YouSaid · the spoken record

Obrien

lines on the record: 875
first: 2010-06-29
most recent: 2017-08-30
sittings or episodes: 46
sources: un-security-council

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“He is a White Helmet working in Syria who had just lost his leg below the knee in an improved- explosive-device explosion and was trying to get used to his prosthesis. Jo took his message to the House of Commons and to the Security Council chamber. She joined politics to speak truth to power, fearlessly, to the Security Council; I dedicate this statement to Jo, to her values, to her inspiration, and above all, her call for peace in Syria now. There is something fundamentally wrong in a world where attacks on hospitals and schools, on mosques and public markets, on ethnic, religious and confessional groups have become so commonplace that they cease to incite any reaction.”
2016-06-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7725 (2016) · source
“Mr. O'Brien: We meet today in the shadow of Jo Cox's murder last Thursday. She was a brilliant British Member of Parliament killed in the line of public duty just days before her forty-second birthday, leaving a husband and two very young children - a loss to all of us and particularly to the innocent people of Syria, who never met her but for whom she worked relentlessly, courageously and effectively. She was a humanitarian to her core and, working with the brave local non-governmental organization the White Helmets, Jo was one of the greatest advocates for this long, destructive, senseless war to stop, and stop immediately. That is what Afin said to me in the Reyhanli hospital near Hatay, Turkey, on the Syrian border near the Bab Al-Hawa crossing, when I was there the other day.”
2016-06-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7725 (2016) · source
“I think that sums up precisely why we need to raise ourselves above the level of disputes on the numbers, which simply do not pay sufficient respect to the deep needs of the people who are doing their very best to help or those who continue to struggle after five years of a fight that could be brought to an end if there were sufficient political will - not least from the Government, which represents an alternative factual base. I stand by the facts that I presented, and I am more than happy to write to the Council at a later stage, setting out further helpful background details.”
2016-05-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7701 (2016) · source
“Mr. O'Brien: As I have said on many occasions before, my only authority comes from attempts to ensure that we gather facts from the best sources possible - both with our own eyes on the ground and from those we are able to trust to produce the facts - and to relay them to the Security Council in a completely fair and honest manner. Where there are reports rather than seen facts, we make judgments about the quality of those reports. So, having laid out the best information we have available, I stand by all the facts I outlined in the statement Ijust made to the Council. I can certainly stand by the facts I gave early in my statement because that was my personal testimony, in particular my sitting down at the bedside of Dr. Mazin as he struggled for life, barely able to whisper. All he could muster to say was "Please, peace".”
2016-05-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7701 (2016) · source
“Millions of women, men and children and, as I mentioned early in my statement, Dr. Mazin - struggling for life in that bed in Reyhanli and all across Syria - each and every one of them depends on the Council's action, right now.”
2016-05-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7701 (2016) · source
“However, let me state clearly that protecting civilians and granting access should never be dependent on political negotiations or as a bargaining chip for ad hoc deals on the ground. These are fundamental tenets of international humanitarian law and must be respected by the parties and all who support them. There must be access to those in need, and not just to a third of those in need, but to all; not just one-off deliveries, but sustained, immediate and unimpeded humanitarian access throughout the country; not just access to deliver vaccines, but the full package of supplies, including medical and surgical items, delivered on the basis of the needs assessments made by the United Nations. The sieges have to be lifted once and for all, and immediately. They exist today only because of a lack of will to end them.”
2016-05-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7701 (2016) · source
“As he has said, we are one humanity, with a shared responsibility not only to keep people alive, but to give people a chance at life in dignity. The bottom line is that, politically, we continue to fail the people of Syria dismally in that regard. On 17 May, the International Syria Support Group called on all parties to the Syrian conflict to immediately comply with the terms of the cessation of hostilities. It further called for the lifting of all sieges and urged the Syrian Government to swiftly approve United Nations delivery requests in their entirety. Frankly, the parties to the conflict, and those with influence over them, urgently need to turn this into decisive, positive action that can have a direct, positive effect on Syrian lives on the ground.”
2016-05-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7701 (2016) · source
“Such restrictions are not only violations of earlier guarantees and approvals obtained from the Syrian Government and other parties, they are deliberately and cynically designed to inflict more unnecessary suffering on civilians living in besieged and hard-to-reach locations. As the Council knows, the international community came together in Istanbul earlier this week for the World Humanitarian Summit, called for by the Secretary- General. I emphasized at the Summit that we must all live up to our responsibility, collectively and individually, to meet the needs of the most vulnerable people and make a real difference for the people who need our help most. Syria is a stark example of why the Secretary- General called for the Summit.”
