The International Union of Socialist Youth (IUSY) and Young European Socialists (YES) jointly address the military strike in Syria 

We strongly condemn the use of chemical weapons by the government of Syria of last week and mourn the victims of such horrific attacks.

The situation of oppression of the Syrian people by its government has been lasting for far too long and led to one of the biggest humanitarian crises of the 21st century.

We call for urgent international humanitarian aid to the Syrian civilians and for an independent investigation from the UN on the use of chemical weapons in the area to be led.

IUSY and YES are deeply concerned by the possible escalation of the situation in Syria.

We regret the lack of alternatives to a violent intervention and we will always privilege interventions in respect of international law and within the United Nations Framework.

We condemn the lack of respect of international law and the disregard for internal democratic procedure in the intervention’s decision-making.

However, we recognize that the escalation of the situation is aggravated by the structural system of the UN decision-making process, which allowed Russia to veto a legal intervention.

We call for a structural reform of the process, allowing more efficient resolving of international conflicts and a better protection of civilians.

We call for the United Nations Security Council to retrieve influence on the situation and to organize in order to release the tension built up in the area and to start a peaceful resolution of the conflict.

We commonly call for an immediate cease-fire in the region from all parties involved and strive for the organization of democratic and transparent elections.

Both IUSY and YES call their respective national governments to respect the ban on weapon-selling in the region, and condemn all international actors that take part in the use of violence on the people of Syria by its government.