Briefing by Mr. Staffan de Mistura, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria, on the situation in the Middle East (Syria) during the 8181st meeting of the Security Council.
----------------
UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura said today (14 Feb) the country was witnessing “as violent and worrying and dangerous a moment as any” he has seen in his four-year tenure.
Briefing the Security Council on the latest developments in the Syrian file, de Mistura urged the Council to focus on de-escalating the violence in the country and on push the political path forward towards the full implementation of resolution 2254. He said civilians have been killed “on a horrific scale” with reports that more than 1,000 people have been killed in the in the first week of February alone, and strikes continuing to hit hospitals, schools and markets. He added, “There have been several allegations of chlorine attacks, in Ghouta and Idlib, and also now recently in Afrin; while we cannot independently verify these allegations but, if confirmed, it is outrageous and should be having no impunity.”
The Special Enovy called for urgent action to ensure immediate and unfettered humanitarian access to besieged and hard-to-reach areas. He recognized news that an inter-agency convoy entered an area besieged eastern Ghouta to deliver food, health and nutrition items, but said this was far from enough to meet the need of the 390,000 people who remain in besieged areas. The convoy was the first to enter a besieged area since November 2017.
De Mistura told the the Security Council that since the Vienna and Sochi meetings, he has been consulting on the establishment of a constitutional committee for Syria. He said his team was in touch with a wide array of Syrians and he continued to pursue the convening of Syria talks dealing with all four baskets of issues concerning Syria.