2016-05-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7701 (2016) · source
“Security force representatives never turned up at the warehouse to monitor the loading of trucks, as previously agreed, despite constant outreach at various levels. As a result, the convoy was never given permission to depart. At the same time, non-State armed groups continue to prevent a United Nations assessment mission from proceeding to the besieged towns of Foah and Kafraya in Idlib governorate. Moreover, the removal of life-saving medicines and medical supplies such as surgical, midwifery and emergency kits has continued unabated, with supplies for an estimated 150,000 treatments removed from convoys since the beginning of the year. Since the adoption of resolution 2139 (2014), medical supplies for more than 650,000 treatments have been removed from aid convoys.”
2016-05-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7701 (2016) · source
“Even for the locations that were approved for deliveries in May, the Syrian Government has severely curtailed the ability of the United Nations to reach those in need. A convoy and assessment mission to Darayya, where 4,000 civilians have been besieged for almost four years, scheduled for 12 May, had to be aborted due to unconscionable last-minute restrictions imposed by Government security forces. At the last checkpoint, Government forces removed all basic supplies, including nutritional items for infants. No conclusion can be drawn other than that this was simply an effort to further punish civilians, and this time infants. Similarly, an inter-agency convoy that was supposed to reach Mu'addamiyah on 14 May was unable to deploy.”
2016-05-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7701 (2016) · source
“The Syrian authorities granted approval in full to only 14 locations, with 224,000 people, and approvals conditional on the type and amount of assistance to another eight locations, for some 306,000 people. That effectively left more than 40 per cent of the planned target population, including in Aleppo, Al-Waer, and Talbiseh, without access to basic necessities and food. That of course leaves me extremely concerned. We recently submitted our plan for June with a request to reach 1.1 million people in 34 besieged, hard-to-reach and other priority cross-line locations, including all the places we could not reach in May. I call on the Syrian Government to approve the plan in full and to remove any and all conditions, not least regarding the amount or type of aid that can be delivered.”
2016-05-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7701 (2016) · source
“Airdrops are an option of last resort; they are costly, dangerous and technically very challenging. However, as I have said before, the gravity and scale of need means that the United Nations must consider such options, but only as a last resort, and not forgetting that the United Nations would require the approval of the Government of Syria. Deliberate interference and restrictions by the parties, notably the Syrian Government, continue to prevent effective aid delivery. For example, on 20 April, the United Nations submitted its inter-agency convoy plan for the month of May, which included requests to reach 904,750 people across 35 besieged, hard-to-reach and priority cross-line locations.”
2016-05-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7701 (2016) · source
“We have very recently gained access to besieged eastern Harasta with food and other humanitarian supplies for 10,000 people - a first since March 2013, over three years ago. In addition, since 10 April, the World Food Programme successfully carried out 44 high altitude airdrops over the besieged city of Deir-ez-Zor. These airdrops mean that 762 metric tons of urgently needed food assistance, distributed by the Syrian Arab Red Crescent on the ground, reached approximately 100,000 people. But several weeks of air drops have brought an amount of food equivalent to only one convoy. Let me repeat that several weeks of air drops have brought an amount of food equivalent to only one convoy by road, and the Council should have no doubt about the challenges our partners are facing to deliver assistance by air.”
2016-05-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7701 (2016) · source
“Despite the extremely challenging environment, United Nations agencies and non-governmental organization partners continue their tireless efforts to meet the urgent humanitarian needs of the Syrian population. Millions of people were reached with assistance in April, while UNICEF and the World Health Organization began another nationwide immunization campaign to reach 2 million children. And cross-border shipments provided food aid to over a million people, as well as other types of assistance to tens of thousands more. Cross-line inter-agency operations to besieged, hard-to-reach and other priority locations have continued, with over 800,000 people reached this year in these areas, and many more than once.”
