The Syrian National Coalition is deeply concerned about the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation in Syria and the inability of the United Nations Security Council to improve humanitarian access to alleviate the widespread suffering of Syria’s civilian population.
During today’s U.N. Security Council debate on Syria, senior U.N. officials described the worsening conditions in Syria where 2.8 million Syrians are without access to urgently needed humanitarian assistance. Half of those most in need are children, it said. As many as 5,000 Syrians now dying every month, many of them civilians.
Over the past two years, the Syrian regime has repeatedly demonstrated its basic disregard for human life and dignity. Its policy of denying access to humanitarian agencies and human rights monitors has prevented the alleviation of the suffering of the most vulnerable communities in Syria. In the cities of Homs, Qusayr and the district of Qaboun in Damascus, thousands of Syrians have been trapped by regime forces for months without access to food, safe drinking water, or urgently needed medical care.
The U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Valerie Amos, has repeatedly urged the Security Council to ensure that the Syrian regime allows access to all population centers so that vital humanitarian care can be delivered to Syria’s most vulnerable groups.
“The U.N. must overcome its internal divisions and reach agreement on the basic need to stop the widespread human suffering in Syria and act to put further pressure on the Syrian regime to improve humanitarian access.” said Najib Ghadbian, Special Representative of the Coalition to the U.N.
The Coalition urges the Security Council to live up to its charter responsibilities and do everything in its power to ensure that pressing humanitarian needs of Syria’s vulnerable populations are met.
Translated and edited by The Syrian Observer
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