Top UN official visits Syria
The top United Nations official in Syria said he was “horrified” by what he had seen during a three-day trip to the war-torn country.
“I am absolutely horrified by the total disregard for civilian life by all parties in this conflict,” Stephen O’Brien said. “Attacks on civilians are unlawful, unacceptable and must stop. I appeal to every party engaged in violence and fighting to protect civilians and to respect international humanitarian law.”
As the war in Syria grinds on through its fourth year with no solution in sight, humanitarian groups say they are struggling to keep up with the growing humanitarian challenges.
“It is the most urgent and complex humanitarian challenge in the world right now,” Pawel Krzysiek, the spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) told The Media Line. “The level of humanitarian need is unprecedented and far outstrips our ability to respond.”
He said that since the civil war began in 2011, at least 220,000 people have been killed, more than four million Syrians have fled the country, and more than seven million Syrians have been internally displaced. More than 12 million people, out of a total of 18 million currently in Syria, are in need of humanitarian assistance.
“Too many people are lacking food and basic medicine,” he said. “Many of the country’s services are in a state of collapse and a lot of the infrastructure has suffered repeated attacks.”
The economic consequences of the war have been devastating. A report by the Syrian Center for Policy Research found that 80 percent of the population in Syria lives in poverty, life expectancy has plummeted by 20 years, and the war has cost the country $200 billion since the conflict began.
Physicians for Human Rights says it has been compiling its figures on the health sector monthly since the fighting began.
“People become numb to the daily and monthly figures, but when you look at a whole year, it’s hard to ignore the appalling number of medical personnel killed and hospitals attacked,” Erin Gallagher, the director of investigations for Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) told The Media Line. “Sadly it takes bigger and more horrific numbers to capture people’s attention.”
The fighting in Syria shows no sign of ending. This month, Syrian government troops launched a series of air attacks on crowded markets and residential areas in Douma, just outside Damascus. At least 112 people, most of them civilians were killed and more than 500 civilians wounded.
Human Right Watch called on the UN Security Council to impose an arms embargo on the Syrian government following these attacks.
At the same time, Islamic State (IS) remains in control of about one-third of Syria. Their brutal murder of Khaled Al-Asad, 82, in charge of Palmyra antiquities has reminded the world of the Syrian conflict, but money is still short. O’Brien said that the UN’s campaign for humanitarian relief in Syria for this year has met only one-third of its goal.
Some populations in Syria are even more vulnerable. In March, IS took over the Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus, and thousands of Palestinians living there fled. Now UN officials say a typhoid outbreak is endangering those who stayed.
“The number of typhoid cases UNRWA (the UN body responsible for refugees) has treated in the displaced population from the Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus has nearly doubled,” UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness told reporters. “We have grave fears and concerns about the state of health among the civilian population and we again make a strong demand for full humanitarian access. Without it, it is inevitable that there will be continued and widespread human suffering.”