Geneva (AINA) -- In an address to the United Nations in Geneva on Thursday, Attiya Gamri, president of the Assyrian Confederation of Europe, voiced concerns on the world's lack of support for the Assyrians in Iraq and Syria. "A century ago there were millions of Assyrians in the area and today very few remain, and the United Nations has not asked the Kurdish leader Mr Barzani or Iraqi leaders about their policies while people have been fleeing."

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The event in Geneva was organized by the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) in a new session of the Human Rights Council. A special invitation was sent to the Assyrian Confederation to speak at the event and give voice to the victims of the ethnic cleansing witnessed in Iraq since the war in 2003, and culminating in acts of genocide in 2014 by the so called Islamic State against Assyrians and Yazidis.

The Assyrian Confederation of Europe, based in the European capital Brussels, represents the Assyrian national federations in Europe and works to influence European policy on the Middle East.