2016-05-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7701 (2016) · source
“In Aleppo city, fighting has continued to affect civilians over the past few weeks and also had an impact on humanitarian operations. The United Nations hub in the western part of the city has repeatedly been hit by shelling, while access for cross-border aid to assist 300,000 people in eastern Aleppo city, along Castello road, the last remaining route into the area, has been repeatedly out due to air strikes and heavy fighting. The current reality in Syria is not something that we should or can accept. There should never be impunity for behaviour that shows complete disregard for international humanitarian law, flouts the resolutions of the Security Council, and causes such immense human suffering. One day all those responsible must and will be held to account.”
2016-05-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7701 (2016) · source
“People in these areas have limited freedom of movement and diminished access to clean water, medical care and food. The recent humanitarian convoys to northern rural Homs were vital but must be followed up by greater access if we are to alleviate the suffering of civilians. The situation across Aleppo governorate also remains alarming for civilians. In northern Aleppo, just across the border from Turkey, the situation for tens of thousands of people is precarious, with many having been displaced multiple times this year alone as a result of heavy fighting between non-State armed groups and ISIL. That fighting is ongoing as of today and is likely to fuel further displacement and vulnerability along the border areas.”
2016-05-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7701 (2016) · source
“However, other parties that conduct military activities in or from populated areas, endangering their safety, also bear their share of responsibility for the immense suffering in besieged areas. And we cannot ignore the fact that many on all sides are profiting handsomely at the expense of innocent civilians from their ability to control the goods that enter through irregular and unofficial channels. The humanitarian and protection situation in many hard-to-reach areas also remains critical, including in some that are on the brink of besiegement. I remain extremely concerned about the conditions for the hundreds of thousands of civilians in northern rural Homs, specifically in the towns of Rastan, Talbiseh and Taldo, as well as in the adjacent area of Habarnafse in rural Hama.”
2016-05-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7701 (2016) · source
“According to the most recent report of the Secretary-General (S/2016/460), the number ofpeople in besieged areas was 517,700, itself up from 486,7000, due to more accurate numbers of people emerging from Deir ez-Zor, Foah and Kefraya, and Yarmouk, as the facts on the ground have changed. But I must reinforce that these figures are really shocking. Today, 592,700 people are living in besieged areas because of the appalling deteriorating situation in Al-Waer on the other side of the very line I myself crossed last year, as reported to the Council in detail. The punishment of civilians through besiegement tactics must stop immediately. The primary responsibility lies with the party that maintains the siege and routinely and systematically denies people the basic necessities of life and freedom of movement.”
2016-05-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7701 (2016) · source
“This includes 452,700 people besieged by the Government of Syria in various locations in rural Damascus, as well as in the Al-Waer area of Homs city, an area that I visited myselfjust a few months ago, but which has been closed off since March. Elsewhere, 110,000 people are besieged by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Deir ez-Zor city, 20,000 people by non-State armed groups and the Al-Nusra Front in Foah and Kefraya in Idlib, and 10,000 besieged by the Government of Syria and non-State armed groups in Yarmouk, Damascus. These figures are shocking, as they underscore the sharply deteriorating situation for civilians, even while the cessation of hostilities is in place.”
2016-05-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7701 (2016) · source
“An emergency doctor and two nurses died in that explosion, with another 11 health workers wounded. Similarly, Ziad Al-Buqaa hospital - Khan Al-Shih's last operational hospital serving people in Khan Al-Shih, Zakia and surrounding areas - was reportedly struck by barrel bombs on 17 May. This hospital provided medical services to 4,200 patients daily and served about 100,000. The continued use of siege and starvation as a weapon of war is reprehensible. We are continually monitoring the situation on the ground throughout Syria and, based on the latest information, we now estimate that some 592,700 people are currently living in besieged areas.”
2016-05-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7701 (2016) · source
“Indiscriminate attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure, including schools and hospitals, mosques and public markets, continue with impunity and total disregard for international humanitarian law. In early May, scores of civilians were killed and injured by strikes hitting two IDP settlements in Sarmada, Idlib. These were places where displaced people had sought sanctuary from the conflict. One of the strikes reportedly hit a school tent, resulting in the deaths of eight children. Just this week, several terrorist attacks claimed the lives of over 100 civilians in the coastal cities of Jableh and Tartous. Over 40 patients and accompanying family members were killed and 35 people injured when a suicide bomber walked into the Jableh hospital and detonated an explosives belt.”
