Brussels, 15/07/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 15 July, the European Union welcomed resolution 2165, which was unanimously adopted the day before by the United Nations Security Council, on humanitarian access in Syria. The EU immediately called on all parties to the conflict fully to comply with their obligations to implement this resolution.
“Since the outbreak of the conflict, it has been a long-standing EU call that the UN humanitarian agencies and their partners should be authorised to use the most direct route across conflict lines and borders to reach people in need without the consent of the Syrian regime”, the European External Action Service (EEAS) reiterated in a statement.
“The EU remains deeply appalled by the level of violence and the considerable humanitarian consequences of the conflict both in Syria and in the neighbouring countries” and strongly condemns the “widespread violations of human rights by the Syrian authorities and armed groups, which continue to exacerbate the humanitarian disaster in Syria”.
There are currently more than 10 million Syrians in need of humanitarian aid. Nearly half of them are trapped in besieged or in hard-to-reach areas.
In 2014, the European Commission has committed €100 million in humanitarian aid to Syria and the neighbouring countries (Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey and Iraq). The total amount of humanitarian aid it has committed since the start of the crisis is €615 million and total EU aid (humanitarian and development assistance) exceeds €2.8 billion. (AN)