Syria

Mikdad: Those who Besiege Syria Cannot Claim to be Humanitarians… Countries who Cry over Syrian People are Symbols of Hypocrisy

Upon the invitation of the Foreign and Expatriates Ministry, a meeting for the humanitarian team, which represents UN organizations and government bodies that are part of the response plan regulating UN-Syrian cooperation, was held on Monday at Sheraton Hotel in Damascus.

During the meeting, Deputy Foreign and Expatriates Minister Dr. Fayssal Mikdad affirmed that the meetings of countries who cry over the humanitarian issues in Syria and hold special Security Council sessions, including the latest one attended by the biggest hypocrite the French Foreign Minister, are mere misdirection and blatant international hypocrisy, saying that those who impose sanctions with one hand and claim to provide humanitarian aid with the other is a symbol of hypocrisy, lies and misdirection.

Mikdad said that these countries aren’t content with shedding Syrian blood and arming and funding terrorists; they also directly and intentional avoid helping UN organizations financially, hindering them from carrying out their duties which these countries claim to be keen on implementing.

He pointed out that Arab countries didn’t provide a single dollar to the Syrian people despite all their claims for caring for them, particularly the Arab Gulf countries that contribute directly to the slaughter and murder of Syrians, affirming the need to expose these countries which commit massacres directly or through Al Qaeda which they fund and assist, in addition to their support of the Turkish government which facilitates terrorists’ entry into Syria with direct funding from the Arab Gulf.

Mikdad called upon all those who want to end bloodshed in Syria to address the primary issue which is these countries whose hands are stained with Syrian blood, affirming that those who besiege Syria cannot claim to be humanitarians or even capable of doing humanitarian work, pointing out to the politicization of the process of providing international aid by the countries that claim to care about the Syrian people.

He lauded the efforts of humanitarian organizations which work for pure humanitarian goals and have no personal agendas, affirming the Syrian government’s readiness to cooperate with these organization without restriction to help Syrians affected by terrorism as long as humanitarian aid is provided according to UN principles, particularly those that guarantee the country’s sovereignty and regional integrity and unity.

Mikdad affirmed that the Syrian government provided all possible and necessary facilitations to international efforts to provide humanitarian aid to affected citizens, starting by evaluation them devising a response plan, with the facilitations provided to UN humanitarian organization, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) being examples of this cooperation.

He pointed out that so far, the Syrian government has played the major role in providing the needs of its citizens, because many pledges of donors in the media and international forums haven’t been fulfilled as shown by the reports of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Midkad stressed that stopping the funding provided by some countries in the region to armed terrorist groups should remove the primary causes of Syrians’ humanitarian suffering, which would save Syria and the internaitonal community the need for humanitarian aid, noting that the terrorist groups are sabotaging Syrian infrastructure, thus depriving millions of Syrians from services such as electricity, water and fuel.

He went on to explain that the unjust unilateral sanctions imposed by the US, the EU and other countries like Saudi Arabia and Qatar on Syria impede development and providing services to citizens, and that they exacerbate the humanitarian conditions and hinder the importation of medical supplies and equipment, which causes suffering for Syrians.

Mikdad said that the government formed a ministerial committee to follow up on humanitarian needs of affected citizens, with SYP 500 million allocated to it from the general state budget and another 500 million from the independent budget for aid, adding that a higher relief committee was also formed to follow up on affected families and providing aid to them, with subcommittees being formed in each province to supervise the provision of aid.

He noted that over 547 temporary housing centers have been opened for affected families, all of them provided with all necessary services, pointing out to the support provided by the Social Affairs and Labor Ministry to civil societies that help afflicted families.

Midkad elaborated that the Social Affairs and Labor Ministry provided SYP 10 million to one initiative to help affected families in Homs, another 10 million to pay rents of displaced families, another 10 million to societies that provide financial support to families, and 15 million to the bodies that provide services.

