The UN special envoy for Syria denounces that the Syrian people “continue to be trapped” in an “unimaginable” crisis

Jan. 26 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The United Nations special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, denounced this Wednesday before the UN Security Council that the Syrian people “continue to be trapped” in an “unimaginable” crisis.

“As we move towards 2023, the Syrian people remain trapped in a deep humanitarian, political, military, security, economic and human rights crisis of great complexity and almost unimaginable scale,” he said.

For this reason, he has insisted that “this conflict needs a political solution”, which “unfortunately is not imminent”, since “nothing else can work”.

“The Constitutional Committee could open doors and contribute to a broader political process,” he said, pledging to support a new call for the body without delay, since no new meetings have been held since May 2022.

Thus, he has reiterated the call for calm in Syrian territory, emphasizing that his priority is a nationwide ceasefire.

Pedersen has noted that in 2022 there have been “both moments of relative calm and times of escalation.” “But in other ways, the outlook remains as dire as ever,” he added, denouncing that “intermittent attacks have continued on all lines of contact.”

For his part, the deputy director of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Eltahir Mudawi, has emphasized that the Syrian people “legitimately expect” significant support from the global community.

“Having endured 12 years of conflict and humanitarian crisis, they are facing their worst year to date, with 15.3 million people, almost 70 percent of Syria’s population, in need of humanitarian assistance,” it said.

In addition, he has called for “urgent” support from the international community, because civilians face numerous risks, such as an outbreak of cholera, the cold of winter, fuel shortages and high prices of basic products.