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8320th Security Council Meeting: Situation in Middle East
The United Nations has verified that more than 7,000 children lost their lives or were maimed since the crisis in Syria erupted in 2011, the Secretary‑General’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict told the Security Council today, noting that unverified reports escalate that figure “way beyond” 20,000.
Virginia Gamba said that 1,200 violations were verified in 2018 alone, reflecting enormous increases over previous reporting periods. Sharp increases have also been seen in the recruitment and use of child soldiers; in the killing and maiming, rape and other forms of sexual violence against children; and in targeted attacks against hospitals and schools, abductions and denial of humanitarian access. “It is essential that the Security Council does all that is in its power to put pressure on parties to conflict to comply with their obligations under international law,” she emphasized.
Her presentation dovetailed with a briefing by Mark Lowcock, Under‑Secretary‑General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, on the overall humanitarian situation in Syria. Describing the suffering wrought on children as “unimaginable”, he said that although the United Nations has reached tens of thousands of people across south-western Syria, an estimated 110,000 newly displaced people remain in Quneitra Governorate, where pre‑positioned supplies have run out.
He said that, since November 2017, the number of people needing assistance in Aleppo and Idlib Governorates has increased by 600,000 to 4.2 million, half of whom are in acute need. Needs also remain high in eastern Ghouta, while, in the north‑east, there are concerns about civilians trapped in areas held by Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da’esh) within Deir-ez-Zor Governorate.
In the ensuing debate, delegates decried the deadly toll that indiscriminate attacks by all parties had wrought on children, with the United Kingdom’s representative recalling that the fighting in Syria was sparked in 2011 by the arrest of children for drawing anti-regime graffiti on a wall. Half of the people fleeing the hostilities in the south-west are children, who must be protected against reprisals by the regime and have access to essential supplies and services, he said.
Sweden’s delegate said that, while the rules of international law are being systematically violated and Council resolutions ignored, the international community must nonetheless push forward to alleviate the suffering. “Time is running out for a generation of Syrian children,” he warned, urging respect for their right to education and support for their mental health.
France’s representative added that such conditions pose the risk of children becoming radicalized, ready for recruitment by ISIL/Da’esh. France was also alarmed that not a single aid convoy from Jordan has crossed that country’s border Syria since 25 June. He said that, under an agreement reached by the Presidents of France and the Russian Federation, Russian aircraft delivered 44 tons of medical goods and basic items to Syria from 20 to 21 July. “We need to do more,” he stressed.
The Russian Federation’s delegate said that specialists from his country have also provided for the conduct of 300 humanitarian convoys, sometimes under extremely difficult circumstances. By contrast, he noted, there has been no significant progress in deliveries to residents of the Rukban camp, near the United States military base, nor signs that the camp’s operations are helping to restore peace or eradicate terrorism.
However, the representative of the United States emphasized that United Nations humanitarian convoys are welcome “any time” in Rukban, adding that the United States will facilitate them. The regime continues to “weaponize” aid and withhold access as a way to force reconciliation, he said, urging Syria and its Russian Federation allies to allow the resumption of cross-border convoys from Jordan, in accordance with previous resolutions.
Offering a national perspective, Syria’s delegate said that his country’s Government and its partners are making “great achievements”, gaining control over areas held by terrorist groups that have been recruiting children and seizing humanitarian aid. The United Nations should step up its support and deal with national authorities, rather than local councils, he said, describing the latter as makeshift bodies often affiliated with terrorist organizations. He asserted that today’s briefings, as well as the Secretary-General’s latest report (document S/2018/724) are based on false information provided by questionable sources.
Also speaking today were representatives of Kuwait, Netherlands, Peru, Equatorial Guinea, Poland, Bolivia, Kazakhstan, China, Côte d’Ivoire and Ethiopia.
The meeting began at 10:08 a.m. and ended at 12:29 p.m.
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