Syria

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is appealing for calm and an easing of tensions on Turkey’s borders with the European Union, following a recent increase in movements of people.  Groups arriving at Turkey’s borders have included Syrians, Afghans, Iranians, Sudanese and other nationalities.

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the Security Council meeting on Syria, in New York today:

The security situation in and around Idlib continues to deteriorate, the United Nations top official for peacebuilding told the Security Council today, noting the severe impact on civilian populations as targeted attacks on populated areas continue to be carried out in plain sight.

The Middle East Peace Process Special Coordinator said today he was very concerned about Israel’s announcements regarding advancement of settlement construction in many areas in the occupied West Bank.  He said that all settlements are illegal under international law and remain a substantial obstacle to peace.

Greater access across borders, as well as lines of conflict is required to sustain the delivery of humanitarian assistance in north-eastern Syria, the United Nations Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator told the Security Council today, citing the Tal Abiyad crossing as the most feasible alternative to Al Yarubiyah, which was closed on 10 January.

The border area of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger has become the epicentre of a fast-growing crisis marked by unprecedented levels of armed violence, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says.  Armed assailants have forced more than 3,600 schools and 241 health centres in those countries to close.

Almost 300,000 people in Burkina Faso have been forced to flee their homes since last December and nearly 766,000 in total are displaced as of today.  More than half the internally displaced have inadequate shelter or none at all, and $10 million has been allocated from the Central Emergency Fund to help them.

About 6.5 million people in South Sudan – more than half the country’s population – could face acute food insecurity at the height of the May-to-July hunger season, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Programme (WFP). 

Today, a Commission convened by the World Health Organization, United Nations Children’s Fund and The Lancet said that no single country is adequately protecting children’s health or their environment to ensure a healthy future, warning that climate change and processed food intake are set to reverse child health gains.

The humanitarian crisis still unfolding in Syria will probably deteriorate in a catastrophic manner unless the global community swiftly unites and mobilizes all tools to end the nine-year-long conflict in that country, senior United Nations officials told the Security Council today.