Statement by Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia at a UN Security Council Meeting on Syria
Mm. President,
We thank Assistant-Secretary-General Ursula Mueller for the briefing. We welcome participation of Deputy Foreign Minister of Kuwait Khalid Al-Jarallah in this briefing.
The humanitarian and military situation remains most complicated at the areas that are out of control of the Syrian government in the East Bank of Euphrates, in Idlib de-escalation zone, and in the area around Al-Tanf that is occupied by the U.S.
We have closely studied assessments of the situation in Idlib de-escalation zone. It remains a hotbed of international terrorism – “Hayat Tahrir al-Sham” (HTS) in the first place. We regret to see that UN reports only mention in passing that militants who keep positions there fire at the adjacent territories, whereas we register that 600 such attacks have taken place only in October.
In recent two weeks, radicals have started to fire at Aleppo more intensely. In November, residential quarters of the city were shelled 191 times, whereas over the first fortnight of December there were already 139 such cases. They come to use multiple rocket launchers and mortar guns more frequently. Over the first week of December 32 jet projectiles were launched against Aleppo’s residential areas. In the months of November and December in Aleppo alone 11 civilians have been killed, and 41 more – wounded. On 4 December, jihadists fired at a sports club in Tel-Ryfaat in Aleppo Province. This killed 8 children. For some reason no one ever asks a question where from those terrorists still get ammunition.
Statements of our colleagues offered no explanation for multiple cases, when militants terrorize the local population, use civil infrastructure for military purposes, use civilians as a “human shield”. Reportedly, there are executions, detentions, violent break-ups of demonstrations organized by people who protest against the rule of terrorists in Idlib. UN reports cover some of those incidents.
The acts of terror that I mentioned deserve our strongest condemnation and retaliation. When one keeps silent about these crimes, we perceive it as an attempt to “recolor” bandits into “moderate opposition”. As we said before, those who want to solve Syria’s problems peacefully have long joined the negotiations process, i.a. in the framework of the Constitutional Committee. Whereas those who set forth fighting with arms in hands (including fighting against Syrians) are militants who have rejected dialogue. As guarantor countries of the “Astana Process”, Russia, Turkey, and Iran are ready to continue assisting the Syrian sides and Special Envoy G.Pedersen in their search for a political solution to the Syrian conflict. The “Astana” remains relevant, which is proven by the recent meeting in Nur-Sultan on 10-11 December that turned out quite useful.
We again heard the Syrian army and its allies being accused of launching strikes against civil facilities in Idlib. Once again we have to state that the Syrian authorities observe the ceasefire. Armed action is only taken in response to ceasefire violations by terrorists.
As for the North-East of Syria, Russia and Ankara are working to implement the memorandum dated 22 October in the interests of preventing armed clashes and improving the humanitarian situation. We also work to help Damascus and Kurds come into contact and correct the damage that was inflicted by the illegal occupation of this area and a dangerous experiment of demographic engineering that was carried out there.
We draw attention to the dire situation in Raqqa that suffered massive bombardments of the so-called International Coalition and remained in hands of ISIL militants for 4 years. On 7 December Russia held a humanitarian campaign in Raqqa. When present on the ground we could make sure that the civil infrastructure there had been almost destroyed. Rubble has not yet been removed, mining clearance not completed. There are shortages of drinking water, medicines and food.
We share concerns that have been expressed with regard to growing terrorist threat in various parts of Syria, i.a. in the North-East. We call upon those who created and maintained prisons there not to shift their responsibility to others, which is to make sure that all sorts of jihadists do not get scattered throughout the region.
Mm. President,
Russia together with the Government of Syria takes measures to create conditions for return of refugees and IDPs. As of today, almost 2 million Syrians have returned home, 1.3 million of them being IDPs. Since the beginning of 2019 there have been reconstructed and put in service: over 1.5 thousand residential buildings, 95 medical and 210 educational facilities. There are energy, water, and industrial facilities under construction or restoration. These figures are irrefutable proof of efficiency of measures taken by the Syrian government to create environment for voluntary, dignified, and safe return of refugees.
We call upon international organizations, including UN OHCR and other humanitarian bodies to galvanize work at this track. Regrettably, this activity is often hampered deliberately. We also call upon members of the global community to join projects of post-conflict recovery of the country, and to lift unilateral sanctions in the interests of normalization in Syria, without dressing it with political conditions. This would contribute a lot to easing the humanitarian situation in Syria. By the way, if Damascus could get back control over oilfields that have been taken from it illegitimately, it would help Syrians get the fuel they need, and, subsequently, it would help solve humanitarian problems.
The Russian Reconciliation Center for Syria, the Syrian Government, the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross jointly engage in efforts to disband the camp “Rukban”. However, these efforts are losing momentum because armed groups that are present there want to remain in control. We expect that soon the problem of refugees and IDPs who are situated there will be solved.
As for the camp “Al-Hawl”, the situation there is truly disastrous, i.a. because many refugees from other camps in the North-East have relocated there, which further aggravated the situation. More than half of its inhabitants are women and children. Time has long become ripe to think of transferring all illegally occupied territories to the Syrian authorities in order to resolve the problem with IDPs.
Mm. President,
We have heard assessments of the cross-border operation. Let me point out: we believe crossing points "Al-Ramtha" and "Al Yarubiyah" should be cancelled for the following reasons. The Jordan border crossing "Al-Ramtha" has not been used since July 2018. We are not quite convinced by the idea that it needs to remain “just in case”. The situation in the South-West of Syria has changed after the area was reconciled with Russia’s assistance. Syrian authorities take action to restore the region that was badly affected by the years of crisis. There will be no “just in case” there. Besides, there are official crossing points that function in normal mode. They can be used to deliver humanitarian assistance from Jordan.
The situation at the Syrian-Iraqi border has also changed and continues to do so. Crossing points have been re-opened that are controlled by the Syrian army. Transfer of control over other checkpoints from Kurds to Damascus is under discussion now. There is also dialogue with Kurds regarding humanitarian access to the East Bank of Euphrates, though not from across the border, but from the territory of Syria. The recent report of the Secretary-General cited the volume of humanitarian aid that is delivered through "Al Yarubiyah" not on a regular basis, but whenever necessary. It proves that humanitarian convoys can as well be dispatched via official channels upon coordination with the Syrian Government.
As for Idlib, we agree that this area of Syria is still in dire need of humanitarian assistance. Aid is delivered there through two Turkish crossing points – “Bab al-Hawa” and “Bab al-Salam”. Being guided by the humanitarian needs of Syrians, we believe these crossings should continue to operate.
Thank you.
