The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Edited News | OHCHR , UNICEF , WHO , UNOG
UNOG Bi-weekly press briefing: Humanitarian Situation in Idlib - Syria OHCHR/WHO/UNICEF
UN right chief, agencies appalled at civilian toll in wartorn Syria’s north-east
Facing freezing temperatures and bombing, more than 900,000 civilians in Syria’s north-west have been forced into ever smaller areas in search of shelter, the UN’s top rights official said on Tuesday.
“As the High Commissioner puts it, ‘No shelter is now safe,’ Michelle Bachelet’s spokesperson, Rupert Colville, said. “And as the Government offensive continues and people are forced into smaller and smaller pockets, she fears even more people will be killed.”
Speaking to journalists in Geneva, Mr. Colville spoke of the High Commissioner’s “horror” at the scale of the humanitarian crisis in north-west Syria.
It was “cruel beyond belief” that mostly women and children sheltering under plastic sheeting were being hit, she said in a statement, noting that those fleeing the fighting have been “squeezed” into areas that are shrinking in size by the hour.
“They simply no longer have anywhere to go,” she added.
“In all, since 1 January this year, during the Syrian Government’s latest major military offensive to retake key areas in Idlib and Aleppo, we have recorded the deaths of 299 civilians in this region of Syria. Around 93 per cent of those deaths were caused by the Syrian Government and its allies,” Mr. Colville said, with the remaining seven per cent of fatalities attributable to non-State armed groups.
More than 80 per cent of the deaths attributable to Government forces and their allies – 246 out of 299 – came after airstrikes, the OHCHR spokesperson added.
Asked whether the attacks on civilians and medical facilities contravened international norms, Mr Colville highlighted their “sheer quantity” in the near nine-year conflict.
Other UN-appointed institutions had greater means to investigate these attacks and ensure justice for victims, he noted, such as the Commission of Inquiry on Syria - which was set up by and reports regularly to the Human Rights Council - and the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism, established by the UN General Assembly in December 2016.
“The sheer quantity of attacks on these hospitals, medical facilities, schools, would suggest they can’t all be accidental,” Mr. Colville said. “At a minimum, even if they were accidental, it shows lack of proportionality, necessity, precaution and so on, all of which can contribute to something being attributed as a war crime.”
Amid the Syrian Government’s offensive in north-west Syria - the last bastion of opposition non-state armed groups – UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned that of the four million people living in the north-west, just over two million are children.
“Virtually every child, up to 1.8 million of them, require humanitarian assistance,” spokesperson Marixie Mercado said.
- Wide shot: exterior, flag alley, Palais des Nations, United Nations Geneva.
- Wide shot: Press briefing room.
- SOUNDBITE (EN) — Rupert Colville, spokesperson, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “As the High Commissioner puts it, ‘No shelter is now safe.’ And as the Government offensive continues and people are forced into smaller and smaller pockets, she fears even more people will be killed.”
- Close-up, journalist in foreground, other journalists to rear of shot.
- SOUNDBITE (EN) — Rupert Colville, spokesperson, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “In all, since 1 January this year, during the Syrian Government’s latest major military offensive to retake key areas in Idlib and Aleppo, we have recorded the deaths of 299 civilians in this region of Syria. Around 93 per cent of those deaths were caused by the Syrian Government and its allies.”
- Close-up shot, camera operator, journalists in background.
- SOUNDBITE (EN) Rupert Colville, spokesperson, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “The sheer quantity of attacks on these hospitals, medical facilities, schools, would suggest they can’t all be accidental, and at a minimum, even if they were accidental, it shows lack of proportionality, necessity, precaution and so on, all of which can contribute to something being attributed as a war crime.”
- Wide shot, journalists.
- SOUNDBITE (EN) Marixie Mercado, UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF): “Over half a million children – 525,000 and climbing, have been forcibly displaced in north-west Syria since 1 December. At least 77 children were killed or injured in January alone. The breakdown is 28 children killed, and 49 children injured.”
- Close-up, journalist typing.