2016-05-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7701 (2016) · source
“I met refugee families traumatized by the effects of five years of constant war who dream of nothing more than returning to Syria to live a normal life. I promised to carry their stories to the Security Council. I promised to highlight once more the tragic and ever-worsening situation in Syria. But truth be told, I have run out of words to fully explain how the actions of the parties to the conflict have led to the devastation of a country and its people. As the war continues, it is innocent civilians and children who continue to be subjected to even greater levels of suffering and misery than could ever have been imagined five years ago. I remain particularly concerned at the upsurge in violence across various parts of the country and its impact on civilians.”
2016-05-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7701 (2016) · source
“Mr. O'Brien: I returned yesterday from a town called Reyhanli, in Turkey, just across the border from Syria. What I saw there was harrowing - orphaned Syrian girls and boys ranging from toddlers to young teens with no family left to look after them. I went to a hospital and met Syrians who had been injured after the internally displaced person (IDP) camp they had fled to in Syria to escape violence was itself recently bombed. I sat down at Dr. Mazin's bedside as he struggled for life with appalling and severe brain, abdominal and facial wounds, after he was struck by an air strike on Al-Quds hospital in eastern Aleppo on 27 April, as he was bravely himself saving lives. A bare whisper was all he could muster: "Please, peace".”
2016-05-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7701 (2016) · source
“In short, all parties must finally and unequivocally live up to their obligations under international humanitarian law and the demands of the Council's resolutions. My question to Council members today is again: how many more deaths, how much more suffering can we tolerate before there is a collective push towards an end to this senseless and shameful crisis affecting Syrians, their neighbours and many more people beyond?”
2016-05-04 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7687 (2016) · source
“We are reporting today on Aleppo, but make no mistake, indiscriminate attacks and the destruction of civilian infrastructure continue to inflict tremendous suffering on Syrians across the country. We are very concerned about the escalation of violence and the impact on civilians in other parts of the country; for example, in Dar'a, where there have been reports of heavy fighting between Government forces and non-State armed groups, including shelling and aerial bombardment over the past week. The bottom line is that attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure need to stop immediately. There also needs to be full, unhindered, unconditional, safe and sustained access to all people in need, including in besieged and hard-to-reach areas, access for all types of assistance, including medical and surgical supplies.”
2016-05-04 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7687 (2016) · source
“Already, in the past few days, many humanitarian actors have had to suspend their operations, unable to reach tens of thousands of children, who could not be vaccinated last week. We are dismayed that the Government of Syria did not approve our request for a cross-line inter-agency convoy to eastern Aleppo city in May. The suspension of the activities of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent in the east of the city over the past weeks is also a worrying development, as that organization is a key partner of the United Nations in Syria, and we call on all concerned to allow it to resume its activities in eastern Aleppo city as soon as possible. In fact, now, there is not a moment to lose.”
2016-05-04 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7687 (2016) · source
“Some of them amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. Those who are responsible must know that they will one day be held accountable, I want to pay tribute to the tireless efforts of humanitarian actors and first-responders, most of whom are Syrian, who continue to risk their lives to stay and deliver assistance in Aleppo and across the country. So far this year, the United Nations and partners have delivered life-saving aid to hundreds of thousands of people per month in Aleppo city, originating both from within Syria and from across the border in Turkey. However, we remain extremely concerned about how the security situation in Aleppo city is impeding humanitarian access and operations.”
2016-05-04 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7687 (2016) · source
“Hospitals dedicated to treating children and those serving pregnant women are no longer places where civilians can safely go for treatment. And it is now considered a risk, as I said in my previous statement to the Council (see S/PV.7682), to live near a medical facility. Clearly enshrined in international humanitarian law and as the Council reconfirmed yesterday (see S/PV.7685), the protection and provision of medical assistance and health care to the wounded and sick is at the heart of humanitarian action. Whoever they are and whatever side of the fight they are on, those responsible for such repeated, unconscionable acts of inhumanity must understand that their acts cannot and will not be forgotten. Such attacks against civilians are violations of international humanitarian law.”
2016-05-04 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7687 (2016) · source
“In western Aleppo, currently controlled by the Government, Ibn Rushd hospital was hit by mortars, allegedly fired by non-State armed groups last week, and just yesterday an attack on the Al-Dabeet maternity hospital, in western Aleppo, again allegedly by non-State armed groups, resulted in three fatalities, injuring fifteen more. Those terrible attacks have not only claimed innocent lives, but have also had a multiplier effect, leaving tens of thousands of civilians unable to obtain even the most basic levels of care, even as fighting intensifies around them. More broadly, according to Physicians for Human Rights, there have been over 360 documented attacks on some 250 medical facilities during the course of the conflict. More than 730 medical personnel have been killed.”
