12th Anniversary of the Start of the Syrian Revolution: A Call for Solidarity!

Tomorrow marks the anniversary of the Syrian revolution, which began 12 years ago, and where people continuously face deadly violence. However, it is impossible to commemorate the Syrian revolution without addressing the frays that accompanied women from Syria, as they lived under the regime that arrested, forcedly disappeared, tortured, and imprisoned hundreds of them as well as causing them to seek asylum in neighboring countries, where they are subject to racist and absurd laws in Lebanon and Turkey, making them vulnerable to violence and exploitation. Women in Syria are left to face armed and extremist militias, which keep them in constant imminent danger and fear of murder, kidnapping, and trafficking without fear of accountability or punishment.

A month ago, the earthquake in Turkey and Syria destroyed thousands of homes, burying those once alive and loved under the rubble. The aftermath shed light on the racist practices that the Syrian people are facing, as demonstrated in the imbalance in rescue operations and access to resources between the Syrian region and Turkish region and the creation of a hierarchy in determining what lives to save and what lives to abandon. 

The earthquake shed light on the Syrian regime’s control over the roads through which aid can pass and the Turkish regime’s control on the opposite side, leaving people stuck between two security regimes and armed militias.

The Regional Coalition of Women Human Rights Defenders in West Asia and North Africa salutes the women, feminists and queers in and from Syria who stand up to horrific violence and daily death!

The Regional Coalition of Women Human Rights Defenders calls on women’s organizations in the  SWANA region to support Syrian women’s organizations and movements  by joining an Arab feminist action group that the Coalition calls for and aims to support the women’s movement in Syria regionally.

It also calls for:

• Joining the Syrian organizations working to put pressure on the United Nations to open humanitarian corridors that the regime does not control.
• Continue to mobilize resources for the relief of those affected by the earthquake and for Syrians in general.
• Raise the voice of racism, marginalization, and exclusion to which Syrian refugee women in our region are subjected to.

To join the working group, please email: comms@whrdmena.org