Oral Statement HRC 24th Session - General Debate
World Council of Arameans (Syriacs)
Oral Statement Human Right Council 24th Session - General Debate
The Silent Genocide and Mass Exodus of the Christians in Syria: Deafening Silence from the International Community
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Thank you Mr. President,
The forgotten Christians in Syria suffer like never before. Every single day we receive heartbreaking reports from our people in Syria, who are increasingly leaving their homeland.
We are saddened by the deafening silence about this reality. We are happy to note that some countries spearheaded by Russia call attention for Syria’s vulnerable minorities, but we are also compelled to note that many governments and mainstream media remain silent on this. The most recent example was a press conference that took place just yesterday in Paris by the foreign ministers of France, England and America.
US Secretary of State Mr. John Kerry was asked about the disappearance of Iraq’s native Christians and its relation to the same phenomenon in Syria. He was asked about our abducted bishops from Aleppo who tomorrow are missing 150 days and about the recent attack by the rebels against the Aramean Christian town of Ma’aloula near Damascus.
Mr. Kerry stated that the rebels assured him that Syria will be a secular country so that minorities have nothing to worry about, while seeing little to no connection between the Iraq war and the mass exodus of the Christians in Syria. The reality on the ground, however, completely disproves such convictions held by Mr. Kerry.
Not only did he downplay the unprecedented disaster of the silent genocide against Syria’s stateless, defenseless and internationally forgotten Aramean Christians and other minorities. More and more reports show that nearly half of Syria’s rebels are in reality jihadists or hard-line Islamist groups who kidnap, rape, torture and kill the minorities, while utterly rejecting secularism and other noble values. Are we really supposed to live under their rule?
Therefore, we implore all nations engaged in this conflict to establish a ceasefire and dialogue, to stop sending weapons into Syria, while condemning the ignored crimes against humanity committed by the rebels and acknowledging their true nature and objectives. For their cause has nothing to do with democracy, human rights and freedom – noble values which all human beings long for, regardless of their ethno-religious backgrounds.
Syria belongs to the Syrian people with their different religions and cultures, including Syria’s ancient and indigenous Aramean Christians. The plans by militant Islamists to found a state based on the principles championed by al-Qaeda must be combated by the international community.
Before he was abducted, the Syriac Orthodox Archbishop H.E. Gregorius Hanna Ibrahim wrote us the following which we wish to share with the international community:
We are advocates of peace, and are working with all sides in order to keep this heinous war, that has flared uncontrollably in our homeland Syria, at bay. We cry loudly: Enough is enough; we are totally exhausted and cannot continue.
This war must come to an immediate end before it burns the whole region and decimates, if not exterminates, the vulnerable minority groups in Syria, such as happened in the recent past to the ancient indigenous Aramean people of Turkey and Iraq.
Background information
The World Council of Arameans (Syriacs) was formerly called the “Syriac Universal Alliance.” This name change will hopefully be adapted in the UN database before the turn of the year.
Until the war started, Syria’s Christians constituted 10% (2,3 million) of the national population. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of Aramean (Syriac) Christians are fleeing war-torn Syria. The Arameans have retained their 3,000-year old Aramaic mother tongue, which is known as the language of Jesus, and are native to Syria, Turkey, Iraq and Lebanon. However, in none of these countries they are officially recognized as a distinct people where they continue to struggle for recognition and survival. Thus, your voice and support are very much needed and appreciated.
