Victoria’s Syrian community has held a peace vigil on the steps of Parliament House to call for an end to recent violence and massacres in Syria.

The silent vigil was aimed at drawing attention to recent civilian massacres in parts of Syria and to call on the federal government to help the community bring family members to Australia.

Syrian community leader Norma Medawar said the vigil was non-political and attendees would wear white and carry olive sprigs.

“We want the killings of innocent people of all faiths and groups to end. The situation in Syria is horrible and the violence needs to stop,” Ms Medawar said.

“We want to say no to civil war, and we want the government to help our families to come to Australia on temporary visas as they did with Gazans and Ukrainians,” she said.

“We are gathering to express the solidarity of the Australian-Syrian community with all civilian victims and to raise awareness about the systematic killings of innocent individuals that have occurred in Syria over the past weeks,” she said.

The community issued a three-point request.

“We respectfully request the following: acknowledgment and condemnation of the recent systematic killings of civilians; an urgent call to all international bodies and governments to take immediate action to protect civilians, regardless of their ethnicity, race, or religion, through their diplomatic channels, and; seeking guarantee to prevent atrocities and acts of revenge,” the request said.

Local state Labor MP Enver Erdogan has written a letter on behalf of the Syrian group and other constituents to Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Homer Affairs Minister Tony Burke asking the government to explore the feasibility of diplomatic advocacy and securing safe passage for people in danger.

He suggested a Special Humanitarian Visa Pathway, prioritising applications from at risk communities, which include the Alawite, Christian, Druze and Kurdish groups.

“Australia has a strong humanitarian tradition, and at this critical moment, we have an opportunity to extend our support to those facing persecution and violence,” Mr Erdogan’s letter says.

In recent weeks entire families, including women and children, have been killed during violence in Syria’s coastal region, the UN human rights office has reported. A recent UN statement said thar so far, it had verified the killings of 111 civilians, but that the actual figure was believed to be significantly higher.