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On Wednesday, UN humanitarian chief Valarie Amos said that a Security Council measure aimed to provide aid to more than nine million desperate Syrians was “not working”. According to Amos, instead of relieving the misery of the Syrians who urgently need help, the humanitarian crisis in the country has only worsened since the Security Council adopted Resolution 2139 in February.
“Far from getting better the situation is getting worse. Violence has intensified over the last month, taking a horrific toll on ordinary civilians”, she said, adding that less than 10% of the 242,000 people living in besieged parts of Syria have received aid in the past four weeks. “I’ve told the (U.N. Security) Council that Resolution 2139 is not working”, she announced after the closed-door briefing.
The Security Council is in deadlock over the issue, with Western powers preferring to introduce targeted sanctions against parties violating the resolution or refer Syria to the International Criminal Court (ICC).However, Russia, a key ally for Syria, would veto any attempt made to impose sanctions. Russia and China have already vetoed 3 previous resolutions regarding Syria since the civil war began three years ago.
Amos added that the UN has asked Syria for permission to pass several border crossings so that it can reach an extra 1.4 million, with no particular response from their end. A UN team in Aleppo tried and failed to negotiate a deal to get aid into the city, she added, demanding a “step change in delivery”, but suggesting that there are no new proposals to achieve the task. ” There are a number of areas where with the weight of the Council we could see some immediate movement”, she said.
Referring to wars in Somalia and Bosnia, Amos said that the council had to pass several different resolutions under UN Charter’s Chapter 7 to get access to the humanitarian aid. Regarding questions on why she was not more demanding of the political stalemate, she shot back saying, “I don’t think I could be any stronger in the statements I’ve made”.
