-
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The European Union should block Syria’s funding over human rights violations against minorities and the siege on Kobani, an Austrian Green party member has told Rudaw.
Heidi Sequenz, a member of Vienna’s state parliament, described dire conditions facing internally displaced people in northeast (Rojava) following a five-day visit there. Weeks of fighting between the Syrian Arab Army, backed by armed groups, and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) triggered a humanitarian crisis that displaced 170,000 people, mostly Kurds, according to the UN.
While Sequenz said a ceasefire prevented “immense bloodshed,” she argued it “needs to be put into action” with a humanitarian corridor opening up the besieged city of Kobani.
Although the January ceasefire between Damascus and Kurdish calls for displaced Syrians to return home, “Rojava is completely blocked off,” she said, calling the situation “unbearable.”
She called on Europe to condition Syria’s sanctions relief on human rights protections, citing the 2025 massacres against Alawites and Druze and ongoing violations against Kurds.
To protect Rojava residents, Sequenz said Europe “should stop financing the regime in Damascus.”
Europe lifted most sanctions on Syria in May 2025 to aid the country’s recovery after Bashar al-Assad’s regime fell and a devastating, decade-long war. Sequenz accused the US, Turkey and “some European powers” of installing interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, saying they put Sharaa “in the position that he is so they are also responsible for what he does.”
Risk of ‘a lost generation’
Sequenz said she visited Rojava to bear witness to deteriorating humanitarian and human rights conditions, describing devastating impacts on children.
Sequenz said 120 schools in Qamishli on the Turkish border are filled with displaced families who have fled conflict multiple times. She said families faced grim conditions, including children who have never attended school.
"They have nothing but the clothes they are wearing," she said. "What they all say is, we want to go home. We want a life in dignity; we don't want to move from refugee camp to refugee camp.”
Sequenz said children in camps will be "a lost generation if things don't change." She acknowledged Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government is providing significant aid but said displaced families should be allowed to return home.
The United Nations reported this week that 91 percent of displaced Syrians are women and children. Qamishli hosts 69,000, the most of any area in Syria, while Hasaka has the most shelters.
Sequenz, who raised funds for women’s organizations in Rojava last year, will host two fundraisers - a February 20 event with Kurdish artists and an April concert in Vienna aiming to fill a 900-seat theater after returning to Austria.
Payam Sarbast contributed to this article from Erbil, Kurdistan Region.
Comments
Rudaw moderates all comments submitted on our website. We welcome comments which are relevant to the article and encourage further discussion about the issues that matter to you. We also welcome constructive criticism about Rudaw.
To be approved for publication, however, your comments must meet our community guidelines.
We will not tolerate the following: profanity, threats, personal attacks, vulgarity, abuse (such as sexism, racism, homophobia or xenophobia), or commercial or personal promotion.
Comments that do not meet our guidelines will be rejected. Comments are not edited – they are either approved or rejected.
Post a comment