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

B100116/2026

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 its previous resolutions on Syria,

– having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948,

– having regard to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 1966,

– having regard to the UN Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief, adopted by the UN General Assembly on 25 November 1981,

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

A. whereas the Syrian conflict has evolved into a prolonged and fragmented civil war involving state and non-state actors, foreign powers and jihadist organisations, resulting in the near-collapse of state institutions, large-scale destruction and one of the largest humanitarian crises in the world; whereas hundreds of thousands of people have been killed since 2011 and millions displaced and many travelling to Europe as illegal migrants; whereas 16.5 million people in Syria require humanitarian assistance, 1.5 million people are internally displaced, 14.6 million people are facing food insecurity and more than 2.5 million children are out of school;

B. whereas the so-called Islamic State (ISIS) established a self-proclaimed ‘caliphate’ in parts of Syria and Iraq in 2014, committing systematic atrocities including mass executions, sexual slavery, persecution of religious and ethnic minorities, and acts amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity;

C. whereas although ISIS lost territorial control in 2019, it continues to operate through insurgent cells, recruitment networks and propaganda, and remains a serious threat to the world;

D. whereas on 8 December 2024, a rapid military offensive led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and allied forces, supported by Turkey, resulted in the collapse of the Assad regime and the takeover of Damascus;

E. whereas on 29 January 2025 a Syrian transitional government was proclaimed and Ahmad al-Sharaa was appointed transitional president; whereas on 13 March 2025, Ahmad al-Sharaa was granted extensive presidential powers under a five-year transitional framework;

F. whereas Ahmad al-Sharaa has previously operated under the name Abu Mohammad al-Julani and has led jihadist armed groups, including the al-Nusra Front and later HTS;

G. whereas in March 2025 a major wave of violence in coastal and western-central Syria led to large-scale civilian casualties, particularly in the Druze and Alawite communities, with hundreds of killings;

H. whereas Christians and other religious minorities continue to face insecurity, kidnapping, intimidation and targeted violence, including the suicide bombing of the Mar Elias Greek Orthodox Church near Damascus on 22 June 2025, which killed at least 22 civilians and injured 63, with preliminary evidence indicating ISIS’s involvement;

I. whereas in southern Syria, particularly in the Druze-majority province of Sweida, severe fighting escalated in July 2025 involving Druze militias, Bedouin armed groups and subsequent interventions by transitional security forces, resulting in hundreds of deaths, mass displacement and summary executions;

J. whereas beginning in October 2025, Syrian government-affiliated forces increased deployments, imposed partial encirclements and engaged in direct confrontations with Kurdish security forces, notably in parts of the Hasakah Governorate, around Qamishli, and in Kurdish-populated districts of Aleppo, including Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh;

K. whereas since November 2025, Kurdish-led forces have lost effective control over several strategic localities, resulting in the fragmentation of territorial continuity and weakening of Kurdish effective control and security;

L. whereas on 30 January 2026 the Syrian transitional authorities and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces announced an agreement to integrate Kurdish-administered areas and forces into state structures, followed by deployments of Syrian security forces into cities such as Qamishli in early February 2026;

M. whereas Turkey has been a crucial military and political actor in northern Syria since 2016, conducting successive cross-border operations and maintaining a permanent military presence and zones of influence on Syrian territory;

N. whereas north-east Syria continues to host a vast detention facility and camp system linked to ISIS, including approximately 9 000 detained ISIS fighters and tens of thousands of women and children held in camps such as al-Hol and Roj;

O. whereas Syrian authorities announced plans in January 2026 to close al-Hol and Roj camps within one year, while more than 28 000 people remained detained there at the time, including thousands of foreign nationals from dozens of countries;

P. whereas the presence of ISIS detainees, foreign fighters, and extremist networks in Syria has direct implications for European and regional security; whereas the return of ISIS fighters and associated individuals constitutes a serious security risk to the Member States;

Q. whereas the Muslim Brotherhood remains influential in Syria;

R. whereas the Syrian conflict continues to fuel migration flows, smuggling networks and is affecting neighbouring countries’ and Member States’ social welfare systems;

1. Strongly condemns the violence against Kurdish forces and civilians; insists that any integration process involving the Syrian Democratic Forces must be voluntary, verifiable and accompanied by enforceable guarantees against reprisals, including full Kurdish cultural, linguistic and civil rights;

2. Underlines the duty of Syria’s transitional government to effectively protect all citizens of Syria, to dismantle militia rule, and to guarantee the equal rights for all Syrians regardless of religion, ethnicity or political affiliation;

3. Strongly condemns all violations of international humanitarian law committed in Syria, including indiscriminate attacks, summary executions, torture, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances, sexual violence, particularly against female Kurdish fighters in Kurdish-majority areas, and sectarian or religious killings;

4. Condemns attacks and intimidation targeting Christian communities, clergy, churches and other places of worship and religious life, including the June 2025 church bombing near Damascus, and calls for effective protection of all religious communities;

5. Condemns the violence against the Druze communities in southern Syria and calls for the protection of civilians, accountability for violations, security guarantees and humanitarian access in Sweida and surrounding areas;

6. Expresses grave concerns over the flight of ISIS members and supporters from detention centres following clashes between Syrian transitional government forces and the Syrian Democratic Forces;

7. Reiterates that ISIS remains a serious threat for Europe and calls for sustained and coordinated counter-terrorism efforts aimed at dismantling its cells, financing and recruitment networks;

8. Stresses that stabilisation in Syria requires not only military containment of ISIS but also the dismantling of broader Islamist extremist ecosystems that enable violence, intimidation of minorities and parallel governance;

9. Recalls that the Syrian civil war caused a mass exodus of Syrians to neighbouring countries and to Europe; emphasises that the massive arrival of people fleeing Syria continue to systematically destabilise receiving countries, overwhelming social services therein; notes that migrants entering EU countries illegally have dramatically increased crime and terrorist attacks, including against Christians and churches, the Jewish community and teachers and free speech defenders;

10. Underlines that uncontrolled migration flows and smuggling networks linked to Syria continue to affect Europe; calls for the facilitation of the return of Syrian asylum seekers present in Europe;

11. Stresses that ISIS fighters and their enablers must be prosecuted and held accountable in their countries of detention; opposes any transfer of jihadist fighters and family members to Europe;

12. Is profoundly concerned by the latest report from the European Union Agency for Asylum of December 2025, entitled ‘Country Guidance: Syria, Comprehensive update’, which concludes that people with perceived links to ISIS and their family members have better eligibility criteria for asylum in the EU than Christians from Syria;

13. Calls on the EU and its Member States to prioritise the existing financial aid dedicated to Syria towards structured return programmes and reintegration initiatives while ensuring that such support does not benefit the remnants of the Assad regime or any terrorist groups within Syria or abroad;

14. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to condition engagement and financial aid to Syria on demonstrable progress in minority protection, the dismantling of jihadist networks, the rule of law and credible accountability mechanisms;

15. Calls on the EU and its Member States to follow the decisions of several Middle Eastern countries, such as Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, by recognising the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organisation and adding it to the EU list of terrorist organisations;

16. Calls on the Member States and the Commission to carry out a comprehensive assessment of the activities of the Muslim Brotherhood and its affiliated networks in Europe, including their financing and transnational structures, and to ensure that Muslim Brotherhood affiliated organisations, such as Islamic Relief and Femyso, do not receive EU funding and are rejected from the Transparency Register;

17. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the United Nations Secretary-General and the Syrian transitional authorities.