Brussels, 21/10/2013 (Agence Europe) - The European Union has condemned the continuing widespread and systemic violations of international humanitarian law and human rights in Syria and repeated, on Monday 21 October, its commitment to providing humanitarian aid in Syria and the neighbouring countries - aid which had exceeded €1.8 billion so far. In its conclusions, the Foreign Affairs Council that everything must be done so that all parties in the conflict, and in particular the Syrian authorities, guarantee safe and unhindered humanitarian access to populations in need of assistance in the entirety of the Syrian territory and the safety and protection of humanitarian workers and medical personnel. The EU calls on all sides of the conflict to allow for local ceasefires and on the Syrian authorities to provide the necessary authorisation to facilitate humanitarian work.
The EU calls for the presidential statement of the Security Council on the humanitarian situation in Syria to be fully implemented and hails the efforts that are being made by the United Nations, in particular OCHA, which is playing the central role in aid coordination.
The EU expresses its deep concern over the fate of refugees, who now number more than 2.1 million (in Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon and Turkey, as well as in Egypt and North Africa), and those displaced internally (4.5 million according to UN estimates, 100,000 of whom have been killed). All of the countries neighbouring Syria must be encouraged to keep their borders open or to re-open them to provide a safe haven for refugees, the Council says. (AN/transl.fl)