Kurds in Syria suffer unseen ethnic cleansing

While numerous conflicts plague the Middle East, inside Syria, the regime of Bashar Assad had used this opportunity to quietly re-launch the campaign of ethnic cleansing in the Kurdish region of Hasakah, according to The Bulletin.

With the Syrian press controlled by the regime and access of foreign press limited, the abuses of the Kurds have gone practically unreported – news arrives only through letters and faxes from persecuted Kurds.

Historically persecuted, Syrian Kurds, who are not officially recognized and are instead seen as “second class Arabs,” are at the mercy of the extraordinarily powerful Syrian security agencies, which can confiscate, detain, torture and kill with impunity.

The discovery of oil in the Kurdish region of Hasakah serves as further motivation for the Syrian regime to engage in ethnic cleansing of Kurdish areas; according to intelligence estimates, Syrian oil reserves will be depleted in the near future.

Asked to sum up the current situation in Syria, Sherkoh Abbas, president of the Kurdistan National Assembly of Syria, said, “In my view, the Basher Assad regime is trying to complete the ethnic cleansing process by isolating Syrian Kurds from Iraqi Kurds… to prevent future support from Kurds in Iraq… Kurds, who comprise 20 percent of the Syrian population, are tired of being victimized and are demanding their legitimate civil and human rights.”

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