Brussels, 24/02/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Saturday 22 February, Kristalina Georgieva, EU Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response, welcomed the resolution unanimously adopted that day by the UN Security Council on the humanitarian situation in Syria, which demands “safe, unhindered and immediate access to all people in need”, and she immediately called for it to be implemented in full. The resolution also calls for the immediate lifting of all sieges of densely populated areas and an end to attacks on civilians.
The commissioner stated: “The horrific plight of the Syrian people has finally been recognised by the international community, and this will hopefully be a turning point while awaiting a political solution to the crisis… It now remains for this Resolution to be translated into action on the ground and for all the parties to the conflict to respect International Humanitarian Law. The EU and its Member States is collectively the biggest contributor to the global aid effort, but funds mean nothing to people who cannot be reached… It remains crucial to ensure rapid and unimpeded access to all those in need… Over almost three years every person behind these abstract statistics has been betrayed”.
There are more than 9 million people in need of assistance inside Syria and it is estimated that there are more than 6.5 million displaced persons inside the country and nearly a million refugees in Lebanon, 600,000 in Turkey and almost the same number in Jordan, with 222,000 registered refugees in Iraq. (AN/transl.fl)