Sarah+Garner

Name: Sarah Garner County: Finland High School: Arundel High School Date: 13 November 2013

The Syrian Crisis is an ongoing conflict between those who support the Syrian government, led by President Bashar al-Assad, and those who have chosen to rebel against it. This conflict has led to extreme political unrest and eruptions of violence in the nation, as well as to the expulsion of Syria from the Arab League. Because of the extreme political unrest and violence in Syria, a large number of people, many of whom are young children, have been displaced from their homes. Since the start of the conflict, Finland has accepted hundreds of Syrian refugees in order to help those in distress as a result of the civil war. Finland was alsoa strong supporter ofthe previous EU weapons embargo on the Syrian rebels as an attempt to reduce the violence.

Since 1971, the Alawites have been the majority political power and, since 2000, have been under the authoritarian rule of Bashar al-Assad. Though the Alawites hold most of the political power in Syria, they are a minority Muslim religious sect consisting of only ten percent of the population. The largest religious sect in Syria, the Sunni Muslims, which make up around 74% of the population, is left largely under-represented in the government. This problem of underrepresentation has caused religious and political tensions to grow, most recently sparking a series of protests and demonstrations that contributed to the breakout of a full civil war in Syria. Beginning in March 2011, protesters, as a part of the larger movement Arab Spring, began to demand the resignation of their despotic President, Assad, as well as the end of the Ba ’ ath regime. These demonstrations became a nationwide movement that led to the formation of violent armed rebel groups such as the Free Syrian Army. Assad deployed the Syrian Armed Forces to stop the uprising. However, in the government ’ s attempt to crush the opposition, horrific human rights violations have occurred, including illegal detainment of protestors, torture of prisoners, killing of innocent civilians, and rapes of women and children by Assad ’ s forces. In September 2013 there was also confirmation of chemical weapons usage by the Syrian government, a dangerous threat to the international and local community that can result in the deaths of more civilians.

Finland ’ s plan to aid Syria is to give humanitarian relief by continuing to take in hundreds of civilian refugees who have been affected by the conflict and by giving them permanent resident permits. We also continue to support the previous EU weapons embargo on the Syrian rebels and propose a UN weapons embargo to reduce the amount of violence. This would, in turn, reduce the number of refugees that are displaced. In addition, Finland may participate in the work of destroying Syrian chemical weapons. Finland believes that if we choose to go forward with this plan, our decision will be strongly supported. The previous success of the UN chemical weapons investigation in Syria shows that the international community condemns the use of chemical weapons and already intends to take action to prevent it. Finland, as well as 189 other states, many of which are UN members, has provided support for the International Chemical Weapons Convention since its inception. By being a part of the international effort to destroy Syrian chemical weapons as well as by supporting a weapons embargo on the rebels, Finland hopes to eventually cease violence in Syria. This, in addition to providing humanitarian aid to refugees, will most directly benefit the innocent civilians that have been caught in the midst of the violence of the Syrian civil war.