2016-05-04 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7687 (2016) · source
“On 27 April, Al-Quds hospital, the most advanced paediatric care centre in Aleppo - let me repeat, a hospital dedicated to treating children - was destroyed after being hit by a wave of air strikes, which by all accounts had been launched by the Government of Syria. Fifty people were killed, including several doctors, and eighty more people were injured. On 29 April, air strikes destroyed a United Nations-funded primary health centre in the Marjeh Square neighbourhood and the Boustan Al-Qasir health-care centre in eastern Aleppo, which are both currently controlled by non-State armed groups, injuring several people and putting the facilities out of service.”
2016-05-04 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7687 (2016) · source
“The estimated 1.3 million people living in western Aleppo city are crowding into basements, seeking refuge from volleys of shells and mortar rounds, which continue to slam into what is left of their homes, as people and humanitarian workers are pinned down in their respective factional quarters in the city. There can be no explanation or excuse, no reason or rationale for waging war on civilians. I am going to focus again on the inexcusable, deeply disturbing attacks on medical facilities. We have all seen the harrowing images of bombs and mortars raining down on medical facilities and medical personnel across Aleppo in recent days. On 22 April, an air strike hit an ambulance en route to assist people wounded in an earlier air strike in the Al-Huluk neighbourhood of eastern Aleppo, killing the driver and the paramedic.”
2016-05-04 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7687 (2016) · source
“While the dead are still being counted and while medical personnel are trying to save lives and tend to the injured, we can already estimate that hundreds of civilians have been killed or injured, including dozens of women and children. Life for people in Aleppo is horrendous and has lost all sense. Access to basic and essential services such as water and electricity is sporadic at best. People are living under daily threat and terror. Those who remain in eastern Aleppo, roughly 300,000 people, live in constant fear of the next attack from the air, including from barrel bombs. School activities for thousands of children have been suspended, and Friday prayers have been cancelled.”
2016-05-04 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7687 (2016) · source
“Mr. O'Brien: I would like to thank Under- Secretary-General Feltman for his briefing. I echo his call and that of so many others for an end to the carnage in Aleppo, and in Syria generally. For the sake of the people of Aleppo, Syria and beyond, we cannot squander the opportunity provided by the negotiations in Geneva. I am glad to note the news that havejust been received, as announced by Mr. Feltman, of a further agreement and hope that it can be implemented in full. But I am horrified by the continued death and destruction in Aleppo. Over the past 10 days, indiscriminate attacks and the use of explosive weapons in populated areas by Government forces, non-State armed groups and listed terrorist groups has intensified, mostly affecting innocent civilians.”
2016-05-04 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7687 (2016) · source
“Frankly, I am not sure just how many more days, weeks or months the long-suffering people of Syria can endure this protracted humanitarian catastrophe.”
2016-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7682 (2016) · source
“Just as the humanitarian community relentlessly and bravely presses forward in efforts to reach more ofthe people in need in Syria, so too must the parties to the conflict grant safe, unimpeded access and with all ofus - especially the Security Council - work towards a sustainable political solution that can allow humanitarian aid to respond most effectively. The people of Syria cannot afford to see the situation move backwards again. If the international conununity fails to maintain momentum, with a sustained cessation of hostilities and full humanitarian access, the situation can and will only spiral further out of control. The international community simply must not let the chance we have today slip away.”
2016-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7682 (2016) · source
“If the new process for inter-agency convoys is to be effective, the timely issuance of facilitation letters must be met. We do not need just sustained, unimpeded and unconditional access, but real and enduring protection for civilians and an improved humanitarian situation for the millions in need. Access cannot be a one-off or even an occasional event, and it cannot limit or prevent certain types of aid. The current levels of access still leave civilians starving and without medical care. Even in places reached this year, the needs are complex and require a comprehensive and consistent humanitarian response, which is currently often denied by parties to the conflict.”
2016-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7682 (2016) · source
“While access continues to be denied, the population of Darayya remains trapped, hungry and - let us be clear - starving. That is a word I never use unless it is true. As I noted in my report last month, I welcomed the simplification of procedures to request cross-line convoys. However, the application of these simplified procedures has not been consistent - far from it. The Government did respond within the agreed seven working days to our April cross-line plan, approving 7 out of 11 locations. Syrian authorities also agreed to provide facilitation letters within three days so that convoys could safely proceed. However, delays in receiving the facilitation letters within the specified three-day time frame have delayed many convoys, depriving civilians of the assistance they desperately need.”
