UN chief calls for immediate
cease-fire in Syria
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| Women and children have been the worst victims of the Syrian war (AFP) |
UN Secretary-General António Guterres says the man-made
humanitarian nightmare of the Syrian people must stop now.
By Robin Gomes
The United Nations on Friday chief called for an immediate
end to the “man-made humanitarian nightmare” currently unfolding in the
northwest Syrian province of Idlib, where ongoing military operations in the
north-west have displaced hundreds of thousands amid freezing winter
temperatures.
No military solution
“The message is clear. There is no military solution for the
Syrian crisis,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres told journalists at the
UN Headquarters in New York. “The only possible solution remains
political. This manmade humanitarian nightmare for the long-suffering Syrian
people must stop. It must stop now”.
Since December, nearly 900,000 people, have fled fighting in
Idlib, where the Syrian government has launched a military assault in the last
major stronghold of the rebel fighters and jihadists opposed to President
Bashar al-Assad.
Women and children
The vast majority of those fleeing the latest Syrian
offensive are women and children. Many young children who are freezing to
death, Guterres said. Most are moving to increasingly crowded areas
towards the border with Turkey.
He said, “the unfolding crisis in northwest Syria and the
terrible human toll on civilians” is now advancing into areas with the highest
concentrations of people - many of them displaced - “and threatening to
strangle humanitarian lifelines.”
“I have repeatedly called for an immediate ceasefire
in Idlib to end the humanitarian catastrophe and now also to avoid an
uncontrollable escalation,” Guterres said.
Appeal to donors
Overall, nearly three million people in north-west Syria
require humanitarian assistance. As needs rise, the UN is revising plans
to assist the displaced, the UN humanitarian affairs office, OCHA, said earlier
on Friday.
Guterres said earlier this month the UN thought it needed
enough funds to reach 800,000 displaced people. However, he said the UN is now appealing
for an additional $500 million from donors “to cover the needs of the newly
displaced people over the next six months.”
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