He affirmed that state workers’ salaries are still being paid in affected areas despite the fact that work in many state establishments has stopped in certain areas, in addition to paying pensions.

Midkad then moved on to the health sector, detailing the losses it suffered due to terrorists’ attacks, with 50 people working in the medical field being martyred while carrying out their duties and 68 being injured, while 19 health workers are still being held hostage by armed groups who abducted them.

He also underlined the sabotage and vandalism carried out by terrorist against, hospitals, health centers and ambulance, noting that these terrorist acts are accompanied by media misdirection about health services by foreign media that use the health sector to misguide public opinion and rile citizens against the government.

Mikdad affirmed that the Health Ministry is continuing to work to rehabilitate health establishments and ambulances damaged by terrorism, and so far emergency rooms and departments in 25 out of 44 affected hospitals have been rehabilitated, noting that 19 hospitals have been put out of services due to terrorism.

He added that maternity wards in 35 out of 199 affected health centers have been rehabilitated, with 117 being out of services, and that health services have been expanded via 26 mobile clinics, in addition to repairing 60 ambulances out of 303 ones damaged by terrorism, 149 of which completely out of commission.

Mikdad also said that medical supplies for patients of terminal diseases including cancer are being provided from friendly countries along with 50 ambulances, after importation of medicine and medical supplies from Europe stopped due to sanctions.

He concluded by voicing thanks and appreciation for anyone who provides honest efforts to reduce the suffering of the Syrian people.

For his part, Director of International Organizations Department at the Foreign and Expatriates Ministry Hussam-Eddin Ala, said the meeting aims at discussing what has been implemented in terms of the response plan.

He stressed the Syrian government’s commitment to cooperate and provide all facilitations to the UN organizations, hailing the efforts of the SARC and its pioneering role in coordination with the ICRC despite the attacks of the armed terrorist groups.

In turn, the response plan national coordinator Refaat Hijazi presented a review of the Syrian government’s continuous efforts to help the affected people, adding that any international effort is complementary to the efforts exerted by the Syrian government.

The Regional Coordinator for Humanitarian Aid Affairs, Radwan Nweiser, stressed that the Syrian government has done its best to provide aid to the affected people and informed the UN employees about its approval on their visits to all Syrian areas without any restraints or conditions.

He appreciated the important role of the SARC and its sacrifices to continue providing its services, the last of which was the martyrdom of volunteer Fouad Bobes who was targeted in Douma city in Damascus Countryside while carrying out his humanitarian duty.

He added that the capabilities available and the allocated resources for response processes are much less than what is needed, adding that the international community gives more attention to the political and military sides in comparison to what it gives to fund aid operations.

Nweiser said that the international community presented only 45% of the total amount needed, adding that the big challenge for now is to protect the affected families and provide them with their needs before the winter.

In turn, Resident Coordinator of the United Nations in Syria, Adam Abdul-Mawla, said that the UN which worked in Syria for decades will not abandon the country in its ordeal, reiterating the UN commitment to provide all possible help to the Syrian people.

Abdul-Mawla pointed out that a joint meeting will be held on Wednesday between the UN regional offices and the UN team in Syria with the aim of discussing the measures needed to enhance the role of the UN in confronting the repercussions of the crisis in Syria.

He called upon all sides to respect the role of the UN and realize that it works independently and neutrally and it provides aid without religious or political considerations.

Director of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, Marwan Abdullah, said that the organization has spared no effort in providing services to all affected people since the beginning of the crisis with 10,000 volunteers working across the country.

He pointed out to the attacks against the organization’s staff, adding that 8 volunteers were martyred and several ambulances were destroyed.

For his part, Alexandre Equeyi of the ICRC stressed the need to cooperate and coordinate among all sides and organizations with the aim of providing food and rehabilitating centers in provinces.

Equeyi added that the ICRC is discussing ways to access all areas and is working on helping the people affected by the current events.

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