Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Dr. Pierret is suggesting that perhaps there is no diplomatic solution at this stage. He referred to attacks on the regime. It appears that Assad is unlikely to resign or give up his grip. Those in the opposition seem more divided now than they have ever been. The only thing those in the opposition seem to be joining together is their opposition to some of the groups within the country. Deputy Brendan Smith noted that 15 March was the third anniversary of the beginning of the Syrian war. Many people believe that it came out of the Arab spring. Many people thought there would great and positive regime changes throughout the region. As we have seen, there have been some changes in some countries but in others, like Bahrain, where the Arab spring started, it was not allowed to develop.

Libya has broken down into tribal areas. The whole region has experienced conflicts. We all hope the magic bullet to resolve this situation will be found. In the view of the witnesses will the opposition ever agree to a peace deal with Assad or his government? This was a possibility considered during the Geneva talks.

I ask the witnesses to comment on a recent development in the reorganisation of Kurdish political forces and the creation of military self-defence groups in that region. People have been coming into that region for security and protection. Kurdish political groups have campaigned for a separate seat at the Geneva talks because they do not wish to be lumped in with the general opposition. Would it be helpful if the Kurds had a separate seat at the table? The Kurdish united and popular political movement could have a positive impact on the situation in the region.

Some attempts have been made to establish a humanitarian corridor, some more successful than others. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA, 9.3 million people are in desperate need, 6.5 million people are displaced within the country and 2.5 million Syrians have become refugees in neighbouring countries and in north Africa. The figures are staggering and I do not think we have any sense of the impact on the people.

The situation in Syria will not be fixed overnight. How can countries like Ireland best ease the humanitarian crisis and what can Europe do? Should the EU do more such as opening its borders to refugees? What is the impact of the crisis on Jordan and Turkey which are dealing with massive numbers of Syrian refugees? Lebanon has expressed concern about the impact on its infrastructure of the number of refugees. It would seem that humanitarian aid is an attempt to plaster over the cracks which exist in Syrian society. We are told that 65% of Syria's chemical weapons stockpile has been removed from the country. Will it be possible to remove and destroy all the chemical weapons?