FEBRUARY 23, 2018— “The fighting must stop now – the international community should unite to stop this human suffering” stated on Friday a declaration by the High Representative Federica Mogherini on behalf of the European Union on Syria and the ongoing massacre in Eastern Ghouta adding that “the European Union calls on all parties to the conflict, as well as the guarantors of the four De-Escalation Areas, to take all necessary measures to ensure an immediate ceasefire, the protection of the Syrian people by respecting International Humanitarian Law, and urgent humanitarian access.” The declaration also called on the Syrian regime to ” immediately stop targeting its own people and fulfil its primary responsibility to protect them. We therefore support the UN call for a 30-day humanitarian ceasefire and expect the international community to support it in New York.”
“Hundreds of civilians, women, children are targeted deliberately and relentlessly. They are the real, innocent, victims of this war. Unhindered humanitarian access and the protection of civilians is a moral duty and a matter of urgency. It is in the responsibility of all to prevent further loss of lives, to stop the violence” the declaration in the name of the 28 Member states of the European Union reiterated.
“The European Union recall that there is no military solution to the conflict and call on all parties to seriously engage in the UN-led political process as a matter of urgency” it concluded.
Earlier this week Mogherini and Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Christos Stylianides sounded the alarm on the humanitarian situation in Eastern Ghouta and Idlib, Syria and called for an “unhindered humanitarian access to civilians inside Syria and the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure is a matter of urgency to prevent further loss of lives. To prevent further children and families, the most vulnerable, being killed”
The humanitarian situation in parts of Syria, in particular in the De-Escalation Areas of Eastern Ghouta and Idlib, has deteriorated significantly over the past 8 weeks with hundreds of innocent victims, including many women and children. There have been dozens of civilian deaths and hundreds of wounded in Eastern Ghouta yesterday alone. More than 300,000 civilians have been displaced in the northern Governorate of Idlib, with destruction of civilian infrastructure such as hospitals.
