HL Deb 05 April 2004 vol 659 c189WA
Lord Hylton

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they have made representations to Syria concerning recent killings by their security forces and about long-standing denial of citizenship and passports to numbers of ethnic minorities. [HL2188]

Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean

Our embassy in Damascus is monitoring events in the north-east of Syria following the recent disturbances in Qamishli. We have raised our concerns about the disturbances, and the standing of the Syrian Kurdish population with the Syrian authorities. While we welcome the current calm we will continue to closely monitor the situation.