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8236th Security Council Meeting: Situation in Middle East
Casting a spotlight on the pressing needs of civilians in Raqqa and Rukban, the Security Council met this afternoon to hear a briefing on recent developments and discuss ways forward.
While people in those cities comprised 1 per cent of those requiring help, their needs were no less important than the remaining 99 per cent, said Mark Lowcock, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator. In Raqqa, where 100,000 people had returned since October when Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da’esh) had been forced out, conditions were not conducive for returns because of high levels of unexploded ordinances and improvised explosive device contamination. In addition, there were scant basic services, a lack of electricity and mobile communications and food insecurity.
Describing other concerns, he said in Rukban some 50,000 people were in need of sustained humanitarian assistance. Those remaining in the town of Douma and other areas of eastern Ghouta required urgent assistance after years of deprivation, he said, adding that the humanitarian community had not yet been able to provide help. On 25 March, the United Nations had requested permission from the Government of Syria to deploy an interagency surge team to scale up the United Nations operational capacity, he said, adding that he could not overstate the importance of sustaining and scaling up the international response.
Council members underscored the need for sustained aid deliveries, with some calling on all Member States to make substantial commitments at the upcoming Brussels pledging conference and to swiftly disburse pledges. Some delegates said mine clearing should be a priority to ensure safe returns of displaced persons, while many members urged parties to return to negotiations to find a political solution to end the conflict.
Echoing a common call, China’s representative appealed to all parties in Syria to comply with Security Council resolution 2401 (2018) by ceasing hostilities and coordinating with United Nations humanitarian efforts. Any unilateral action would violate the basic norms of international law while complicating a settlement of the Syrian issue, he said, urging all sides to refrain from moves that would further escalate the situation.
The representative of the Russian Federation, noting that Raqqa’s destruction had been due to a United States-led coalition fight against ISIL, criticized coalition members for their lack of reconstruction in that area. Civilians were regularly killed by landmines and no assessment of humanitarian needs had occurred until the Russian Federation had insisted on it. In addition, no practical steps had been taken to provide humanitarian assistance to the population of Rukban, which was located near an American airbase. Urging the Council and the humanitarian community to address the situation of those two cities, he said coalition members should outline how they themselves were implementing resolution 2401 (2018).
Meanwhile, the United States delegate said that while the 75 members of the Global Coalition against Da’esh had targeted ISIL and liberated civilians, the Syrian Government had bombarded its own people. United Nations humanitarian convoys were welcome at any time in Raqqa and Rukhban, with any delays being the result of the Syrian Government and its failure to allow deliveries. Condemning the Russian Federation for its “cynical, thinly disguised diversions”, she said it was clear that it had requested the Council meeting as a distraction from the atrocities committed by the Bashar Al-Assad regime.
Providing another perspective, Syria’s representative said three Council members continued to search for microscopic dust while ignoring the enormous “elephant in the room”, which was the aggression they had launched against his country. Raqqa was a martyr city that had been destroyed by those very States, he said, adding that the coalition had never sought to combat terrorism. Indeed, the point had been to block the Syrian Government and its allies as they attempted to combat ISIL. Turning to the situation in the Rukban camps, he said coalition forces had prevented the Government from delivering aid. Moreover, he asserted that the situation in Syria did not require draft resolutions or semi-daily meetings. Instead, the Council must stand against the occupation of Syria by the United States, Israel and Turkey and aggressions carried out by the United States, France and the United Kingdom.
Drawing attention to the effects of the crisis on the Syrian people, Equatorial Guinea’s representative said the situation in Raqqa required the international community’s urgent attention. Calling for sustained humanitarian access and the intensification of efforts to reach a political solution, he reminded Council members that “the Syrian people have suffered enough.”
Also speaking were the representatives of Kuwait, Sweden, France, United Kingdom, Kazakhstan, Poland, Côte d’Ivoire, Netherlands, Bolivia, Ethiopia and Peru.
The meeting began at 4:48 p.m. and ended at 6:38 p.m.