On the situation in Northeast Syria, the violence against civilians and the need to maintain a sustainable ceasefire

B100114/2026

European Parliament resolution on the situation in Northeast Syria, the violence against civilians and the need to maintain a sustainable ceasefire

(2026/2602(RSP))

The European Parliament,

– having regard to the Charter of the United Nations, international humanitarian law and international human rights law, including the Geneva Conventions and the additional protocols thereto,

– having regard to UN Security Council Resolutions 1325 (2000) of 30 October 2000 and 2254 (2015) of 18 December 2015 and to subsequent relevant resolutions on Syria,

– having regard to the reports of the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic,

– having regard to the statements by the UN Secretary-General, the UN Special Envoy for Syria and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA),

– having regard to the Updated EU Guidelines on promoting compliance with international humanitarian law (IHL) and to the EU Guidelines on Children and Armed Conflict,

– having regard to its previous resolutions on Syria, the fight against Daesh and the situation of Kurdish people in the region,

– having regard to Rule 136(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas the people of north-east Syria (Rojava), including Kurds, Arabs, Assyrians, Armenians, Yazidis and other communities, have endured over a decade of war, occupation, forced displacement, economic devastation and systematic violations of international law;

B. whereas the Kurdish people, and other communities in the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES) that were defended by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), played a decisive and internationally recognised role in the territorial defeat of Daesh, at enormous human cost, thereby contributing directly to the security of the region, Europe and the international community;

C. whereas since January 2026, renewed military operations, shelling, drone strikes and security raids have affected several areas of Syria, including the countryside around Kobanê, Aleppo and Hasakah, resulting in civilian casualties, new displacement and the destruction of essential civilian infrastructure;

D. whereas ceasefire arrangements announced and extended during the same period have remained fragile and have been repeatedly violated, further endangering civilians and increasing the risk of renewed large-scale escalation of the conflict;

E. whereas on 30 January 2026, the Syrian transitional authorities and the SDF announced an agreement extending the ceasefire and initiating the integration of Kurdish military and administrative structures into central state institutions; whereas the agreement was concluded under conditions of severe military pressure and structural power asymmetry;

F. whereas ahead of the conclusion of the agreement, Tom Barrack, the US ambassador to Türkiye, had stated that ‘the SDF has accomplished its mission’, thus greatly hindering the negotiations;

G. whereas the United States and other members of the Global Coalition against Daesh relied extensively on the SDF and DAANES in the fight against Daesh, while subsequently failing to provide lasting political guarantees, security assurances or protection against external aggression, thereby contributing to the current power asymmetry and instability and to the exposure of Kurdish and other civilian communities to renewed violence; whereas the repeated withdrawal and redeployment of US troops and the conditionality of the United States’ military and political engagement has undermined trust, weakened civilian protection mechanisms and left local partners vulnerable to military pressure, forced integration and repression;

H. whereas this process raises serious concerns about the dismantling of Kurdish self-administration and democratic autonomy without binding constitutional guarantees, democratic consent or credible safeguards for human rights, minority protection and women’s rights;

I. whereas credible reports from the UN, international non-governmental organisations and humanitarian organisations continue to document serious violations of international humanitarian law and human rights across Syria, including arbitrary killings, enforced disappearances, collective punishment, forced displacement and reprisals against civilians;

J. whereas in recent months, members of ethnic and religious minorities, including Kurds, Yazidis, Assyrians and Alawites, have been subjected to targeted violence, intimidation and killings in areas brought back under central government control, fuelling widespread fear of renewed repression and sectarian abuses;

K. whereas the democratic, secular, feminist and multi-ethnic model developed in north-east Syria, commonly referred to as the Rojava experience, is based on grassroots democracy, women’s liberation, social justice and peaceful coexistence; whereas the Rojava experience is under direct threat;

L. whereas the European Union has a moral and political responsibility towards the Kurdish people and all those who contributed decisively to the defeat of Daesh;

M. whereas the visit of the President of the European Commission to Damascus on 9 January 2026 and the announcement of EU engagement with and financial support for Syria took place while military operations and serious attacks against civilians, including Kurdish communities, were ongoing;

N. whereas the German Minister for Foreign Affairs, Johann Wadephul, stated in November 2025, following a visit to the region, that deportations to Syria are currently not feasible in practice, owing to the vast extent of the destruction and the lack of conditions for dignified return;

1. Strongly condemns all attacks on civilians in north-east Syria led by the Syrian transitional government and jihadist militias, including indiscriminate shelling, airstrikes, drone attacks, siege tactics and the deliberate targeting of civilian infrastructure, such as water and electricity facilities, hospitals, schools and food storage facilities; considers these acts to constitute grave violations of international humanitarian law and potential war crimes;

2. Demands an immediate and unconditional end to all military operations, attacks and violence against civilians; urges the Syrian transitional authorities to fully respect international humanitarian law and international human rights law, including the principles of distinction, proportionality and accountability;

3. Condemns the continuation of authoritarian practices by the Syrian transitional authorities, including military pressure, forced integration and security-driven governance, which deny people their political rights, suppress dissent and expose minorities and women to serious abuses;

