Swiss-based NGO panel warns of rising violence against Syria’s minorities
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – The Swiss-based human rights NGO UN Watch held on Sep. 8 a side event at the Palais des Nations in Geneva to highlight the worsening crisis facing religious and ethnic minorities in Syria.
The event, titled “Minority Rights in the Syrian Arab Republic,” brought together representatives from Syria’s Alawite, Christian, Druze, Kurdish, and Yazidi communities.
Speakers shared firsthand testimonies and warned of increasing violence, persecution, and displacement targeting minorities across the country.
Activist Rawan Osman, who attended the event, accused both the Syrian transitional government and extremist groups of betraying the Syrian people, stressing that communities in Suwayda are under siege and abandoned by the international community.
She warned that ignoring Syria’s crisis again would destabilize the wider region.
Sheruan Hassan, diplomatic advisor to the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), said that centralized authoritarian rule had fueled decades of exclusion and discrimination, leaving minorities vulnerable to extremist violence.
Hassan called for a democratic, decentralized system as the only viable path to protect diversity and prevent Syria from becoming “a new Afghanistan on Europe’s doorstep.”
Wael Mughrabi, a Druze leader from the Golan, drew historical parallels between Europe’s minority conflicts and the persecution of Syrian communities today, citing massacres against Alawites earlier this year.
He urged the international community to address the root causes of conflict and support political frameworks that guarantee equal rights.
Speakers warned that without urgent international action, Syria risks further fragmentation, mass displacement, and the entrenchment of extremist rule.