The KAICIID Board of Directors and Religions for Peace issued the following statement: 

Disturbing reports of desperate and grievous human suffering are continuing to reach us hourly from the besieged city of Aleppo, Syria. Safe shelter, warmth in winter temperatures, food, electricity, medical care, and access to sanitation have all been denied most Aleppo residents for months. Now, violent encirclement and deadly bombardments are a lethal threat for tens of thousands of defenseless children, women and aged people, who live homeless and without resources in desperate conditions in the city ruins. 

This condition cannot and must not abide.

The United Nations Secretary General's Special Adviser for the Prevention of Genocide, Adama Dieng, stated that “We cannot afford to wait any longer if we do not want to be the witnesses of what could be one of the biggest mass killing of civilians in our time.”

As representatives of Christian and Muslim communities, as well as other religious communities and interreligious organisations, we call for an immediate ceasefire in Aleppo.

We demand that the international community assume its responsibility to protect the vulnerable and oversee the continued cessation of hostilities in Aleppo, offer the civilians succor and aid, and allow those suffering to reach shelter and care.

Working in the region to promote social cohesion and peaceful co-existence, we believe that our work cannot be fulfilled unless the humanitarian needs of the suffering people and those at risk in Aleppo and other parts of Syria are at the forefront of our efforts.

Therefore, we will work together and with our partners in the region to convene a gathering for faith-based and interreligious dialogue organizations, and religious leaders from the region to engage in more humanitarian relief work in Aleppo and other parts of Syria.