Brussels, 10/04/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Friday 10 April, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini and European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Christos Stylianides called for international law to be respected in the clashes between the Syrian regime and Islamic State fighters in the Palestinian refugee camp at Yarmouk, in the suburbs of Damascus.
“The security and humanitarian situation in the Yarmouk refugee camp in Syria has gone from bad to worse. Innocent people are now being used as human shields by the fighting sides”, state Mogherini and Stylianides in a joint press release. They call on the fighters to let the civilians flee the combat area through a safe passage and to allow access for humanitarian aid. Mogherini and Stylianides promise to work together with the UN envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, to find a political solution to the Syrian conflict.
On Wednesday 8 April, the European Commission released further emergency aid of €2.5 million to shoulder UNRWA's operations in Syria, mainly in Yarmouk, Idlib, Dara'a (in south western Syria) and Aleppo (see EUROPE 11289). (Mathieu Bion)