Al-Jaafari: Coercive measures target all Syrian people, deprive them from obtaining their basic livelihood needs, they should be lift

New York, SANA- Syria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Bashar al-Jaafari renewed that the Western coercive economic measures imposed on Syria targeted the simplest details of the daily life of the Syrian people and deprived them from their basic needs, while the representatives of some member states  have falsely alleged that imposing these measures comes to protect the civilians.

Al-Jaafari pointed out, during informal session by the UN Security Council held via video with initiative of Russia, China, South Africa, Niger, Saint Vincent and Grenadines on “ending the unilateral coercive measures imposed on Syria”, that at the time when Syria has realized large achievements in facing the unjust terrorist war waged by well-known governments of regional and western countries and worked on restoring security and stability to the most of the Syrian lands, the suffering of the Syrian people is increasing day by day due to the economic terrorism represented by the coercive measures imposed by the US and Western countries on the Syrian people.

He indicated that the representatives of some member states claimed falsely that imposing these measures comes to protect the civilians, and even they promoted baseless allegations on humanitarian and medical exceptions for these measures.

He reiterated that the humanitarian keenness alleged by those who impose that measures doesn’t harmonize with the starvation of the civilians and depriving the children from milk and the patients from the medical equipment even though the internet services programs and platforms and learning via internet which have become a persistent need at the time of Coronavirus spread, noting that the economic measures also target the “Zoom Platform” which is used in the UN Security Council’s meeting today, asserting that they  exclude Syria from the list of countries that can benefit from its services.

Al-Jaafari thanked the countries which took the initiative for holding this session and those who presented their briefings and all who raise the voice in facing these measures which constitute a collective punishment for the peoples and a flagrant violation of the principles of the international law, the provision of the UN charter, human rights instruments and the goals of the sustainable development 2030.

For his part, the Secretary-General of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent Khaled al-Erqsousi said in an intervention via video from Damascus that these measures directly affect the children, women and all spectrum of the Syrian people, which necessitates to lift them to avoid the suffering resulted by them and facilitate the access to the humanitarian aid to those who need them, calling for the necessity not to politicizing this issue.

The healthcare system has become unable to deal with the growing needs of the civilians for the preventive health care and treatment, al-Erqsousi said, asserting that the economic measures hinder the efforts to import the medical equipment , spare parts and medicine , this constitutes a real crisis in the face of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent as a humanitarian organization, even though it continues to offer daily humanitarian aid and support to the people who attempt to rebuild  their life following a decade of crisis.

He indicated that the coercive measures imposed on the Syrian people caused catastrophe impacts on the humanitarian activities, particularly the lines of logistic support and financial channels in line with the UN’s broader humanitarian policies and the former practices of the UN Security Council, calling for the necessity of protecting the humanitarian aid based on the principles from the negative impacts of the economic measures.

Hala Zain