Syria Response Coordination Group provides briefing on the humanitarian reality in northern Syria

Today, Friday, the Syria Response Coordinators Group provided a briefing on the current humanitarian reality in northern Syria before voting on the new Security Council resolution.

The team warned of the exacerbation of the humanitarian crisis in Syria in general and northwestern Syria in particular, due to measures to prevent aid, causing a humanitarian catastrophe that may befall civilians, which is a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention on the Protection of Civilians.

The team said in its briefing: “Since the beginning of its intervention in Syria, Russia has been trying to undermine efforts to impose peace and stability in the military de-escalation zone in the Syrian province of Idlib by launching (illegal) military attacks in favor of the Assad regime and its allies in Syria.”

The team added: “The Assad regime and Russia have carried out more than six military campaigns in northwestern Syria since the signing of the “Sochi” Agreement, during which more than 52% of the population has been displaced, most of whom live in primitive camps that lack the lowest humanitarian components, to exceed more than 1,304 camps.”

The team emphasized that the Russian intensive attempts to stop the UN Security Council resolutions regarding the entry of humanitarian aid across the borders into the affected areas in Syria and to limit the entry of humanitarian aid through the routes of the Assad regime and its allies, as it was able to suspend the following decisions by controlling the time period for all the following decisions in exchange for On political achievements far from the scope of humanity.

The team stressed that it is fully committed to the Security Council resolutions related to the issue of the entry of humanitarian aid into Syria and to work to prevent the Russian side from carrying out hostile actions against the civilian population by working to impose a policy of systematic starvation in order to obtain regional and international political gains, or to work outside the scope of the UN Security Council. In the event of Russian-Chinese insistence on stalling the decisions.

The team noted that stopping the entry of humanitarian aid across borders into northwest Syria will increase poverty rates to unprecedented levels, reaching more than 90% of the population residing in the region, and an increase in acute malnutrition cases among children and mothers more than previous rates.

The team strongly urged the Security Council to insist on the speedy renewal of the mechanism for cross-border humanitarian access into Syria, and we also urge all members of the Security Council to redouble their commitment to the political process with the aim of reaching a lasting solution that fully respects the right of the Syrian people to self-determination and independence.

During the previous military campaigns, more than 2,293 civilians lost their lives, including 648 children and more than 45 humanitarian workers. The displacement operations were accompanied by widespread destruction of facilities and infrastructure during successive military campaigns in Idlib governorate, where the number of facilities targeted since the signing of the Sochi Agreement To more than 634 facilities, including schools, hospitals, popular markets, service centers and shelters for the displaced, which increased the number of people in need of humanitarian assistance in the areas of northwestern Syria to more than 3.6 million civilians out of 4.3 million civilians living in the aforementioned area.