09/30/2019 Syria (International Christian Concern) – Three years after UN member states agreed to talk about an international political process for Syria, the UN finally announced its plans to establish a constitutional committee in what many are hailing as the biggest UN achievement on Syrian diplomacy. However, concerns have been raised that representatives from 1/3 of the country will not be included and that foreign governments can decide which Syrian voices are represented.

The first meeting of this constitutional committee is scheduled in Geneva for October 30^th. Since the beginning of the Syrian civil war in 2011, foreign governments have used the conflict to further their own national interests. For example, Turkey is the main opposition voice against the inclusion of SDF-linked groups, which controls a significant portion of their border alongside northern Syria.

If the constitutional committee is ever to achieve success, then many geopolitical interests and solutions to domestic conflicts must be negotiated. The task is so complex, that it is a process which can take years. It is important that whatever governance process is established for Syria going forward, that it does not set in stone the discriminatory and sectarian policies which have defined the country since its establishment.

The conflict may not have begun because of religious differences, but it quickly evolved into one where these differences matter. Most Christians fled Syria early on in the war. If there is ever any hope of Christianity and other religious minority groups ever flourishing in Syria, then the constitutional committee must consider their voices.

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