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8181st Security Council Meeting: Situation in Middle East; Syria
With Syrian civilians being killed on a horrific scale and displaced in large numbers, the United Nations top representative for Syria warned the Security Council today of the grave risks posed by the recent string of dangerous and worrying escalations of violence in the country.
After having served in his current position for more than four years, Staffan de Mistura, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria, warned the Council: “This is as violent and worrying and dangerous a moment as any that I have seen in my time as Special Envoy.”
Recent developments in Syria raised questions about the sustainability of the Astana de-escalation arrangements, he said, expressing concern about the recent tensions inside the de-escalation zones established by Iran, Russian Federation and Turkey — the guarantors of talks in Astana aimed at implementing a lasting ceasefire agreement — as well as outside the zones.
Reports suggested that more than 1,000 people had been killed in the first week of February alone, he stressed, adding that strikes continued to hit hospitals, schools and markets, and there were several allegations of chlorine attacks. At least 320,000 people had been displaced due to fighting in the northern city of Idlib in just two months, while there were reports of heavy mortar shelling falling across residential Damascus, wounding and killing civilians and damaging infrastructure.
He said the conflict was now spilling over Syria’s borders and there was increased military intervention from multiple sources. “The last several weeks have seen a new cross-border conflict in Afrin with yet no clear end in sight,” he said, pointing to reports of exchanges of fire between Turkish and Syrian Government forces, and also between the United States-led coalition and pro‑Syrian Government forces, with major loss of life. Those developments raised questions about the sustainability of the Astana de-escalation arrangements and threatened wider regional stability.
Underscoring that citizens were also being deprived of humanitarian assistance, he pointed out that there had not been a single United Nations humanitarian convoy to reach any besieged area since the end of November 2017.
He said that, since the Vienna and Sochi meetings in late January, he had consulted closely with a wide array of Syrians and key States on the establishment of a constitutional committee and holding of intra-Syria talks. A secure, calm and neutral environment must be created if any constitutional progress was to unfold. He said he intended to strike “while the iron is hot” and move the dialogue process forward. The Syrian people needed the Council’s support now more than ever.
Following the briefing, several delegations took the floor to welcome the fact that the parties to the conflict were showing greater focus on substantive aspects of the crisis, including the holding of elections and dealing with constitutional issues, while also expressing concern about the worsening violence and troubling humanitarian situation on the ground.
The representative of the United States said the regime was starving, bombing and gassing civilians, and advisers from Iran and Hizbullah were directing the atrocities. Peace was urgently needed, but support for peace could not be offered while ignoring that the chief sponsor for terrorism in the Middle East, and its terrorist militia, were digging in. The United States was committed to fully implementing Security Council resolution 2254 (2015), which included a framework to end the war. But, the Syrian regime did not want peace unless it was on its terms and every person who opposed the regime was starved, imprisoned or forced to leave the country. The Russian Federation could push the regime to commit to seek a real peace, she said.
The Russian Federation’s representative said that the Sochi Congress, which brought together more than 1,500 Syrian representatives, was a success and showed that the Syrians themselves must decide the future of their own country without dictates from abroad. Among the 12 principles set forth in the Final Statement — the Congress’ outcome — was respect for Syria’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. He was troubled by the disrespect of some international and regional players for principle.
The representative of Syria stressed that his country had the right to question what the Security Council had done to ensure that the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter were carried out. Syria was not the first country to be victimized due to breaches of the Charter by Council members.
Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da’esh) had entrenched its presence in the region with protection provided by the United States, which reflected the real role Washington, D.C., was playing, he underlined. The United States-led coalition had deliberately destroyed 90 per cent of the city of Raqqa and had allowed terrorist attacks to be carried out. Yet, there was no discussion about the United States and Turkish occupation of his country, or the aggression that was being carried out in Afrin.
Also speaking today were the representatives of Equatorial Guinea, Peru, China, Côte d’Ivoire and Bolivia.
The meeting started at 10:05 a.m. and ended at 11:22 a.m.