- SOUNDBITE (EN) Marixie Mercado, UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF): “There are about four million people living in the north-west and just over two million of them are children. Virtually every child, up to 1.8 million of them, require humanitarian assistance.”
- Wide shot, podium
- SOUNDBITE (EN) Marixie Mercado, spokesperson, UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF): “We ask for an immediate cessation of hostilities and an end to the war in Syria for once and for all, and we ask for all humanitarian workers to be able to respond to the massive needs in compliance with international humanitarian law.”
- Close-up, journalist.
- SOUNDBITE (EN) Tarik Jasarevic, spokesperson, World Health Organization (WHO): “The name of the hospital is Kinana General Hospital in the Daret Azza locality. This hospital has been serving about 50,000 people and has been carrying out about 10,000 patient consultations per month. The second facility is Al-Ferdous maternity and childcare hospital. It suffered minor damage, but it is not clear at this moment if the hospital can continue operating.”
- Close-up: journalist writing.
- SOUNDBITE (EN) Tarik Jasarevic, spokesperson, (WHO): “As of today, 74 health facilities have suspended services in Idlib and Aleppo since 1 December last year directly decreasing civilian access to healthcare. Out of nearly 550 health facilities in Syria’s north-west, roughly half are operational.”
- Medium shot: journalists.
- SOUNDBITE (EN) Tarik Jasarevic, spokesperson, (WHO): “Luckily there were no casualties in yesterday’s attacks, but they do bring the total number of attacks on health in Syria this year to six, resulting in 10 deaths and 30 injuries, on top of restricting or denying civilian access to health. All of these six attacks have occurred in the north-west.”
- Close-up: journalist.
- Wide shot: journalists, podium.
- Close-up: journalists typing.
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNFPA
The UN in Lebanon appealed for an additional $331.5 million on Friday to help 1.4 million people in crisis as already massive needs continue to grow, three months after deadly violence erupted between Hezbollah fighters and Israeli forces.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNIFIL
UN Security Council meets amid rising Israel-Hezbollah tensions in Lebanon.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
At the biweekly press briefing in Geneva, UN Human Rights spokesperson made the following remarks deplored the death in State custody of Brooklyn Rivera in Nicaragua.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
Lebanon: Tyre hospital strikes leave patients without critical care – WHO
The UN health agency in Lebanon is verifying reports of strikes on a hospital in the southern city of Tyre on Monday, amid a concerning rise in attacks on healthcare in the country.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | WMO
El Niño confirmed, extreme weather events will be more intense, says WMO
The UN urged all countries on Tuesday to bolster early warning systems after confirming the onset of El Niño, warning that the Pacific Ocean-warming phenomenon will bring above-average temperatures “nearly everywhere” and fuel more extreme weather.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
‘A disease you get when you care for someone’: on the frontlines of the Ebola crisis with WHO
Two weeks into the latest Ebola outbreak, the World Health Organization (WHO) is estimating that there are 906 suspected cases of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), including 223 suspected deaths.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on 29 May called for more robust measures by both states and tech companies to make online platforms safer for children, insisting on effective regulation, oversight and accountability. The digital world that connects children to learning, community and creativity also expose them to real risks, to their safety, to their privacy, and to their well-being. Online harms to kids’ safety, privacy, and well-being are not innate or inevitable.
See High Commissioner video: https://media.un.org/unifeed/en/asset/d357/d3579089
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA , WHO
Gaza: Life-saving medicines blocked as killing continues, disease gains ground
In Gaza, a dire humanitarian situation marked by continuing violence, rodent infestations and the spread of diseases is being made worse by blockages of essential medical supplies, UN agencies warned on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights spokesperson Shabia Mantoo, warned against the continuing trend of involuntary returns of Afghan refugees and asylum-seekers from host countries to Afghanistan, in violation of international human rights and refugee law, at the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | IFRC , OHCHR
Lebanon's first responders face high risks amid conflict, with 116 killed since March.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
DRC Ebola outbreak: hundreds of suspected cases, no vaccine
A fast-spreading Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has health workers rushing to stop transmission while the roll out of any potential vaccine is months away, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.