Posted on July 21, 2011 by Phillip Lee

The situation in Syria is worsening day by day. The unacceptable behaviour of the Syrian government has led to the British government pressing the Security Council to call on them to respond to the legitimate grievances of their people and to cooperate with the UN Commissioner on Human Rights. Sadly, because of ‘complicated geopolitics’, there is no prospect of securing a UN resolution similar to the one (UNR 1973) passed with regards to the Libyan situation. Despite this, our government has been working hard to gain access for the Red Cross and the Red Crescent. It has also been trying to influence Turkey and Arab states in the region to persuade the Syrians to cease their violent attacks against their own citizens.

The Middle East has always and will continue to be a key region in world politics. That is why I took a keen interest in it from the start of my Parliamentary career by becoming Vice Chairman of the Conservative Middle East Council (CMEC). In February of this year I took the opportunity to visit Syria on an official delegation arranged by CMEC. At the time, the ‘Arab Awakening’, as it has since been described, had taken hold in Northern Africa and in Bahrain. There were six Conservative MPs on the trip, all of whom recognised that we were visiting at a potential ‘turning point’ in Syrian history. Making a decision to visit such an undemocratic regime with a history of violently suppressing dissent within its borders was not easy, however, I subscribed to the view that any dialogue between politicians from different countries in such circumstances has value.

The delegation to Syria was a formal affair. At all times we were accompanied by government ‘officials’, whisked from meeting to meeting in government cars, to be introduced to senior Ba’ath party officials in gilded rooms. The meetings, although staged, did provide opportunities for us to press the senior representatives on their attitudes towards freedom of expression, their support for Hezbollah and their close cooperation with the Iranian regime. We were candid and strong in our exchanges. I asked the Prime Minister (now interestingly not in post…..) about the regime having locked up an 18 year old blogger for over a year for having criticised his government. His cold and dismissive response was chilling. I was left in no doubt about his capacity to rule with a rod of iron.

In addition to the official meetings we did have some opportunities to meet ‘ordinary’ Syrians in more relaxed circumstances (conscious of the potential for government informants to be present, though). A visit to the British Council in Damascus was one such occasion. We met a small group of students studying English. Initially nervous, they slowly opened up and began to discuss their attitudes to the Arab Awakening and its potential impact on Syria. There was a real feeling of desire for freedom and for self-determination. One student, when asked what he felt about his time at the British Council, described it as his “little bubble of oxygen each week”. When I see the recent, dreadful YouTube footage from Syria I think of that chap and his desire for freedom. I believe that we in Britain have a responsibility along with other free nations to help him secure it.