Syria: Druze Community

Lord Hain Excerpts

Thursday 17th July 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

I welcomed the noble Lord’s concerns at the time; he was right to raise them. We were at the forefront of lifting sanctions at that point. I still think that was the right decision, because in order to get the stability and security that Syria needs and that we all want to see, it is important that the Government of Syria are able to do what is necessary to rebuild the economy there and support the strengthening of the state. That was the right decision at that point but, clearly, we keep all these issues under very close review. I confirm to the noble Lord that we work as closely as possible with our international partners, because, as he suggests, the stability of Syria is so important to the entire region.

[Lord Hain (Lab)]

My Lords, I welcome what my noble friend the Minister has said, including on sanctions, and emphasise what she has also indicated, that this is a very complex situation. The portrayal of the Syrian conflict by the noble Lord, Lord Cameron, when he was Prime Minister, as being between an evil dictator, which Assad was, and the people, was too simplistic. This is a divided society with all sorts of divisions and proxies—Sunni proxies and Shia proxies—and Turkey playing a distinct and sometimes malevolent role. Therefore, this needs to be approached in a very careful way, which I hope she will do.

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

I completely agree with my noble friend. He has been following these events and has himself been involved at various points over the years. With regard to what he said about Assad, we were all glad to see him go. We now face a situation where a nascent Government have formed a Cabinet that is pluralistic; we welcome that, but we need a Government who are properly representative of Syria. They need to be able to strengthen their provision of public services to achieve security for their population. To do that, they need their population to return, and we are helping with that as well. There is a great deal to do. My noble friend’s point about the complexity, and the long-term commitments that will be required to ensure the future for Syria that we all want, is a point very well made.