2016-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7682 (2016) · source
“Following the 16 April needs-assessment visit of the United Nations to Darayya, which managed to get into the town for the first time since 2012, the world has seen both that access is possible and that the need is acute and desperate. The town has been 80 to 90 per cent destroyed; there has been no electricity since 2012; and water, sanitation and waste management infrastructure is beyond repair. Households are unable to consume more than one meal per day and are giving priority for eating to their children. In the most severe cases, families are enduring entire days without eating, sending children into the streets to beg and being reduced to eating grass and wild vegetation. Following the visit to Darayya, the United Nations submitted a specific request to deploy aid to the city. Intensely frustratingly, that has yet to be granted.”
2016-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7682 (2016) · source
“While the delivery of humanitarian aid and the capacity of the humanitarian community to overcome deplorable conditions and limitations are inspiring, it is important to remember that they are also stark reminders of the ultimate failure of parties to the conflict to uphold their fundamental responsibility to protect the people of Syria and respect international humanitarian law. The continued failure to do so will result in more death and more suffering. I remain particularly concerned about reaching areas where complete access has been regularly denied. The United Nations has submitted the inter-agency convoy request for May to reach 35 towns in critical need, and I call for access to be granted without delay, including to Darayya and Duma. As has been reported many times, these areas are in desperate need of humanitarian aid.”
2016-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7682 (2016) · source
“Last week, surgical as well as basic health supplies, such as antibiotics and pain-killers, were not allowed onto the Kafr Batna convoy. This week, on the convoy to Rastan, the Syrian authorities removed medicines from supplies, and scissors and anesthetic medicines from midwifery kits. This inhumane practice directly leads to unnecessary suffering and loss of life. We must continue to press the Syrian Government to allow the delivery of medical supplies. This is not idle hearsay; it can be proved, and no one should doubt that it will be when, one day, there is no fighting and those responsible are held to account. And they will be; there can never be impunity for this behaviour.”
2016-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7682 (2016) · source
“Despite this, the withholding of medical treatment continues to be used as a weapon of war in Syria. We continue to receive reports of parties to the conflict ignoring these basic tenets of international humanitarian law. In March, Physicians for Human Rights reported one attack on a medical facility in Latakia, and that four medical personnel were killed, while the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights reported that a medical facility in Deir al-Asafir in Damascus was destroyed by an air strike. As I highlighted, further attacks on medical facilities and personnel in Aleppo in recent days have destroyed another two hospitals. The removal of medicines and medical supplies from aid convoys continues.”
2016-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7682 (2016) · source
“We should not forget the tragic deaths of two children and a young man in Madaya, whose requests for medical evacuation were rejected. While I welcome the evacuation, I underscore the call on all parties to the conflict to ensure that medical evacuations are timely and never tied to political agreements or issues of reciprocity. The provision of humanitarian assistance, including medical assistance to civilians in dire need, must not be a political question. It must never be a bargaining chip in the war. International humanitarian law is very clear on medical treatment. The sick and wounded must be given the medical care required by their condition. Medical personnel must be protected in all circumstances, and attacks against medical facilities are prohibited.”
2016-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7682 (2016) · source
“Since 10 April, WFP has led and carried out 14 high-altitude airdrops to those cut off by ISIL in Deir ez-Zor city, meeting the immediate needs of some 100,000 people. The Syrian Arab Red Crescent is now distributing the assistance on the ground. While airdrops are used only as a last resort, with the support of many member States WFP is able to continue the operation to send food, as well as other humanitarian supplies, such as medicine, nutrition, water and sanitation supplies. Evacuations have taken place as part of the four towns agreement. On 20 April, the evacuation of over 515 people from the besieged towns of Madaya, Zabadani, Fo'ah and Kafraya, including 80 medical cases, was successfully completed. This is the largest medical evacuation in Syria undertaken to date. But, sadly, it is too late for some.”
