“More than 5,000 people have been killed, many more injured and thousands remain in prison. The situation is bound to get worse, as the country slides further towards all-out civil war between reformers and a regime that has no legitimacy. The international community must step up pressure for Assad and his entourage to step aside and a process of democratisation, with the development of civil society organisations including genuine trade unions, to begin. The alternative will be further carnage and increasing risk that the conflict will spread,” said ITUC General Sharan Burrow.

Syria is becoming more and more internationally isolated, with its latest rejection of the Arab League’s proposals, and the regime’s continued terrorisation of its own people during the recent monitoring mission, during which at least 600 more people lost their lives.