CSI warns at UN that religious minorities in Syria face genocide
'Nearly every week, there are reports of fresh killings or abductions of Alawites in Syria.'— Abi McDougal
ZURICH, SWITZERLAND, June 24, 2025 / EINPresswire.com / -- The day after a suicide bomber massacred 27 Christians at worship in Damascus, Christian Solidarity International (CSI) made a statement at the UN Human Rights Council warning of the threat of genocide to religious minorities in Syria.
CSI's Abi McDougal made the statement during an Interactive Dialogue with the UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, Virginia Gamba, at the Council session in Geneva on June 23.
McDougal reminded the Council that between March 6 and March 10, pro-government forces in Syria massacred hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Alawite Muslim civilians across the coastal re-gion.
CSI thanked the Special Adviser for making a statement about this violence on March 11, in which she expressed concern over 'targeted attacks, including against members of the Alawite community,' and stated that the violence 'must stop immediately.'
'Unfortunately, it has not stopped,' McDougal said. 'Nearly every week, there are reports of fresh killings or abductions of Alawites in Syria.' Around 40,000 Alawites have fled across the border into Lebanon since March, according to the UNHCR.
McDougal added that in late April, government-aligned forces had attacked another religious minority group, the Druzes, in the Damascus suburbs. 'Then, just yesterday, a horrific suicide bombing at Mar Elias Church in Damascus took the lives of 27 people.'
This violence is driven by an ideology of Sunni Muslim supremacism which views Alawites, Druzes, and Ismailis as apostates, and Christians as inferior, McDougal said.
'Combined with the fragile security situation in Syria, we believe the conditions now exist for genocide in the Syrian Arab Republic,' McDougal concluded. 'UN member states must fulfill their obligations under the Genocide Convention and take action to prevent it.'
The UN Special Adviser on Genocide Prevention, Professor Virginia Gamba, replied that she has been 'personally engaged' with the Syrian government on this issue, and expects to travel to Syria soon at the government's invitation, to 'inspect all of the issues there, but particularly the situation of the Alawites.'
About CSI
Christian Solidarity International is an international human rights group campaigning for religious liberty and human dignity.
Contact: Joel Veldkamp | [email protected]
Joel Veldkamp
Christian Solidarity International
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