2016-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7682 (2016) · source
“Since January, assistance has been provided to 778,175 people in need in besieged, hard-to-reach and other priority cross-lines locations. This week, the United Nations reached Rastan, the third-largest city in Horns governorate, for the first time since April 2015 - a year ago. Some 122,500 people received vital assistance, including nutrition, water, sanitation and hygiene, health-care supplies, education and other basic relief items. In a sobering reminder of the risk our colleagues face, a mortar struck in front of one of the vehicles in the convoy to Rastan, injuring the driver and killing a civilian. I condemn such attacks on humanitarian workers in the strongest, most uncompromising terms, and call again on all parties to allow unfettered and safe access to those in need.”
2016-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7682 (2016) · source
“This week, UNICEF, WHO and partners began another immunization campaign to reach 2 million children in besieged, hard- to-reach and underserved areas. Moreover, humanitarian cross-border convoys this year are reaching nearly twice as many people compared to the same period last year. In March alone, convoys provided food aid to over 1 million people, as well as medical supplies, non-food items, water, sanitation and hygiene, and educational supplies to tens of thousands. Since cross-border convoys began in 2014, they have provided sustained assistance to many millions. Humanitarian relief also continues to reach civilians through cross-line inter-agency operations. Twenty-one convoys deployed in March, and 24 operations have proceeded already in April.”
2016-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7682 (2016) · source
“While between 13 February and 7 April, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East was able to provide people in Yarmouk camp with food and medical aid, the Agency has been unable to deliver additional supplies since. Despite the enormous challenge, the sheer courage of our United Nations people on the ground and our humanitarian partners continues to deliver life-saving assistance and support to millions of people across the country. The World Food Programme (WFP), for example, reached 3.7 million people with food aid in March. UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO) held a nation-wide polio campaign in March, reaching over 2.1 million children.”
2016-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7682 (2016) · source
“Fighting between the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and non-State armed opposition groups in northern Aleppo governorate continues. I am very concerned about recent reports of ISIL advances east of Azaz, which threaten several camps for internally displaced persons. In that area, near the border with Turkey, some 40,000 people have been displaced again, with many struggling to find adequate shelter. In Atarib town, multiple air strikes hit the compound of the White Helmets - that is, the Syrian civil defence force. Five brave men who dedicated their lives to saving others were themselves and tragically killed. Violent clashes on 6 April between ISIL and the Al-Nusra Front in the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp have prevented people from leaving and significantly limited the community's access to much- needed aid.”
2016-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7682 (2016) · source
“Yesterday, air strikes in eastern Aleppo city yesterday struck Al-Quds hospital, killing at least 20 people, including 2 doctors. Another hospital in western Aleppo has also reportedly been hit. It is horrific that the presence of a hospital or health facility is now perceived by neighbours to be a threat to their safety. As the Chairman of the Task Force on Humanitarian Access, Mr. Jack Egeland, said, today this is a catastrophic deterioration On 19 April, a marketplace in Marat Al-Numan, in Idlib governorate, was hit by air strikes, killing more than 40 people and injuring some 145. A further 10 people were killed in a similar strike on a market in nearby Kafr Nubl. The killing of civilians, including five young children, is further evidence of a grotesque want of humanity on the part of those carrying out the attacks.”
2016-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7682 (2016) · source
“The parties to the conflict, the Security Council and the co-chairs of the International Syria Support Group must exert every effort to revive the cessation of hostilities. The Security Council must not squander the opportunity presented by talks in Geneva and by the cessation in hostilities to put an end to the massive human suffering in Syria. The world and the people of Syria need this. They need Council action. It is civilians who continue to bear the brunt of the fighting. Since just the other day, an increase in fighting in Aleppo city since 22 April, with reported airstrikes on eastern parts of the city and improvised mortar rounds and artillery shells impacting in western parts, has left dozens of civilians dead and wounded. Civilian infrastructure, including schools and hospitals, has also been damaged.”
2016-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7682 (2016) · source
“The recent cessation of hostilities has provided a much-needed moment of respite for some of those who are suffering in this terrible conflict. Yet the recent developments on the ground show a substantial and worrisome deterioration, not least with increase of violence reported in Aleppo, Horns, Idlib, Latakia and rural Damascus. Just this morning, Syrian Government forces are reported to have restarted using aerial bombardment in Dar'a governorate for the first time since the start of the cessation of hostilities. It is the duty of the Security Council to ensure that every possible avenue to end the violence be explored. I reiterate the call for sustained, safe, unconditional and unimpeded access for humanitarian assistance.”
2016-04-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7682 (2016) · source