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I would like to thank the Jordanian presidency for convening this briefing on the situation in Syria and its neighbourhood. I also thank the briefers for their contributions. In 2014 the number of people forcibly displaced by conflict or persecution reached the highest total recorded since World War II, a staggering 51.2 million. UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres called it a “quantum leap” in forced displacement in the world. Destitute, desperate people trying to escape extreme poverty, persecution and war pay thousands of hard earned dollars to be loaded onto cattle ships, shoddy boats and crumbling barges, only to find death in the middle of the Mediterranean. Images of capsized boats, boats abandoned midway by the traffickers have become  almost daily news. Last year alone some 3500 died trying to reach the other shore.

Among those trying to escape, conflict-affected Syrians account for the largest number, about a third of the total.  Even more Syrians flee to neighbouring states or remain inside the country, trapped by the government’s barrel bombs, mortar fire and shellings, suffering chlorine attacks, and the brutality of terrorist groups, in hard to reach or besieged areas, constrained to survive on tree bark, grass, and leaves and occasional humanitarian deliveries.

At this time and day in the 21st century, starvation and death by starvation are not something we read in history books or historical novels. It is the reality for many trapped in besieged areas. In Yarmouk, even when aid did reach, people received 400 calories worth food per day, well below even the minimal nutrition requirements. Those in Darayya have not seen deliveries since October 2012; Eastern Ghouta - since January this year. It is frightening to even try to imagine how people survive there.

The Syrian government’s failure  to protect its own population is astounding. Bureaucratic and other obstacles compound the suffering of the people. Ms. Valerie Amos has spoken about these obstacles loud and clear on various occasions. 

Recently, nine World Health Organisation requests to deliver assistance to locations in Aleppo, Dar’a, Rural Damascus, Idlib, Hasakeh and Deir ez-Zor Governorates have gone unanswered.  Last month, UN agencies were able to reach only 4% of people under siege with food, and only 0.3% - with health assistance. More than 60 per cent of hospitals have been damaged or destroyed, doctors have fled or been killed. Even the basic medical services are often unavailable. The regime continues to systematically remove surgical supplies and other medical items  from humanitarian aid.  

The shameful constrains imposed on humanitarian operations, attacks on humanitarian and medical workers are a clear breach of international humanitarian law and a blatant disregard for Security Council resolutions 2139, 2165, and 2191. If this Council does not take seriously the resolutions it adopts, how can it expect others to implement them? Security Council must be firm in its demand for full implementation of relevant resolutions and seek accountability for the failure to do so.  After four years of lawlessness and impunity it is time to up the pressure on those responsible.  

The stakes are high. Not only pertaining to the credibility of this Council which has certainly been dented by the Syrian crisis. The stakes are high in particular for the people of Syria and Syria’s neighbours who have absorbed the largest numbers of refugees. Lebanon for example has the most refugees per capita in the world. Jordan must have received a million.   

That  is a huge strain on their economies and stability. Tensions between refugees and the host communities risk bursting local infrastructures, services, and social fabric. And if that happens, the consequences will be overwhelming and will spill well beyond the region. Today’s PRST speaks clearly of these risks.

Children under the age of 17 make up almost 50 % of the refugee population. They struggle with multiple challenges including family separation, exposure to physical and/or psychological violence, child labor and exploitation, early forced marriages, and recruitment by armed groups. According to Save the Children, four out of five Syrian children who fled to Lebanon are out of school.  Inside Syria, a fifth of schools (3,465), were either destroyed, damaged, or are used for military purposes. An entire generation is lost. Children grow up deprived of access to education and thus of a future. A future which is also Syria’s lost future.

Women refugees are forced to break with the traditional familial and social roles and become breadwinners for their children in a highly hostile environment and are much more likely to become targets of abuse, rape, forced marriages and prostitution.

Refugees are easy prey to traffickers and organized criminal gangs, while refugee camps- a boon for radicalization and terrorist recruitment. Given the much too common marriage of convenience between the transnational organised crime and terrorist, the risks posed by such extended crises as in Syria are enormous.

We therefore welcome the adoption today of a comprehensive PRST which stresses the importance of comprehensive responses including sustainable funding, providing support for national response plans, addressing the humanitarian needs of refugees, in particular women and children, strengthening the resilience of host countries, preventing radicalization and countering the threat of terrorism and foreign terrorist fighters.

Mr. President,

As much as we may seek to curb the flows of illegal migrants and refugees, the core of the issue is the political settlement of the crises that plague the region. As noted in the PRST, the only sustainable solution to the current crisis in Syria is through an inclusive and Syrian-led political process that meets the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people, with a view to full implementation of the Geneva Communique of 30 June 2012.

Likewise, viable political solutions must be found in Libya and elsewhere in the region and existing legitimate grievances must be addressed.  We shall choke and run out of aid funds if we don’t tackle he conclits. Inclusiveness, justice, and accountability are key building blocks necessary to tackle the crises that are at the core of the unprecedented refugee flows. The Council must throw its full weight behind the ongoing mediation and peace efforts in order to change the current deadly calculus. At the same time, it must be ready to use all the instruments at its disposal to put an end to impunity and bring the perpetrators of ongoing horrific crimes and abuses to account, using all instruments at its disposal, including the ICC.  Failure to act condemns new generations to a life of destitution, displacement, and violent death. Failure to do so increasingly questions the Council’s relevance in the modern world. Is this the legacy we are willing to leave?