The bloodshed continues in Syria to this day.

21 Jun 2016 05:28 PM

Statement given yesterday by Ambassador Peter Wilson of the UK Mission to the UN at the General Assembly Briefing on Syria.

Thank you very much Mr President, and for your patience. I will keep this short

and simple.

We all have a role to play. A Security Council resolution cannot end this war.

That is why the meeting that we are having today is such an important one.

And we should be under no illusions; it is a stain on the reputation of the

United Nations and its members that the bloodshed continues in Syria to this

day.

We’ve seen a numbers of false dawns over the last five years, and today is no

different. Steffan de Mistura has just told us: what we have today may change

tomorrow.

Yes, it is true that the Regime has agreed to road access to all 17 besieged

areas requested by the UN. The International Syria Support Group has got us to

this point. But we know that Asad’s words count for very little. People are still

going hungry, still going without medicine, and coming under sustained attack.

Since the start of June there has been some progress on access to besieged

area, but let’s be honest, this is too little and too late. Most of the 17

identified besieged areas remain cut off. Not only does this fall short of the

access called for, but access to the locations which has been allowed is being

disputed, disrupted, stripped of essential medical items, as Stephen O’Brien

has just set out so starkly.

Worse yet, the delivery of aid to Darayya and Douma both were met by brutal

attacks, including with barrel bombs. There is little left in the regime that can

shock, but punishing areas after humanitarian access is agreed, after life-saving

supplies are delivered, is beyond inhuman. It is calculating, it is cruel, it is sick,

it is sadistic.

Mr President,

We need to remain resolute in the face of such cruelty. There is a path

forward, and I’ll make 3 brief points:

First, the regime’s promises must translate into real action on the ground. Far

more convoys must get through and reach all areas in the June plan within the

next two weeks.

Second, we need to be clear that we will not sit idly by until land access is

delivered. We must continue to plan for air delivery by the World Food

Programme as agreed by the ISSG Foreign Ministers in Vienna last month.

That’s not ideal, but it’s what we need to do if ground access is not being

granted.

And finally, thirdly, as I said at the beginning: no illusions. The steps I’ve

measured are a Band-Aid. Until the sieges are lifted, and the bombs stop

falling, we can’t rest in our efforts to find a longer term solution to the

violence.

The only way to achieve that is a political settlement, one that will return Syria

to stability and peace. That will require an inclusive government, and one that

we can work with to tackle Daesh and other extremists. Only when that

happens will stability return to the region, will the flow of people fleeing stop,

and the suffering of the people of Syria end.

Thank you.