Fail Grade:

UN Continues to Neglect Survivors of Terrorist Bomb Attack in Syria’s Idlib

Rasa - Several survivors who were severely injured in a deadly Takfiri bomb attack on buses carrying people from two Shiite-majority towns in the province of Idlib continue to be neglected by the United Nations.

News ID: 428997

Date: 18 April 2017 - 23:29

RNA - At least 126 people, including 68 children, were killed and dozens of others sustained injuries on Saturday, when a bomber blew up an explosive-laden car, ripping through several buses carrying evacuees from Kafraya and Fua’a towns in Idlib province as they were waiting to enter the city of Aleppo.

The survivors talking to the media say the UN aid agencies’ promised support never arrived and that it is only government forces that are taking care of them. In their words, the terrorist attack isn’t that these atrocities were committed against women and children, but that they were then promised international support but little to no support from the UN came.

This is not the first time that the long-suffering people of Syria complain about the little to no support coming from the world community. Many international aid agencies and human rights groups have also released reports that criticize certain UN Security Council powers detailing how they have supported various terrorist groups and how they have failed to alleviate the suffering of civilians amid intensifying conflict six years after the start of the US-led regime change campaign.

Despite the Security Council resolutions that demand action to end the war, to top supporting various terrorist groups, and to secure protection and assistance for besieged civilians, the regime change war is ongoing, humanitarian access to large parts of rebel-held areas has diminished, and more people are being killed, displaced and are in need of help than ever before. The aid agencies reveal how their calls and the resolutions have been ignored or undermined by certain parties to the conflict, members of the Security Council, and other UN member states, leading to the worst crisis for civilians in the 21st century.

In other words, the world community’s promised protection and assistance for Syria’s civilians now ring hollow. As the destruction continues and more people are forced to flee their homes, the need for humanitarian assistance grows. Distressingly, humanitarian access has not improved to meet growing need and millions of people are now living in hard to reach areas, without access to relief. Now is the time for all UN member states, including the permanent members of the Security Council, to go beyond words. International pressure for allowing the civilians to safely flee opposition controlled areas and find access to humanitarian aid in cross line and cross border areas need to be imposed.

While a political solution is being sought by Iran, Russia, Syria, and a host of other nations, civilians must in the meantime be protected and assured safe access to humanitarian assistance in government-held areas. Some wold governments offer a framework to end this suffering, but without action by parties to the conflict and member states these remain little more than words on a page. The world governments must use their influence to push for a genuine political solution at the UN, stop arms shipments to various Qaeda-allied “moderate” militants by the US and its regional allies, and step up their financial aid to meet the growing humanitarian needs.

In the meantime, the United Nations should denounce the deadly bomb attack on Saturday, and hold responsible the countries that fund the terrorists and provide them with weapons and ammunition. As maintained by Syria's Foreign Ministry, there is a growing need for coordinating international attempts aimed at helping these victims and battling terrorism and the necessity of full cooperation with Damascus in any counter-terrorism endeavor. The UN should pressure the main supporters of terrorists, namely Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, France, the UK and the US, to stop their support for terrorist groups. That’s the least it could do in these difficult times.

It’s also the only way for the world body to prove that it remains completely impartial and wants to work with all actors in Syria, including the Syrian government and its allies to end the conflict. The organization has already admitted that some of the regional states are sending arms to various terrorist groups. The organization has also admitted that lifesaving treatments and medical data-x-items urgently needed by patients in rebel controlled areas continue to be removed or rejected by militant groups.

Unfortunately, terrorist groups have often failed to respond positively to such requests for access. They continue to use the fleeing civilians as human shields while their patrons at the UN look the other way. This is in violation of these states' obligations under International Humanitarian Law. The blocking of humanitarian aid by the terrorist groups, using civilians as human shields, and not allowing them to leave the besieged areas safely is unbearable and seriously undermines the credibility of the international system and humanitarian norms.

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