UN Security Council urges quick end to Syria violence

The United Nations Security Council has warned against the deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Syria, urging all parties to the conflict to put an immediate end to all forms of violence in the war-stricken country.

In a presidential statement adopted on Friday, the 15-member body expressed alarm that the Syrian conflict has turned into the largest humanitarian emergency crisis in the world.

The Syrian crisis is threatening regional peace and security with diverse implications on its neighboring countries and the displacement of millions of people, the statement further read.

The inflow of refugees has placed strain on host countries’ education systems, said the statement, stressing that additional resources will be required to help the 600,000 children outside the school system.

The Security Council also called on donors, international financial institutions and UN agencies to consider financing instruments in order to effectively meet the “unique needs” of countries impacted by the Syrian conflict.

Addressing the body during an open briefing, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos said it is alarming that “people have become numb to figures that should, every day, shock our collective conscience.”

She added that some 220,000 people have lost their lives during the tragic five-year conflict in Syria while more than one million have been injured.

A Syrian youth goes out of his home in front of the rubble of a collapsed building in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on April 19, 2015. © AFP

Nearly 7.6 million people have been displaced and four million Syrians have sought refuge in neighboring countries, she noted.

Amos pointed to hundreds of thousands of people in a “daily struggle for survival” and said it is imperative to have full and unimpeded humanitarian access to populations in need.

She called for full support for the Syrian people, particularly medical and surgical aid.

The people of Syria “rightly want more,” the UN official said, adding they want an end to the war that has “destroyed their country and ravaged their lives…Stop the violations of international law, protect civilians and ensure humanitarian access.”

“The failure to stop the violence has undermined the credibility of this council and eroded confidence in the international community to take its responsibilities seriously,” Amos pointed out.

She stressed the importance of holding “political dialog” as the only solution to the Syrian crisis and said, “Time is, however, running out on Syria. This is a crisis with potential global repercussions. I ask the [Security] Council to match its scale with an equally bold response.”

Syria has been grappling with a deadly crisis since March 2011 with Takfiri groups fueling the violence in the Arab country.

The Takfiri terrorist groups, with members from several Western countries, control swathes of land in Syria and Iraq, and have been carrying out horrific acts of violence such as public decapitations and crucifixions against all communities such as Shias, Sunnis, Kurds and Christians.