On the 11th of December, the Syrian British Consortium (SBC) concluded its first UK tour, which included a series of meetings with a wide range of Syrians in Manchester, Leeds, Cardiff and London. During these meetings, the SBC presented a summary of its most important activities and events during the past two years. Including the periodic and continuous consultative meetings with the UK Office for Syria (UKOS) in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), and the several meetings with UK’s members of Parliament and British ministers, such as Minister James Cleverly, the current Foreign Minister and former Minister for Middle Eastern Affairs. In addition to participating in a number of Security Council sessions, and meeting a number of European delegations.
The SBC also presented a future vision for its political lobbying and advocacy campaigns inside and outside Britain, especially those related to the issue of accountability in Syria, such as holding the Syrian regime accountable for the repeated use of chemical weapons against civilians, activating the UN-backed mechanism to reveal the fate of the missing and forcibly disappeared, the release of all political detainees, and supporting the political transition process in accordance with Security Council Resolution 2254.
During our UK tour, participants identified several recommendations to deepen the roles of UK-based Syrians in influencing UK policies towards Syria, including: the periodic repetition of the SBC’s tour to guarantee the widest possible participation of the Syrian community, networking with academic circles supporting the Syrian cause, increasing the number of physical and virtual seminars on the most important political and human rights issues related to Syria, holding dialogue workshops tailored for Syrian and non-Syrian youth in the UK, and deepening the effective communication with Syrian diaspora residing in a number of European countries.
We extend our gratitude to everyone who participated in SBC’s meetings for their valuable input, suggestions and support.
