Dear Prime Minister Carney,

We write to you not only as Canadian citizens and residents, but as members of a deeply rooted, peace-loving community, a community whose heart is breaking as we watch our families and loved ones suffer unimaginable hardship in Suwayda, Syria.

We are deeply grateful for Canada’s long-standing commitment to justice, human rights, and humanitarian leadership. It is in that same spirit of compassion and moral clarity that we ask for your support during this moment of immense pain and urgency.

What is happening in Suwayda cannot be described as anything less than ethnic cleansing, in line with the definition used by the United Nations, a policy of mass deportation, murder, and persecution of civilians, first documented during the Yugoslav wars and tragically seen in places like Rwanda and Sudan. Today, it is the Druze of Suwayda who are being targeted.

Families are trapped, children are hungry, and people are dying in hospitals with no medicine, no fuel, and no electricity. The region is under total siege, food convoys are blocked, communications are cut, and aid is not allowed in. People are not just suffering, they are being deliberately starved, silenced, and terrorized simply because of who they are.

And this is not just happening in silence. There are those, even online, even within Canada, who are calling for violence, for abductions, for rape. As Canadians, we know that hatred and incitement to violence must never be tolerated, not here and not anywhere.

Prime Minister Carney, we are reaching out to you with full hearts and urgent voices. We ask your government to stand with us, and with every innocent person in Suwayda, by calling for the following:

Open Safe Humanitarian Corridors
We urgently ask that Canada press for the opening of humanitarian corridors from Damascus to Suwayda. Food, water, fuel, and medicine must reach those in need. Lives are being lost not only from violence but from basic deprivation.

Condemn and Stop Sectarian Incitement
The hatred being directed at the Druze people, both inside Syria and through social media platforms beyond, must be called out. Canada’s voice can make a difference in urging the Syrian government to end the spread of hate, incitement, and violence.

Help Restore Normal Life
Electricity, hospitals, schools, and public services must be restored. Families are desperate to return to ordinary life, to raise their children in peace, to go to work, and to send their kids to school, things every Canadian family values deeply.

Support Peaceful Dialogue
There must be space for negotiation, not just for the Druze, but for all communities in Syria. Lasting peace will not come through violence, but through inclusive, peaceful dialogue that respects everyone’s right to safety and dignity.

 

Mr. Prime Minister, many of us here in Canada came from Suwayda. We raised our children here, we built lives, we contribute to this country with pride, but our hearts are torn, knowing that our relatives are facing hunger, fear, and death with no way out. 

 

We are asking you not only as our leader, but as a fellow human being, a parent, a neighbour, a Canadian, to help. Please raise Canada’s voice. Please act before more lives are lost.

With deep respect, hope, and urgency,

The Syrian community in Canada