UKIP Migration Spokesman: Keep Assad in Power, Send Back Refugees, Send in Ground Troops

UKIP migration spokesman Steven Woolfe has called for the West to do a deal with Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, in order to bring peace to Syria, and help bring an end to the human suffering related to the migration crisis.

In an article for the Telegraph, Woolfe argues that world powers need to act fast to stop the flow of migrants from the country or else “we will see the end of Syria all together; its history, its cities and its peoples.”

He says that while life for the people of Syria was not perfect under Assad, it was still “far better than what we see today.”

“The reality is that under Assad, Jews, Christians and Muslims lived together, side by side,” he said.

“Under IS rule in many parts of Syria, thousands of Christians, Muslims and other religious communities have been and are being persecuted.”

Woolfe calls for the West to ensure Assad remains as Syrian leader “but with certain strict clauses, such as regular, fair, democratic elections, international cooperation with the United Nations.”

He adds that if Assad is allowed to come back to power “we must, as in postwar Japan, have a UN designated leader to oversee the rebuild as General Douglas A. MacArthur did.”

As well as bringing back Assad, the UN should also form an international task force to guard a specially created “safe zone” within Syria. This will allow Syrians to stay within their own country rather than flee to Europe.

The only way to guard this safe zone, of course, would be to send ground troops into Syria, a move so far resisted by most Western powers.

Finally, in terms of dealing with the migrants currently crossing the Mediterranean, Woolfe says that Western powers should adopt the Australian government’s policy of towing the boats back. “We should adopt this policy for security reasons as IS will continue to flood the shores of Europe with militants,” he adds.

Last week, UKIP leader Nigel Farage laid blame on Angela Merkel for stoking the migrant crisis in Europe. He told Breitbart London: “I genuinely think and believe that Chancellor Merkel, compounding the pull factors this week, is more likely to make us see more of those kind of photographs.

“It is a very dangerous thing, I think, that she has done.”

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