Statement by Vassily Nebenzia, Permanent Representative of Russia to the UN, at the open VTC of UNSC members on the humanitarian situation in Syria
Mr. President,
We thank Mark Lowcock for his briefing on the humanitarian situation in Syria. Only three weeks have passed since the last meeting on this issue, and two months since UNSC adopted the resolution, that prolongs for another year the work of the cross-border mechanism (CBM) of delivery of humanitarian assistance to Syria.
In July, we heard a lot about the catastrophe, that allegedly would come to Idlib, in case the previous format of the CBM would not be secured, namely with two border crossing points. We must say that panic forecasts did not come true. The UN humanitarian agencies and their partnering NGOs in Idlib are successfully reorienting their activities under new format. The deliveries through “Bab Al-Hawa” are sustainable. The progress in the work of the CBM in evident. At the same time, what remains in focus of our attention is the “frozen” joint cross-line convoy of UN/SARC/ICRC to the northwest of Syria. Ever since April when Damascus coordinated its coming to Idlib, we have been offered to get by with an explanation that the pandemic is the main factor that puts “on pause” the work of humanitarians. We refuse to accept these vague explanations and would ask those who are involved in sending this convoy to expedite its departure. People in Atareb and Darret-Izza are waiting for help. Its delivery from Damascus is the shortest and quicker way to solve the task. It appears that this simple logic is what all humanitarians should be guided by.
We would also like to welcome the progress in restoring “Alouk” water station. The fact that people in Al Hasakeh city finally received access to water sounds optimistic. Hopefully, sustainable long-term solution to the problem could be reached.
Mr. President,
Today I would like to focus mainly on increasing capacity of humanitarian deliveries from within Syria.
In his latest report to the Security Council the Secretary-General noted that the Government of Syria puts no obstacles to the dissemination of the WHO medical supplies that had arrived from Erbil in June. The majority of the supplies reached hospitals mostly outside the Government control area in the northeast. Being responsible for its people, Damascus clearly demonstrates its cooperation on humanitarian issues.
Unfortunately, we hear little about this cooperation here in the Council. Yet – the issue deserves more attention. In this context, we want to highlight the report, prepared by the very well-known international NGOs – “Oxfam” and “Norwegian Refugee Council” issued this July.
It’s called “Hard lessons” and is easily accessible for those interested in undertaking the humanitarian work on the ground. I will not dwell on the details of this document, they deserve to be studied thoroughly. I just want to single out a couple of points from it.
First point - and I quote – “it is possible to meet global humanitarian standards and respond to community-identified needs in Syria from Damascus”. Thus partnerships with the Government need to be enhanced. Second point – sanctions that disrupt enormously the humanitarian response while unnecessarily adding administrative burden to the daily work of humanitarian workers. And as a result – ordinary Syrian people suffer most from the consequences of these illegal economic measures.
Here we would like to mention that recently an omnibus resolution on COVID-19 has been adopted at the UNGA platform by the overwhelming majority of votes. The resolution contains language on sanctions and their negative impact on economic development amidst the pandemic. This directly proves that the topic of unilateral coercive measures is not a propaganda tool, as we would often hear (for example, today). We are glad to see that the UN does not remain uninvolved and gives assessments to the devastating effect of sanctions on the development of states in general and the life of ordinary citizens in particular. UN Special Envoy on this topic E.Dovgan unequivocally spoke out about it.
Mr. President,
We are surprised at the lasting silence of UN representatives with regard to environmental disaster in northeast Syria. We have raised this issue many times in the Security Council. We proceed from the understanding that UN specialized agencies have to fulfil their thematic mandates and promptly respond to the emerging problems across the globe. It is strange that when it comes to the Syrian track, some episodes seem to escape the UN sight. We would very much like to hear the assessments of the Secretariat to the environmental situation in the Euphrates region.
Mr. President,
We want to underscore again that Russia stands ready to continue its assistance to Syria and its population all over the country without any preconditions. It is a tragedy that ordinary people in need are deprived of their fundamental rights for food, heath services and shelter. On a daily basis our assistance is provided by the military servants of the Center for Reconciliation of Opposing Sides and Refugee Migration Monitoring. Every day a house or civil object is reconstructed or re-built from the ruins.
Since July 2018, in total more than a thousand educational and medical facilities were reconstructed; 6 bridges and over 1,5 thousand kilometers of roads were fixed on the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic. We re-launched 199 water supply facilities, 320 bakeries, 790 electric substations, 3 petrol filling stations, 14 450 manufacturing plants. And this is not to mention the food provision. All these works will be continued under no political pretext and with no prejudice to various areas within Syria. Because we put people and their needs first.
In conclusion, we would like to state the following. The CBM will work until July 2021. The situation in the Idlib de-escalation zone has stabilized, people are getting back to places of their permanent residence. What we have to do is to work hard to make sure that the situation develops on a peaceful track. In this regard, starting from our UNSC presidency in October, we propose discussing the two Syrian agendas – political and humanitarian – within one meeting to consider the situation on the ground in a comprehensive manner.
I thank you.
