The US President is reported to have ordered officials to draw up plans to withdraw around 2,000 soldiers from the country following the collapse of the Assad regime in December.
But there are fears in Whitehall and Westminster that a sudden withdrawal – which NBC News reported could take place in either 30, 60 or 90 days – could trigger a collapse in security in Kurdish-controlled northern Syria, where around 9,000 Isis fighters are being held in camps.
“This is not going to be an easy transition. In terms of the north, what worries me about the unilateral withdrawal of US support, they have been working with the Kurds and (Turkish President Recep) Erdogan has been seeking to work there and against Kurdish interests.
“That could destabilise not just Syria but potentially the wider region and potentially see terrorist strikes in Europe and elsewhere.”
Shamima Begum from Bethnal Green in east London, who joined Islamic State in Syria aged 15 in 2015, is at Roj Camp, where she is interred with other women who were members of Islamic State (Photo: Sam Tarling/Getty Images)
The former minister raised these concerns with ministers in the House of Lords earlier this week.
Collins said the UK Government had also “noted” the decision by the Trump administration to pause foreign aid funding for three months, via USAid, which has caused widespread dismay in the international development sector.
“We are working closely with US colleagues and humanitarian partners to understand and assess the impact of the pause, but we are fairly confident that there will be continued support for the IDP [internally displaced persons] camps in the north.”
In a sign of how the West changing its stance towards Syria’s new government, under interim leader Ahmad al-Sharaa, the Foreign Office announced this week that Britain will lift sanctions on Syria’s energy, transport and finance sectors.
But the collapse of his regime and the takeover by opposition groups led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham has allowed for a change in UK sanctions policy towards Syria, Doughty said.
A girl holds an independence-era Syrian flag out of the window of a bus carrying displaced Syrians returning home to Homs after years of displacement in Aleppo province (Photo: Louai Beshara/AFP)
The move, which is also under consideration by the EU, would see the resumption of commercial flights to the country as well as western financial and energy firms trading with Syria.
He added: “We are making these changes to support the Syrian people in rebuilding their country and promote security and stability.
“The Government remains determined to hold Bashar al-Assad and his associates to account for their actions against the people of Syria. We will ensure that asset freezes and travel bans imposed on members of the former regime remain in force.
“In this way, the FCDO will continue to use sanctions in a manner that is targeted, proportionate and robust to hold accountable those responsible for atrocious crimes committed during Assad’s reign and to support what we hope will be Syria’s transition to a more secure, prosperous and stable future.”
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