UN / SYRIA IDLIB
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STORY: UN / SYRIA IDLIB
TRT: 03:13
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / FRENCH / NATS
DATELINE: 07 SEPTEMBER 2018, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior United Nations headquarters
07 SEPTEMBER 2018, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, Security Council
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Staffan de Mistura, United Nations Special Envoy for Syria:
“We have been hearing it during these last few days, we are all terribly concerned. There are all ingredients that exist for a perfect storm with potentially devastating humanitarian consequences, and other consequences as well.”
4. Med shot, Syrian Ambassador
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Staffan de Mistura, United Nations Special Envoy for Syria:
“The dangers are profound that any battle for Idlib could be, would be, a horrific and bloody battle. Civilians are its potential victims, and there are ever-present dangers, in the case of a full-scale assault, of incidents or rapid escalations involving regional and international players. So, let’s remember that there is no Idlib after Idlib to which people can be evacuated or at least be feeling safer during a combat.”
6. Med shot, delegates
7. SOUNDBITE (English) John Ging, Director of the Operational Division at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA):
“2.9 million people, almost 3 million, living in the Idlib de-escalation zone, which includes
parts of Idlib, Aleppo, Lattakia, and Hama governorates. Of these people, 2.1 million are in need of humanitarian assistance, these includes 1.4 million people who are internally displaced. While our humanitarian response currently focuses on supporting the 2.1 million people in need, we are concerned for the protection and safety of all civilians
living in the area should the hostilities intensify.”
8. Med shot, delegates
9. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Vasily Alekseevich Nebenzya, Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations:
“Security Council resolutions explicitly state that no cessation of hostilities regime covers terrorist organizations. The fight against them needs to go on, and in this connection, we consistently call upon the international community to operate in a resolute way along these line on the basis of uniform rules and on the basis of cooperation.”
10. Med shot, delegates
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Nikki Haley, Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations:
“We consider any assault on Idlib to be a dangerous escalation of the conflict in Syria. If Assad, Russia, and Iran continue, the consequences will be dire.”
12. Med shot, delegates
13. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Bashar Jaafari, Permanent Representative of the Syrian Arab Republic to the United Nations:
“Any action taken by the Syrian Government to expel terrorist organizations from the Syrian province of Idlib – Idlib is a Syrian province and is not located in Somalia, [I say] this again for geographical education - is a legitimate sovereign right, guaranteed by the principals of international law, the UN Charter, Security Council resolutions on counter-terrorism, and the understandings of Astana. Such action would be in response to the demands of millions of Syrians, including people in Idlib who are besieged by terrorist organizations.”
14. Wide shot, Council
As intensified military presence and increased airstrikes in the north-western region of Syria have prompted fears of a potential humanitarian catastrophe in the last rebel stronghold in the country, the United Nations Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, today (7 Sep) told the Security Council that “all ingredients” are present in Idlib “for a perfect storm with potentially devastating humanitarian consequences.”
Speaking from Geneva via videoconference, de Mistura said “the dangers are profound that any battle for Idlib could be, would be, a horrific and bloody battle. Civilians are its potential victims, and there are ever-present dangers, in the case of a full-scale assault, of incidents or rapid escalations involving regional and international players. So, let’s remember that there is no Idlib after Idlib to which people can be evacuated or at least be feeling safer during a combat.”
The UN estimates nearly three million people are trapped there, half of whom were displaced from other parts of the country. While most are civilians, terrorist organizations, foreign fighters and armed opposition groups have also gathered in Idlib.
Also addressing the Council, the Director of the Operational Division at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), John Ging, said “2.9 million people, almost 3 million, living in the Idlib de-escalation zone, which includes parts of Idlib, Aleppo, Lattakia, and Hama governorates.”
Of these people, he said, “2.1 million are in need of humanitarian assistance, these includes 1.4 million people who are internally displaced.”
Plans are in place to support up to 900,000 civilians who could be affected by conflict, while stocks of food, medical supplies and other items have been pre-positioned.
The Russian Federation’s Ambassador, Vasily Alekseevich Nebenzya, noted that “Security Council resolutions explicitly state that no cessation of hostilities regime covers terrorist organizations” and stated that “the fight against them needs to go on.”
Unites States Ambassador Nikki Haley, for her part, said “we consider any assault on Idlib to be a dangerous escalation of the conflict in Syria. If Assad, Russia, and Iran continue, the consequences will be dire.”
Closing the meeting, Syrian Ambassador Bashar Jaafari said, “any action taken by the Syrian Government to expel terrorist organizations from the Syrian province of Idlib – Idlib is a Syrian province and is not located in Somalia, I say this again for geographical education - is a legitimate sovereign right, guaranteed by the principals of international law, the UN Charter, Security Council resolutions on counter-terrorism, and the understandings of Astana.”
He said, “such action would be in response to the demands of millions of Syrians, including people in Idlib who are besieged by terrorist organizations.”