4. Demands independent, transparent and international investigations into all alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Rojava and elsewhere in Syria, including those attributable to the Syrian authorities and affiliated forces, with a view to ensuring justice, truth and reparations for victims;

5. Demands that the ceasefire agreements announced and extended in January 2026 be immediately, unconditionally and verifiably respected and consolidated; firmly condemns all violations of the agreements that risk reigniting large-scale hostilities;

6. Rejects any attempt to use ceasefire or integration arrangements as a cover for repression, territorial expansion, demographic engineering or the dismantling of democratic self-governance structures in Rojava;

7. Stresses that a sustainable and inclusive future for Syria can only be achieved through dialogue, demilitarisation, social justice and inclusive pluralistic political processes that include all communities and respect Syria’s territorial integrity, and not through military domination, foreign military interference or occupation, authoritarian control or coercive integration;

8. Reaffirms its strong solidarity with the Kurdish people and all communities of north-east Syria; recognises the decisive role played by the DAANES and the SDF, not only in the fight against Daesh, but also in maintaining relative stability, protecting civilians and promoting coexistence;

9. Stresses that the Rojava experience represents one of the most advanced and concrete democratic alternatives to authoritarianism, sectarianism and patriarchal domination in the Middle East; highlights the fact that the Rojava experience is grounded in grassroots democracy, gender equality, women’s empowerment, ecological sustainability and the peaceful coexistence of Kurds, Arabs, Armenians, Assyrians and other communities;

10. Emphasises that the participation of women at all levels of political, social and security governance in Rojava constitutes a historic achievement that must be protected and strengthened; opposes any political settlement that would roll back women’s rights or dismantle gender-equality mechanisms;

11. Stresses that any political settlement for Syria that marginalises the Kurdish people, dismantles democratic autonomy or disregards the Rojava experience is doomed to fail and risks reproducing the root causes of conflict, repression and instability;

12. Demands the immediate opening of permanent, safe and internationally guaranteed humanitarian corridors to all besieged and affected areas of north-east Syria, including Kobanê; underlines that humanitarian access is a binding obligation under international humanitarian law and must never be conditional, temporary or subject to military coercion or political bargaining;

13. Demands that unimpeded humanitarian access be fully safeguarded and adequately resourced both within Syria and across borders, including through strengthened cross-border mechanisms and predictable, sustained funding for humanitarian actors;

14. Calls for the EU to support the urgent establishment of immediate and internationally monitored civilian protection mechanisms, including the deployment of a robust, independent and adequately resourced UN monitoring mission, which should be mandated to monitor compliance with ceasefire and integration agreements, document violations in real time, publicly report its findings and contribute directly to the protection of civilians, minorities and internally displaced persons;

15. Urges the EU and its Member States to exert strong, sustained and coordinated diplomatic pressure on the Syrian transitional authorities, as well as on states such as Türkiye that are directly involved in attacks against Kurdish and other civilian communities or whose pursuit of geopolitical power continues to obstruct a just and lasting peace in Syria, including through cross-border military operations, airstrikes and drone attacks;

16. Rejects any premature normalisation of relations with the Syrian authorities and stresses that any EU funding, reconstruction assistance or political partnership must be strictly conditional on concrete, measurable and irreversible progress on human rights and the establishment of a democratic, inclusive, pluralistic and rights-based system of governance reflecting the religious and ethnic diversity of Syrian society;

17. Rejects any EU financial commitments that are linked to or conditional on accelerated deportations; calls for a suspension of deportations;

18. Calls for the international community to hold the Syrian authorities to account; calls for the EU and its Member States to consider imposing targeted sanctions on individuals and entities responsible for serious human rights violations, war crimes or crimes against humanity;

19. Regrets that senior EU-level diplomatic engagement with the Syrian transitional authorities, including the visit of the President of the European Commission to Damascus in January 2026, took place at a time when mass violence, military assaults and killings affecting Kurdish and other minority communities were being reported; stresses that such engagement, together with the lack of clear public condemnation and binding conditions, risks conferring political legitimacy on actors implicated in serious violations of human rights and undermines the credibility of the EU’s human rights policy;

20. Stresses the need for binding constitutional recognition and political guarantees for Kurdish identity and rights, including with regard to language, education, cultural expression, self-defence and democratic autonomy, as well as effective protection for all ethnic and religious minorities; stresses that without such guarantees any agreement will merely institutionalise dispossession, repression and structural violence;

21. Calls for the recognition of the DAANES as a legitimate, democratic and representative form of regional autonomy within the framework of a future democratic Syrian state; considers the recognition of the DAANES to be essential to any credible, inclusive and sustainable political solution for Syria;

22. Stresses that Syria, as a multi-ethnic state, must urgently engage in the drafting of a democratic constitution that fully includes all segments of society, reflecting the diversity of the peoples and cultures of the country; underlines that such a constitutional process must guarantee not only individual rights, but full collective rights, as well as the safety and security of all population groups; further regrets that the so-called elections held to date have not met international democratic standards and emphasises the importance of genuinely free and fair democratic elections that are respectful of the will of the Syrian people;

23. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the United Nations, the Syrian transitional authorities, the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria and the Arab League.