Outrage at attacks in Brussels should be echoed for Syria

Conor Elliott compares the attacks in Brussels and Paris with those in Syria, particularly the Russian tactic of ‘double-tap’ bombing, which the Syrian people are running from

AS NEWS filtered through late last month of the attacks in Brussels, our thoughts instinctively turned to the families and friends of those who had been murdered, and to those living in the latest EU capital to feel the sharp end of terrorism.

It also struck me how the horror stories of injury and death in Brussels have the same terrible tragedy and vocabulary as the stories I have too often heard from inside Syria. I returned recently from the Turkey-Syria border where I met, as I regularly do, Syrian people whose loved ones and compatriots have fallen victim to similar attacks over the past five years of the conflict in Syria.

Indeed, as perhaps many in Europe don’t realise, it is this same violence that has been driving and continues to drive ordinary civilians from Syria. It is these same atrocities that they too are running from.

Despite the cessation of hostilities, urban areas right across Syria are still being bombed on a daily basis. This is especially true of Idleb in the north-west, the area where GOAL delivers humanitarian aid to 1m people.

One of the most heinous aspects of the Brussels Airport attack was the detonation of the second bomb in the path of people fleeing the initial explosion. It was a tactic that is all too familiar to those with any knowledge of the conflict in Syria.

There was a hospital in a town called Ma’arrat an-Numan in the Idleb countryside of northern Syria that was hit by an airstrike a few weeks ago. About 15 minutes later, as first responders were attending to medical personnel and patients, a second airstrike hit. This strategy is known as “double tap” bombing and is a specific tactic of the Russian and Syrian forces in northern Syria.

Over the next hour, two further airstrikes struck the same hospital. The survivors of the carnage were taken across town to another medical facility, which itself was the target of a double-tap airstrike that afternoon.

Nine hospital staff were killed, as well as 16 patients, one of whom was a child. Survivors were still being pulled out of the rubble of the first hospital by the ‘White Helmets’ two days later.

Whatever your argument is about politics, or your position on Russia’s intervention in Syria, double-tap bombing as a strategy is profoundly evil and deeply sickening.

There is no hierarchy of evil, what is wrong in Brussels is also wrong in Syria and would be wrong anywhere else.

I struggle to understand why more people are not outraged about this strategy. And why it is not being shouted from the highest rafters in the UN, the EU, or other international fora. That it is not is simply unacceptable.

Instead, not only has the EU failed to put forward any worthwhile solutions for ending the conflict in Syria, they have signed off on a deal that sees them abdicate their responsibilities for people who have been fleeing this war.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, receives a picture taken in Syria from Col Gen Alexander Dvornikov during an awarding ceremony in Moscow’s Kremlin, Russia. Dvornikov, commanded the Russian military in Syria

The EU-Turkey deal, which will see migrants arriving in Greece — including Syrian refugees — sent back to Turkey, is abhorrent. The idea of paying Turkey to keep people fleeing a war zone at bay, while at the same time telling them that, in keeping the refugees in Turkey we are offering them an easier entry into the EU, is entirely contradictory.

The argument that the EU would be unable to accept the numbers of refugees and migrants that are being talked about does not stand up to scrutiny.

There are 500m people living in Europe. One million refugees and migrants arrived in Europe in 2015. That equates to 0.2% of the population of the EU. There is no question about Europe’s ability to deal with this refugee crisis.

The Syria crisis and refugee issue is deeply misunderstood in Europe. Building walls and razor-wire fences will not solve this issue. Nor will they stop those who are determined to bring terrorism to the streets of Europe.

We need to focus all our energies on ending the conflict in Syria, not on solving what’s happening in Greece, or on the Hungarian border.

The parties to the conflict, or most of them, are finally gathering around a peace table in Geneva, with the talks set to resume this Sunday. Within that room there exists the capability to bring this war to an end. We must ensure that that capability is matched by determination. If we stop what’s happening in Syria, we stop the refugee crisis.

The actions of those who brought terror to Brussels last month were designed to divide people, to put up barriers and to increase fear. We must not forget this.

Most of all, we must not forget that at the heart of this crisis are ordinary people. People, once like you and I, but who are now terrified for themselves, their families, and their children. They flee from a horror we can scarcely imagine. Ultimately, what they want is an end to the violence so they can return home. For now, they just ask for refuge.

Ireland is a country will a long history of migration, both forced and voluntary. Most of us can recall from history, or from our own experience, times when Irish communities have been unfairly scapegoated for the actions of a tiny minority.

All the more reason then for Ireland to take a lead on this issue now.

The Irish people should be ashamed of the Government’s support for the EU-Turkey deal.

Rather than assist our fellow member states in running away from our obligations, Ireland should be taking a lead on the issue of refugees and demanding that they be treated with dignity and humanity.

Conor Elliott has recently returned from a visit to the Turkey-Syria border. He is the Director of Programmes for GOAL. www.goalglobal.org