the displacement of the majority of the population and the torture and forced disappearance of more than 100 000 people. It has also grown dependent on military and financial assistance from Iran and Russia, which it has allowed to profit from exploiting the country's natural resources, at the expense of the Syrian people. ISIS and other armed and terrorist groups remain a serious threat.

AddedThe Committee on Foreign Affairs opposes any normalisation of relations with the Assad regime if it does not properly implement the UN Security Council Resolution 2254 (2015), including by releasing political prisoners, informing the families of the victims about the fate of the missing persons and victims of enforced disappearance, and stopping all attacks and obstacles to humanitarian aid. The report stresses that the fight against impunity in Syria is a prerequisite to any future resolution of the ongoing crisis, as well as a moral and political imperative for Europe and the international community. The EU and its Member States must continue to support attempts to bring the leadership of the Syrian regime to justice. The international community must also urgently increase its humanitarian assistance to the 15.3 million Syrians who depend on it on a daily basis.