Dear Andrew,

I am writing to you about the increasingly urgent humanitarian crisis faced by more than one million children, who are trapped under relentless bombing in Idlib, Syria. Last year, the Under Secretary-General of the UN said that an assault such as this would “result in the worst humanitarian tragedy of the twenty first century.” Despite these warnings, the situation has got even worse, with humanitarian chiefs now stating that the province is “on the brink” of a nightmare.

In the past few months, over 350 civilians have been killed, including 75 children. A minimum of 1000 more have been injured. Additionally, a further 400,000 people have been forced to flee their homes, potentially not the first time for most, but there is nowhere left for them to go.

Last year, Idlib was designated an area of ceasefire, a ‘de-escalation zone’. However, in April, joint Russian and Syrian forces unleashed a devastating assault on the province, claiming to be targeting the forbidden extremist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). However, evidence shows that civilian centres, such as schools, healthcare facilities, markets and homes, were targeted. Such attacks are not only unlawful in and of themselves, they were also carried out using internationally banned weapons such as barrel bombs, cluster bombs, high-explosive missiles and shelling.

At least 25 hospitals, including a Maternity and Children’s hospital, have been badly bombed  in the past few months, some facing multiple airstrikes on the same day. The locations of at least nine of these hospitals were shared with Moscow and Damascus as part of the UN’s deconfliction mechanism, which aims to protect them from attacks. However, the exact opposite has happened, and this fits a very clear pattern of joint Russian and Syrian assaults. Between 2011 and 2018, Physicians for Human Rights documented that out of 566 attacks on medical facilities, 90% were performed by Russia and Syria in alliance.

Within the province of Idlib, there are more than two million people dependant on humanitarian aid in order to survive. However, access to this aid is becoming increasingly difficult. Thousands have fled to already full camps and are now living in empty fields and olive groves with only blankets draped across branches for shade. There are currently more than 800,000 people in Atmeh, an overflowing camp by the Turkish border. Conditions are horrific: there are no toilets, babies and the elderly are struggling in the intense heat, and only one aid organisation was able to deliver food last month.

There are many things the UK could do to support those suffering from the ongoing crisis in Syria:

1. Enforce UK Security Council resolutions: Leading human rights organisations have called on the Security Council to emphasise that this joint Russian-Syrian assault will not go unpunished. Lama Fakih, the acting Middle East directory at Human Rights Watch, has said that “what is happening in Idlib today is the latest chapter in eight years of failure to protect civilians in Syria. But to ensure that the final act is not the tragedy we were anticipating, the Security Council and UN member countries should signal to Russia that it will bear a heavy cost if it does not halt these unlawful attacks.”
2. Undertake a renewed push for a long-term negotiated settlement: the UK needs to reinvest efforts in credible peace talks to ensure a sustainable peace and to make this an urgent priority.
3. Increase humanitarian aid to Idlib: Syrian civil society groups are saving many lives in Idlib, through rescue efforts or through the provision of emergency medical care, but their supplies are dwindling. The UK should increase its direct aid to these groups, including the White Helmets (Syria Civil Defence), medics and aid workers.
4. Continue to offer refuge to those fleeing the crisis: Last month, during Refugee Week, the Government announced that it will resettle 5,000 refugees in 2020/2021 under a new consolidated scheme in line with its current commitments, bringing together existing resettlement schemes. However, the commitment is currently only for one additional year, which is not enough. The delivery of resettlement requires very close collaboration between a large range of providers, and I would urge you to commit to a long term strategy that is fully funded.

For many years, humanitarian organisations and civil society have called for real measures to be taken in order to save lives in Syria. The UK didn’t act to protect them in Homs, Ghouta or Aleppo. Please will you let my constituents and I know whilst steps you are prepared to take to better protect Idlib.

Yours sincerely,