Inquiry urged to examine cost of UK inaction in Syria

An independent inquiry should examine the UK’s failure to intervene militarily in the Syrian conflict, with MPs concluding the “price of inaction” has been “unacceptably high”.

The UK carried out air strikes against Bashar Assad’s regime in April following a chemical weapons attack, but calls for action to protect civilians had been made as early as 2011.

The Commons Foreign Affairs Committee said there had been a “manifest failure to protect civilians and to prevent mass atrocity crimes in Syria”.

The lack of an early response had contributed to a crisis with “repercussions in Europe and the UK”.

The committee accepted that the government had made a “significant contribution” to humanitarian efforts but the failure to act had resulted in severe consequences and opened the door for Russia and Iran to intervene.

“It has become clear through our inquiry that the price of inaction in the case of Syria has been unacceptably high,” the committee’s report said.

“Starting as a peaceful protest in March 2011, the Syrian conflict has subsequently claimed an estimated 400,000 lives, and led to 11 million people, half the Syrian population, being forced to leave their homes.”

The MPs said investigations such as the Iraq Inquiry had examined the “cost, complexities and challenges of intervening” but “the consequences of not acting are less well understood”.

“We believe that the consequences of inaction can be every bit as serious as intervening.”

Calls for intervention to establish no-fly zones, or humanitarian corridors to protect civilians in Syria had been made in 2011 and 2012.

In August 2013, following a chemical weapons attack, David Cameron’s government was defeated in the House of Commons over intervention in Syria.

The MPs called for greater clarity from the government about the conditions in which military action would be considered.