UN / SYRIA POLITICAL HUMANITARIAN
Download
There is no media available to download.
Share
STORY: UN / SYRIA POLITICAL HUMANITARIAN
TRT: 03:31
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / ARABIC / NATS
DATELINE: 22 JULY 2024, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE - NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior United Nations Headquarters
22 JULY 2024, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, Security Council
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Geir O. Pedersen, Special Envoy for Syria, United Nations:
“Syria remains in a state of profound conflict, complexity and division. Syria is riddled with armed actors, listed terrorist groups, foreign armies and frontlines. Civilians are still victims of violence and subject to extensive human rights abuses, a protracted state of displacement and dire humanitarian conditions.”
4. Wide shot, Council
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Geir O. Pedersen, Special Envoy for Syria, United Nations:
“The threat of regional conflict cascading over Syria has not abated, particularly with an uptick in Israeli strikes on Syria. Last week, Israel carried out strikes that the Syrian Government said hit military sites in southern Syria and a residential building in Damascus. Israel said its strikes were in response to the launch of two drones from Syria towards Israel.”
6. Wide shot, Council
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Geir O. Pedersen, Special Envoy for Syria, United Nations:
“Syrians outside of Syria are facing worrying developments. Tensions in host countries reached new heights this month, with alarming reports of attacks on Syrian refugees sparking significant violence. Refugees are worried at the prospect of being forcibly returned or pushed to return through increasingly restrictive measures. We fully recognize the tremendous predicament that host countries face, and strongly call for them to be supported even more.”
8. Wide shot, Council
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Ramesh Rajasingham, Director, Coordination Division, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA):
“Syria continues to suffer its worst humanitarian crisis since the start of the conflict more than 13 years ago. Across the country, over 16 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance, the vast majority of them women and children. Some 7.2 million people remain displaced from their homes following years of conflict, while hostilities continue to harm civilians and disrupt their access to essential services. The impact of the conflict, alongside associated economic hardship, pressures from climate change, and severely reduced humanitarian funding, and the absence of development programming for basic services, is never more stark than during these hottest months of the year.”
10. Wide shot, Council
11. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Qusay al-Dahhak, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Syrian Arab Republic:
“Despite the facilities provided by the Syrian Government, the outcomes of its cooperation with the United Nations remain lacking. This is attributed to the hostile positions of some Western states, which continue to violate the international law and the provisions of the UN Charter. Through their illegal military presence, they are sponsoring terrorist groups and militias, they are looting or national wealth and imposing unilateral coercive measures. They are also politicizing humanitarian and development work and linking it to political conditions that seek to serve their own interests at the expense of the security, stability and prosperity of the Syrian people.”
12. Wide shot, Council
The United Nations Special Envoy for Syria, Geir O. Pedersen, today (22 Jul) told the Security Council that “the threat of regional conflict cascading over Syria has not abated, particularly with an uptick in Israeli strikes on Syria.”
Briefing the Security Council via video teleconference, Pedersen said, “Syria remains in a state of profound conflict, complexity and division” as it is “riddled with armed actors, listed terrorist groups, foreign armies and frontlines.”
He said, “civilians are still victims of violence and subject to extensive human rights abuses, a protracted state of displacement and dire humanitarian conditions.”
Last week, Pedersen, told the Council, “Israel carried out strikes that the Syrian Government said hit military sites in southern Syria and a residential building in Damascus. Israel said its strikes were in response to the launch of two drones from Syria towards Israel.”
Further Israeli strikes were also reported in Tartous, Damascus, rural Damascus, and near the Lebanese border.
The Special Envoy told the Council that “Syrians outside of Syria are facing worrying developments.” As tensions in host countries “reached new heights this month, with alarming reports of attacks on Syrian refugees sparking significant violence.”
He said, “refugees are worried at the prospect of being forcibly returned or pushed to return through increasingly restrictive measures.”
Briefing the Council on the humanitarian situation in the country, Director of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs’ (OCHA) Coordination Division, Ramesh Rajasingham, said, “Syria continues to suffer its worst humanitarian crisis since the start of the conflict more than 13 years ago. Across the country, over 16 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance, the vast majority of them women and children. Some 7.2 million people remain displaced from their homes following years of conflict, while hostilities continue to harm civilians and disrupt their access to essential services.”
Rajasingham said, “the impact of the conflict, alongside associated economic hardship, pressures from climate change, and severely reduced humanitarian funding, and the absence of development programming for basic services, is never more stark than during these hottest months of the year.”
For his part, Syrian Ambassador Qusay al-Dahhak said, “despite the facilities provided by the Syrian Government, the outcomes of its cooperation with the United Nations remain lacking. This is attributed to the hostile positions of some Western states, which continue to violate the international law and the provisions of the UN Charter. Through their illegal military presence, they are sponsoring terrorist groups and militias, they are looting or national wealth and imposing unilateral coercive measures. They are also politicizing humanitarian and development work and linking it to political conditions that seek to serve their own interests at the expense of the security, stability and prosperity of the Syrian people.”