AFP, United Nations, 1 March 2012 – The UN Security Council on Thursday called on Syria to allow ‘immediate’ humanitarian access to protest cities in a unanimously agreed statement.
Russia and China significantly signed up to the statement after Syria refused to let UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos into the country. Damascus has said the date proposed by Amos was not suitable.
‘The members of the Security Council express their deep disappointment’ that Amos ‘was not granted authorization to visit Syria by the Syrian government in a timely manner,’ said the statement read by British ambassador Mark Lyall Grant.
The 15-nation body called for ‘immediate and unhindered access’ for Amos, in its first statement on Syria since August last year.
‘The members of the Security Council deplore the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation, in particular the growing number of affected civilians, the lack of safe access to adequate medical services, and food shortages, particularly in areas affected by fighting and violence such as Homs, Hama, Deraa, Idlib.’
The Security Council called on Syria ‘to allow immediate, full and unimpeded access of humanitarian personnel to all populations in need of assistance, in accordance with international law.’
Russia and China vetoed two UN Security Council resolutions on Syria and have been very cautious of any statement that could be seen as taking sides against President Bashar al-Assad. They also voted against a resolution on Syria at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva this week.
The agreed statement has far lower standing than a binding resolution. And in a concession to the two powers, it called on the government and opposition to cooperate with efforts to evacuate the wounded from Syrian cities.
‘They call upon all parties in Syria, in particular the Syrian authorities, to cooperate fully with the United Nations and relevant humanitarian organizations to facilitate the provision of humanitarian assistance and allow evacuation of the wounded from affected areas,’ said the statement.
‘The Security Council hasn’t been able to agree much on Syria. Today that changed a bit,’ commented US mission spokesman Mark Kornblau.
The British ambassador, who is Security Council president for March, stressed that the statement was focused on humanitarian access and does not touch on sensitive political topics that Russia or China could object to.
‘The power of the statement is that it has all 15 members of the Security Council supporting it,’ Lyall Grant said.
But he added: ‘It doesn’t cover the wider political developments, it doesn’t cover the appointment of Mr Kofi Annan as the joint special envoy. It doesn’t cover other issues.’
Lyall Grant and envoys from France, the United States, Russia and China met with Annan on Thursday to discuss his mission as the UN-Arab League envoy on Syria.
Annan is to head for the Middle East this weekend to hold talks with the Arab League and involved governments. The British ambassador said there would be strong Council support for Annan’s efforts to meet the Syrian leader.
‘The fact that he is a joint envoy, the fact that he is a man of such international renown and stature does mean that his mission will be taken extremely seriously,’ Lyall Grant said.