Syria: Armed Conflict
(asked on 18th December 2017) - View Source
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representation he has made to the United Nations on lifting the siege in Eastern Ghouta.
This question was answered on 21st December 2017
The UK continues to demand full and sustained humanitarian access to besieged communities in Syria, including Eastern Ghouta, at every opportunity including at the UN. The UK strongly condemns the recent attacks and continued siege of Eastern Ghouta where, due to the Syrian regime’s obstruction of aid deliveries and medical evacuations, as well as the increased aerial bombardments by pro-regime forces, the humanitarian situation has rapidly deteriorated over the last three months. UK officials raised our concerns regarding Eastern Ghouta at the weekly International Syria Support Group Humanitarian and Ceasefire Taskforces in Geneva on 14 December, as did the UK’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York at the humanitarian briefing to the UN Security Council on 19 December. I issued a statement on 14 December calling for all parties to the conflict to facilitate humanitarian access, allow for emergency medical evacuations and take all feasible measures to protect civilians, as required under international humanitarian law.
The UK continues to demand full and sustained humanitarian access to besieged communities in Syria, including Eastern Ghouta, at every opportunity including at the UN. The UK strongly condemns the recent attacks and continued siege of Eastern Ghouta where, due to the Syrian regime’s obstruction of aid deliveries and medical evacuations, as well as the increased aerial bombardments by pro-regime forces, the humanitarian situation has rapidly deteriorated over the last three months. UK officials raised our concerns regarding Eastern Ghouta at the weekly International Syria Support Group Humanitarian and Ceasefire Taskforces in Geneva on 14 December, as did the UK’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York at the humanitarian briefing to the UN Security Council on 19 December. I issued a statement on 14 December calling for all parties to the conflict to facilitate humanitarian access, allow for emergency medical evacuations and take all feasible measures to protect civilians, as required under international humanitarian law.