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STORY: UN / SYRIA
TRT: 04:39
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / ARABIC / NATS
DATELINE: 30 MAY 2024, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE – NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior, United Nations Headquarters
30 MAY 2024, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, Security Council
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Geir Pedersen, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria, United Nations:
“This is just not tragic – it is dangerous. In the absence of a comprehensive political process, all kinds of negative trends are festering, presenting terrible risks for Syrians and the broader international community.”
4. Med shot, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Geir Pedersen, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria, United Nations:
“A dizzying array of local and international actors and listed terrorist groups remain engaged in conflict, inside and over Syrian territory, across multiple theatres. There have been further reports of Israeli airstrikes inside Syria, as well as rocket and drone attacks from Syrian territory towards the Israeli-Occupied Syrian Golan and Israel.”
6. Med shot, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Geir Pedersen, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria, United Nations:
“Meanwhile, emerging in the background is the constant threat of ISIL, whose attacks in Syria have increased this last month – particularly in the northeast. If these dynamics simply continue, we will inevitably see even more civilian suffering. And we could also see major escalations and further instability radiating across the region. Instead of this, we urgently need de-escalation across all theatres of the Syrian conflict. Obviously, regional de-escalation efforts starting with a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza is also absolutely essential.”
8. Med shot, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Geir Pedersen, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria, United Nations:
“We must recognize the scale and seriousness of the predicament of host countries and support them, while also reiterating the need for practical ways forwards to protect Syrians, and appeal for all to stop, rather than inflame anti-refugee rhetoric and actions. The UN’s position remains clear and consistent, defined by international protection standards: resorting to artificial formulas like defining certain areas of Syria safe for returns will not address the problem.”
10. Med shot, Syrian Representative
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Martin Griffiths, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, United Nations:
“More people indeed need humanitarian assistance now than at any time in this conflict –we believe about 16.7 million people need humanitarian assistance. It is getting worse, year by year Syria. And it’s a protection crisis. Children continue to be killed, women and girls continue to fear for their safety and across Syria, more than 7 million people remain displaced, a figure surpassed only tragically by Sudan. Millions of others continue to live as refugees in neighboring countries.”
12. Med shot, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs
SOUNDBITE (English) Martin Griffiths, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, United Nations:
“We cannot wait for the next appalling cataclysm to come to make genuine progress towards ending this catastrophe –as the economic crisis deepens, as regional tensions from the war in Gaza threaten the safety, security and prospect of the Syrian people.”
13. Med shot, Syrian Representative
14. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Koussay Aldahhak, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Syria:
“The government of Syria would like to emphasize and reiterate that restoring security and stability and improve the humanitarian condition would necessitate fighting terrorism and putting an end to the illegitimate and illegal military presence in the Syrian territory.”
15. Wide shot, Security Council
16. Pan left, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria walking to stakeout
17. SOUNDBITE (English) Geir Pedersen, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria, United Nations:
“The situation in Syria now is the worst ever. You know, we have had 13 years of war and conflict and never has the situation been as bad as it is today. In particular when it comes to the economy but the security situation, of course, is impacted by what is happening in Gaza.”
18. Wide shot, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria at stakeout
19. SOUNDBITE (English) Geir Pedersen, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria, United Nations:
“9 of the 10 living in poverty, close to 17 million people in need of humanitarian assistance, and on top of it, there is absolutely no progress on the political front.”
20. Pan right, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria leaving stakeout
Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria Geir Pedersen said, “The situation in Syria now is the worst ever.”
Addressing the Security Council today (30 May), Pedersen said, “This is just not tragic – it is dangerous. In the absence of a comprehensive political process, all kinds of negative trends are festering, presenting terrible risks for Syrians and the broader international community.”
He also said, “A dizzying array of local and international actors and listed terrorist groups remain engaged in conflict, inside and over Syrian territory, across multiple theatres. There have been further reports of Israeli airstrikes inside Syria, as well as rocket and drone attacks from Syrian territory towards the Israeli-Occupied Syrian Golan and Israel.”
He continued, “Meanwhile, emerging in the background is the constant threat of ISIL, whose attacks in Syria have increased this last month – particularly in the northeast. If these dynamics simply continue, we will inevitably see even more civilian suffering. And we could also see major escalations and further instability radiating across the region. Instead of this, we urgently need de-escalation across all theatres of the Syrian conflict. Obviously, regional de-escalation efforts starting with a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza is also absolutely essential.”
About refugees, he said, “We must recognize the scale and seriousness of the predicament of host countries and support them, while also reiterating the need for practical ways forwards to protect Syrians, and appeal for all to stop, rather than inflame anti-refugee rhetoric and actions. The UN’s position remains clear and consistent, defined by international protection standards: resorting to artificial formulas like defining certain areas of Syria safe for returns will not address the problem.”
Also addressing the Council today, Martin Griffiths, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, said, “More people indeed need humanitarian assistance now than at any time in this conflict –we believe about 16.7 million people need humanitarian assistance. It is getting worse, year by year Syria. And it’s a protection crisis. Children continue to be killed, women and girls continue to fear for their safety and across Syria, more than 7 million people remain displaced, a figure surpassed only tragically by Sudan. Millions of others continue to live as refugees in neighboring countries.”
He stated, “We cannot wait for the next appalling cataclysm to come to make genuine progress towards ending this catastrophe –as the economic crisis deepens, as regional tensions from the war in Gaza threaten the safety, security and prospect of the Syrian people.”
Koussay Aldahhak, Syrian Representative to UN, said, “The government of Syria would like to emphasize and reiterate that restoring security and stability and improve the humanitarian condition would necessitate fighting terrorism and putting an end to the illegitimate and illegal military presence in the Syrian territory.”
Addressing the press after the Council, the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria stressed,
“We have had 13 years of war and conflict and never has the situation been as bad as it is today. In particular when it comes to the economy but the security situation, of course, is impacted by what is happening in Gaza.”
He added, “9 of the 10 living in poverty, close to 17 million people in need of humanitarian assistance, and on top of it, there is absolutely no progress on the political front.”
