We met with Lucy Powell MP on 20 April to discuss the situation in Syria. We discussed the central imperative to achieve civilian protection in Syria as well as coordinating the refugee response in the UK. We are very pleased that Lucy will be joining the Friends of Syria APPG!
On Wednesday the 18th of April, we hosted an information session about airport security checks. The session was delivered by Detective Chief Inspector Janet Hudson, Counter Terrorism Policing: North West, in addition to three officers from GMP’s Counter Terrorism Unit.
On the 17th of April, our Research & Policy Coordinator Bilal Shami spoke to BBC Radio Manchester's Chelsea At Breakfast programme. He discussed the UK's latest military response to the Syrian regime's suspected use of chemical weapons, and urged for a comprehensive strategy that ends the conflict and reignites Syrians' hope for democracy in their country.
Rethink Rebuild Society's work was acknowledged during a parliamentary debate in Westminster on April 16th on the UK's recent military action in Syria. Alison McGovern MP quoted RR's lamenting of the absence of a UK strategy on ending the Syrian conflict, and proposed a framework of how that strategy should look like.
Our Research & Policy Coordinator Bilal Shami gave an interview on BBC Radio Kent discussing the UK's military response to the chemical attack in Douma on April 7th, and the need to stop all kinds of atrocities by the Syrian regime - not just chemical weapons - in order to stop the conflict, facilitate a political process, and bring justice to the victims of this war.
Our Research & Policy Coordinator delivered a presentation on 14 April on Syrian women in Assad regime prisons as part of an event for International Women’s Day titled ‘Plight of Women Prisoners’. This event discussed the situation of women prisoners in Pakistan (Dr Aafia Siddiqui), Syria, Palestine, Kashmir, and Iraq.
Our Research & Policy Coordinator Bilal Shami was live on BBC Breakfast to comment on the UK's military response to the Assad regime's suspected use of chemical weapons in Douma, Eastern Ghouta, on April 7th.
Rethink Rebuild Society joined several organisations in issuing a statement urging UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to step up in defense of civilians everywhere by activating an independent UN mechanism to attribute responsibility for chemical attacks in Syria, after the latest chemical attack on Douma on April 7th.
Our Research & Policy Coordinator Bilal Shami was live on BBC Radio 4's The World Tonight programme on the 12th of April on the Syrian Regime's Suspected Chemical Attack on April 7th in Douma.
Our Managing Director Haytham Alhamwi spoke to BBC Radio Kent on the 12th of April to discuss the Syrian regime's suspected use of chemical weapons in its military offensive on the town of Douma in Eastern Ghouta on April 7th, and the UK's response to the use of such weapons.