The United Nations has expressed its concern about the “miserable situation” of civilians in Idlib, northwest of Syria, due to the regime’s air strikes, in addition to the outbreak of the Corona virus.
Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary General of the United Nations, said in a press conference held at the organisations headquarters in New York, that 97% of the governorate’s residents live in extreme poverty.
He added, “Hostilities, an economic crisis, and COVID-19 have made the already dire situation of civilians in Northwest Syria even more difficult,”
He added, “Hostilities continued to be reported across Northwest Syria throughout September, with intensified airstrikes along the front lines in southern Idlib and almost daily reports of violence.”
Haq stressed that the UN is also extremely concerned about the spike in COVID-19 cases, with more than 1,000 people per day testing positive in Northwest Syria. “There has been a 170 percent increase in the total number of positive cases in the last month alone.”
“Limited equipment to test for COVID-19 is a problem, on top of a severe oxygen shortage. In addition, less than 3 percent of the population in the Northwest is vaccinated. With 1.6 million people living in crowded camp settings, the spread of COVID-19 will further tax an overburdened system,” he warned.
“In addition, 97 percent of the population in Northwest Syria live in extreme poverty, depending on humanitarian aid for food, medicine and other basic services”, Haq pointed out.
In May 2017, Turkey, Russia and Iran announced that they had reached an agreement to establish a “de-escalation zone” in Idlib, as part of the Astana meetings related to the Syrian issue, however the Syrian regime forces and their supporters continue to attack the area from time to time, despite the ceasefire agreement signed in March 5, 2020.
Syria’s civil war has been going on since March 18, 2011, when the regime of Bashar Al-Assad cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.
Over the past years, the Syrian regime granted citizenship to a large number of people affiliated with Iran, in return for their participation in the war it has waged against the opposition since 2011.
Arab Organisation for Human Rights in the UK (AOHR UK) has repeatedly called for an end to the war in Syria, while calling on the international community to put pressure on the Syrian and Russian military alliance to end the war, which claimed hundreds of thousands of innocent lives and displaced more than 10 million people.
