The future of Christians in Syria will be the focus of a conference at the European Parliament on Tuesday (Sept. 8), bringing together church leaders, European Union policymakers and Syrian representatives.
"The event comes at a critical moment in Syria's transition, with major political and diplomatic changes underway and continuing concerns over security, minority rights, sectarian tensions, property rights, displacement and the future constitutional order," said Thibault Van Den Bossche, an advocacy officer for religious freedom at the European Centre for Law and Justice (ECLJ). "For Syria's Christians, years of war, persecution, displacement and emigration have weakened communities and raised urgent questions about their ability to remain in their historic homeland."
Titled "The Future of Christians in Syria: Religious Freedom, Political Representation, Common Future," the event runs from 10 a.m. to noon and will be moderated by Van Den Bossche. Participants will address the need for freedom of religion or belief, equal citizenship, constitutional protection and political participation in Syria.
"The conference will stress that Syria's Christians cannot be secured through sectarian quotas or special privileges, but through a democratic, non-religious and constitutionally neutral state in which all citizens enjoy equal rights and protection before the law," Van Den Bossche said.
Keynote addresses will be delivered by Mairead McGuinness, EU special envoy for the promotion of freedom of religion or belief, and Nadine Maenza, co-chair of the International Religious Freedom Roundtable and former chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.
Hosted by members of the European Parliament from the European Conservatives and Reformists and European People's Party groups, the event is co-organized by the European Syriac Union (ESU), the ECLJ, Syriac Cross Belgium, Sallux ECPP Foundation and Jubilee Campaign Netherlands.
The conference will feature two panels. The first, on religious freedom and the situation of Christians in Syria, will be moderated by Van Den Bossche. Speakers include Johannes de Jong, director of Sallux ECPP Foundation; Bishop Georges Assadourian, Armenian Catholic bishop of Damascus; the Rev. Vasilios Khamis, priest of the Antiochian Orthodox Church; and Archbishop Georges Masri, Melkite Greek Catholic metropolitan archbishop of Aleppo.
The second panel will focus on political representation and the future of Christians in Syria. Moderated by Metin Rhawi of ESU, it will feature Sanharib Barsom, president of the Syriac Union Party in Syria; Waddah Al Khoury, president of the Levantine National Council; Ninous Icho, president of the Assyrian Democratic Party; and Sarah Aphram, head of Syriac Cross Belgium.
Van Den Bossche said Syrian Christians are not seeking "special privileges or confessional power-sharing."
"Their future depends on a constitutional system that protects fundamental rights equally for all Syrians, regardless of religion, ethnicity, language, gender, political opinion or regional background," he said.
EU institutions and member states are urged to place two principles at the center of their engagement with Syria, Van Den Bossche said: fundamental rights and equal citizenship, and meaningful political participation.
"The survival of Syria's historic Christian communities will be an important test of whether the country can become a genuinely pluralistic and democratic state for all its citizens," he added.
