Despite Syria’s recent diplomatic activity, people still suffer -UN
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – The UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen, said that the Syrian people continue to suffer on a massive scale and have not yet seen any improvement in the reality following the recent diplomatic activity of Syria.
Pedersen highlighted, during a briefing to the United Nation Security Council (UNSC), the issue of the detained, disappeared and the missing, calling on all parties in Syria to take concrete and meaningful steps to that end.
In Sept., 2022, DW said that the UN is to establish an international mechanism to look for over 100,000 Syrians who have gone missing during Syrian civil war.
He stressed that the Syrian parties must be engaged in dialogue and return to discussing their own future together in the Constitutional Committee.
Ghada Mudawi, Deputy Director of the Office for the Coordination on Humanitarian Affairs, said in the council that the vast majority of the Syrian population continues to face daily challenges to meet the most basic food, health, water, hygiene and shelter needs.
“A staggering 15.3 million people requiring humanitarian assistance, representing nearly 70 per cent of the population,” she added.
Mudawi stressed that more than 50 percent of the population are food insecure and a further 2.9 million at risk of sliding into hunger, and malnutrition is on the rise, with stunting and maternal malnutrition rates reaching levels never seen before.
Over 330,000 people displaced and thousands more without access to basic services and livelihoods, due to the February quake, she continued.
The situation is still critical, as protection concerns, including gender-based violence and mental health needs are on the rise, the deputy added.
She further said the ongoing water crisis increases the risk of water-borne diseases, and called on donors and the council for more aid, as Earthquake Recovery Needs Assessment has estimated almost $9 billion in damage and losses and $14.8 billion in recovery needs over the next three-year period.
Turkey has controlled Alouk water station, the main source of water for the city of Hasakah and its countryside in northeast Syria, since its military operation in October 2019 in which it occupied Sere Kaniye and Tel Abyad, depriving more than 500,000 people of water.
She warned the Council, saying that $5.4 billion is needed to assist 14.2 million people throughout Syria in 2023. However, five months into the year, it is less than 10 percent funded.
The US Ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said despite Syria’s recent diplomatic activities, the situation in the country “has not fundamentally changed for the better.”
On May 7, Arab’s foreign ministers agreed at a closed meeting at the Arab League’s headquarters in Cairo, Egypt, on Syria’s official return to its seat in the Arab League.
In addition, Greenfield highlighted that the country “remains a safe haven for extremist groups.”
She called on the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to keep Bab al-Salamah and al-Rai border crossings open until at least August 2024 or as long as needed.
The Syrian government agreed on May 13 to extend by another three months the use of the aforementioned border crossings with Turkey into the rebel-held northwest that were opened for aid delivery after the earthquake.
In turn, Vassily Nebenzia, Permanent Representative of Russia to the UN, said that the extension does not receive due credit.
Greenfield also called on the Arab League to hold Syria to its commitments and release the more than 130,000 detainees held in prisons.
She also emphasized that US sanctions will remain in place because al-Assad has shattered Syria with his brutal war, torture and killing.
Ameirah Obaid al-Hefeiti, Deputy Permanent Representative of the UAE to the UN, said the acute crisis requires finding sustainable solutions and aid must reach all regions in Syria, without hindrance.