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Rojava and covid-19

EDM (Early Day Motion) 373: tabled on 23 April 2020

Tabled in the 2019-21 session.

This motion has been signed by 13 Members. It has not yet had any amendments submitted.

Motion text

That this House notes that the North East Syria Autonomous Region (AANES) also known as Rojava is providing sanctuary to 650,000 refugees and IDPs who have fled the attacks of ISIS and the Turkish Government; further notes that the refugees come from diverse ethnicities and religions; further notes that the camps are vastly overcrowded and unhygienic; is aware that AANES also accommodates over 5,000 ISIS captives on behalf of many different countries including the UK; is concerned that Al Hol camp, which houses many ISIS women and their children is a particular breeding ground for covid-19, with ISIS women propagating the message that only infidels and non-muslims are at risk of contracting the virus; is further concerned that many of them are affected by a whole range of underlying health issues, from malnutrition, war wounds, pregnancy, and untreated diseases such as tuberculosis, jaundice and diarrhea, and that the predicted death rate in camps and detention centres is 10 per cent; and calls on the Government to raise these issues with counterparts in Turkey, to use its influence on the Security Council and more widely to try to avert the impending disaster in this region.