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STORY: GENEVA / ALEPPO DE MISTURA
TRT: 1:30
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 29 JULY 2016, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
FILE - GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Aerial shot, Palais des Nations
29 JULY 2016, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
2. Wide shot, de Mistura at podium
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Staffan de Mistura, United Nations Special Envoy for Syria:
“We welcome any initiative aimed at assisting civilian populations in war zones, in conflict zone, particularly in Syria today. We are in principle and we are in practice in favour of humanitarian corridors, under the right circumstances, that allow the protection of civilians.”
4. Med shot, journalists
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Staffan de Mistura, United Nations Special Envoy for Syria:
“How can you expect people to want to walk through a corridor, thousands of them, while there is shelling, bombing fighting? How do you expect convoys of humanitarian aid to actually reach those people if they are shelling and bombing from the air, and from the ground?”
6. Wide shot, stakeout
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Staffan de Mistura, United Nations Special Envoy for Syria:
“Bringing humanitarian supplies and assistance to civilians wherever they decide to be voluntarily, is exactly why the UN is there for.”
8. Med shot, journalists
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Staffan de Mistura, United Nations Special Envoy for Syria:
“The clock is ticking for the Aleppo population.”
10. Close up, de Mistura
11. Wide shot, de Mistura at podium
The United Nations Special Envoy for Syria called on Russia to allow the organization to manage its proposed humanitarian corridors in the Aleppo. Staffan de Mistura said “bringing humanitarian supplies and assistance to civilians wherever they decide to be voluntarily is exactly why the UN is there for.”
Russia had proposed the establishment of several so-called “exit corridors” that would allow for the distribution of food, as well as provide an opportunity for civilians to flee the eastern Aleppo. Vital supplies are close to running out in that part of the city, which is reportedly almost completely encircled by Syrian government troops.
Speaking to the press in Geneva today (29 Jul), de Mistura said the UN welcomed any initiative aimed at assisting civilian populations in Syria “in principle and we are in practice in favour of humanitarian corridors under the right circumstances that allow the protection of civilians.”
The Special Envoy however insisted that the humanitarian corridor suggestion should not be viewed separately from the UN’s demand for a 48-hour pause to the fighting in the city to guarantee the delivery of vital humanitarian aid. He said such a pause was imperative especially if humanitarian corridors were established.
He asked, “How can you expect people to want to walk through a corridor, thousands of them, while there is shelling, bombing fighting? How do you expect convoys of humanitarian aid to actually reach those people if they are shelling and bombing from the air, and from the ground?”
The Special Envoy noted that that creation of humanitarian corridors did not mean that anyone should be forced to leave the city of Aleppo. He recognized, however, that some people might choose to leave and that it would be important to ensure that these populations were relocated to areas of their choice.
De Mistura also stressed that humanitarian relief is needed in all besieged and hard-to-reach areas in Syria. At the same, he said that “the clock is ticking for the Aleppo population,” adding that vital supplies in Eastern Aleppo would probably not last more than three more weeks.
The Special Envoy is expected to travel to Teheran on the weekend as part of his efforts to resume Syria talks in Geneva at the end of August.
