Emergency session in British Parliament on crimes in Sheikh Maqsoud, Ashrafieh

An emergency briefing session was held at the British Parliament last night, attended by a number of activists and parliamentarians, dedicated to discussing the crimes committed against residents of the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods in the city of Aleppo by mercenaries of the Syrian interim government supported by the Turkish occupation.

The session was attended by a large number of Members of Parliament, along with former diplomats, journalists, and international policy experts, where attention was drawn to the widespread violations against civilians, including artillery shelling, siege, forced displacement, and the targeting of civilian infrastructure.

British MP Kate Osborne said during the session that neighborhoods where residents had settled after years of displacement “were subjected to heavy artillery shelling and continuous clashes,” noting that what is happening represents a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law.

She added: “This cannot, and must not, be ignored. Homes are being shelled and entire neighborhoods are being emptied once again.”

Osborne also expressed her regret, saying: “It saddens me that I have to hold an emergency meeting in Parliament today to discuss what is happening in Aleppo, where international law has once again been violated, causing the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people and the loss of many lives.”

She praised the speakers who delivered direct testimonies from the ground and confirmed that she will continue to pressure the British government to raise the issue at official levels, adding: “We must call things by their real name: ethnic cleansing. We must reject this situation and work to protect human rights and international law.”

For her part, Kurdish journalist Ronahi Hassan spoke about the deteriorating humanitarian conditions in the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods, highlighting the imposed siege and the massacres committed against civilians and members of the Internal Security Forces.

Ronahi Hassan said: “I stand here today as a Kurdish woman and a British citizen. For decades, decisions made in halls like this have divided the Kurdish people and shaped their fate, and that legacy continues to this day.”

She added: “What the Kurds in these two neighborhoods are facing is violence and ethnic cleansing by the so-called transitional government rooted in jihadist violence,” noting that these forces are “politically enabled by Western states, including the United Kingdom.”

She pointed out that the crimes are not limited to Kurds alone, explaining: “These atrocities previously targeted Alawites, Druze, and Christians. Today Kurdish civilians are besieged, starved, forcibly displaced, hospitals are targeted, and members of the Asayish are killed despite agreements that were supposed to protect them.”

She confirmed that the crimes are documented and include “mutilated bodies, gouged eyes, and corpses thrown from buildings,” noting that some of these crimes “were published by the perpetrators themselves.”

The Kurdish journalist held the British government politically and morally responsible, saying: “As a British citizen, I hold the United Kingdom responsible for enabling these crimes through political cover, alliances, and silence.”

In the conclusion of her speech, Ronahi Hassan addressed a direct appeal to British decision-makers, calling on them to assume their historical responsibilities, adding: “History will remember those who stood with justice and those who chose silence.”

This parliamentary session comes at a time when humanitarian conditions in the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods remain extremely fragile, amid the continued perpetration of massacres and the abduction of hundreds of civilians to unknown destinations, alongside warnings of the ongoing suffering of thousands of civilians inside the two neighborhoods.

A-H 

ANHA