h

Bloodbath in Kobani must be prevented

10 October 2014

Bloodbath in Kobani must be prevented

SP Member of Parliament Harry van Bommel is calling on Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans to put immediate pressure on Turkey to offer inhabitants of the Syrian border town of Kobani an escape route. According to United Nations special envoy Staffan de Mistura, Kobani is ‘surrounded’ by ISIS with only one limited passage in or out. Van Bommel believes that Turkey should be doing everything it can to enable civilians from Kobani to flee. De Mistura is asking Turkey to allow volunteers through so that they can help with the defence of the town. Otherwise, the UN fears, there will be a bloodbath.

On Thursday the SP group in Parliament urged the provision of more humanitarian aid to the enormous stream of refugees which has been flowing out of Syria’s Kurdish region during recent weeks. 'The siege of Kobani and many villages around it makes additional aid urgently necessary,’ says Van Bommel. ‘It’s not often that a UN envoy gives such an explicit warning of a bloodbath. If Turkey does not quickly offer more aid to the refugees and logistical support for their escape, a humanitarian disaster will quickly follow.’

You are here