An online meeting was held on Tuesday with the Union of Teachers of North and Eastern Syria (UTNES), organized by an international solidarity network of education unions. The recently established UTNES solidarity network is an initiative of several unions in Europe and around the world, with the support of Education International and ETUCE.
During the meeting, UTNES representatives described the situation of teachers in Northern and Eastern Syria (Rojava). Since 8 January, armed groups, including Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (an Islamist militant group in Syria, also known as HTS or the Levant Liberation Organization) and Syrian mercenary forces linked to Turkey, have attacked the self-administered regions of Northern and Eastern Syria. These attacks have exposed local populations, particularly Kurdish civilians, to the risk of massacres in the conflict zone. In addition, the release of thousands of ISIS members from prisons in areas occupied by HTS and Turkish-backed armed groups has drastically increased the risk of an ISIS resurgence. This represents a serious threat not only to the region, but also to global peace and security.
In a statement expressing its solidarity, the Italian trade union FLC Cgil said: “Military attacks have severely damaged essential services such as water resources, schools, and hospitals. Due to school closures in Northern Syria, thousands of students and teachers have been deprived of access to education.
For more than a decade, the Rojava cultural experience succeeded in creating a pluralistic, public-oriented education system that enabled tens of thousands of students to receive education in their mother tongue—a historic breakthrough after decades of forced linguistic and cultural erasure under a centralized authoritarian regime. This educational project was based on democratic pedagogy, gender equality, and inclusive curricula, with teachers playing a leading role in curriculum development, teacher training, and educational governance.
Today, all of this is threatened by the military advance that is besieging Kurdish-administered areas: schools are being closed, teachers displaced, and trade union structures dismantled. There is a serious risk that years of union work, democratic educational practices, and curricula inspired by respect for women will be uprooted and replaced by authoritarian, religion-imposed educational models similar to those applied in systems of religious autocracy. Such a transformation would not only violate fundamental educational rights, but would also constitute a direct attack on academic freedom, gender equality, and the collective autonomy of teachers.”
The statement underlined that “all participating trade union organizations expressed deep concern and emphasized the urgent need for solidarity with UTNES and the Kurdish people in Rojava. The FLC CGIL also stressed that public opinion and governments must be made aware of crimes against humanity and the serious events currently taking place. These developments must be disseminated as widely as possible so that people can understand their significance and potential consequences.
Finally, among various proposals for solidarity, the FLC CGIL suggested a joint action by all organizations affiliated with Education International. Confederations, unions, schools, and global networks represent some of the most effective points of resistance, and it is essential to mobilize these tools to prevent what is feared could become a new massacre of the Kurdish people. Together with Education International, we reaffirm our commitment to protecting and promoting the rights of education workers and, above all, to ensuring everyone’s right to life and education. We will continue to work together in solidarity.”