Situation in besieged cities in northern Syria deteriorates

In view of the dramatic situation in northern Syria, the Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) is once again calling on the German Bundestag to take action to protect the Kurdish population and other minorities. "The besieged Kurdish city of Kobanê has been without electricity, clean drinking water, sufficient food, medicine, and fuel for at least ten days. The internet connection has also been cut off. In other cities such as al-Hasaka, hospitals are running out of essential medicines. Around 150,000 people are fleeing the region. Many have fled to Qamishli. We appeal to the German Bundestag to finally take action to end the attacks and violence against minorities in Syria," said Dr. Kamal Sido, Middle East consultant at the STP, today in Göttingen.

The human rights organization does not see the current agreement between the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the regime in Damascus as a sign of a change of direction by the regime. "It is questionable whether the regime in Damascus will actually adhere to the agreement with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). In the past, similar agreements with the Alawites in western Syria, the Druze in the south, and the Kurds in Aleppo were broken by al-Sharaa's regime. The regime and its militias launched new attacks in which tens of thousands of people were killed, injured, or displaced. Women were abducted and raped," said human rights activist Sido.

According to the STP, the Bundestag should follow an initiative by US Senators Lindsey Graham and Richard Blumenthal dated January 29, 2026. In response to the Syrian Islamist regime's repeated attacks on Kurds in northern Syria, they had introduced the “Save the Kurds Act” bill. The US bill provides for sanctions against Syrian regime officials, its financial institutions, and foreign individuals who support the regime in Damascus financially or in other ways. In addition, it calls for recognition of the role of the Kurds in the fight against ISIS. Al-Sharaa's militia, Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the Syrian branch of the international terrorist network al-Qaeda, is to be reclassified as a foreign terrorist organization if Kurds and other minorities continue to be attacked. The bill also includes a package of measures that would require the US president to reinstate all sanctions against Syria if the Syrian regime does not stop its attacks on Kurds.

“This initiative aims to protect the Kurdish population in Syria from current and future attacks by the Islamist regime and ideologically affiliated Islamist militias such as the Islamic State (IS) and other radical Sunni militias. The genocidal violence against minorities in Syria must be stopped as soon as possible,” said Sido.

This press release was translated from German to English using AI. If you come across errors or ambiguities, please contact us at presse@gfbv.de.