UNSC Briefing on the situation in the Middle East (Syria)

[Thursday, 27 January 2022: 1500 hrs EST]

India Statement

Madam President,

I join others in thanking Assistant Secretary General Ramesh Rajasingham for his briefing today. I also thank Jan Egeland, Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council for his insights.

2.     The humanitarian situation in Syria has not seen any significant improvement in the recent months. More than a decade long crisis has had an immeasurable socio-economic impact on the population. Nearly 14 million people need humanitarian assistance, of which 9.8 million are being covered under various initiatives including that of the UN. In recent times, the economic situation in the country has become dire, with increasing shortfalls in essential items such as wheat and barley. Further, the prices continue to rise and removal of subsidies on fuel gas and depreciation of the Syrian pound has worsened the situation. The ongoing winter season has also compounded the miseries of people, particularly, women, children, and the elderly.

3.     The fundamental reason for the aggravating humanitarian situation in Syria, is lack of progress on the political track. Yesterday, we had an opportunity to deliberate on the recent developments in the political track. In this regard, we reiterate the need for commitment by all parties, in particular the external players, to a Syrian-led and Syrian-owned UN-facilitated political process in line with UN Security Council Resolution 2254.

4.     We also believe that a nation-wide comprehensive ceasefire is paramount to the interest of the Syrian people. While cross-border operations are predictable and important, they cannot continuity to exist in perpetuity. We, therefore, encourage OCHA and UN agencies to expend efforts to enhance crossline operations. In this regard, we take positive note of recent efforts on crossline operations. However, more concerted efforts are required, as we move towards the end of the one-year authorization of cross border humanitarian assistance.

5.     International community, in order to help the people of Syria in their hour of need, needs to constructively look at promoting projects, which will bring much needed jobs and economic opportunities for the Syrian people and thereby help to ease shortfalls.  In the face of falling production of food staples, issues related to water shortage in the region, including those brought about by actions of the upstream countries with regard to water flow in the Euphrates, the collective concerns of the Syrian people need to be treated with utmost seriousness.

6.     We cannot discuss humanitarian situation in Syria in isolation, without referring to growing activities of terrorist groups such as ISIL/Daesh. The attack on a prison in in Al-Hasakeh city by ISIL/Daesh last week demonstrates the severity of the problem. The resulting hostilities have also displaced nearly 45,000 people. India has been consistently highlighting how external players have contributed to the growth of terrorist groups in Syria. The continuing neglect of this issue by the international community will cause irreparable damage to our collective fight against terrorism. The situation of Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps housing women and children, also continues to remain serious. We strongly condemn the killing of a humanitarian worker in the Al Hol camp earlier this month.

7.     Taking into consideration the difficult socio-economic situation in Syria, which has been further compounded by the global Covid-19 pandemic and the onset of winter, there is an urgent need to scale up humanitarian assistance. In this regard, we are concerned that the humanitarian assistance to Syria actually got reduced in 2021. We urge OCHA to harmonize the data related to early recovery and resilience projects in a comprehensive manner so that a holistic view is obtained.

8.     On our part, India has continued to extend developmental assistance and human resource development support to Syria through grants and lines of credits for developmental projects, supply of medicine and food, artificial limb fitment camps, a Next Generation IT center and capacity building training programs. Since the beginning of the conflict, India has always stood by the Syrian people and will continue to do so.

I thank you Madam President.

***