BEIRUT: Russia has invited the Kurdish-led authorities in northern Syria to its proposed congress of Syria’s various ethnic groups, a senior Kurdish official told Reuters on Tuesday.
Such a congress would focus on seeking “compromise solutions toward the political settlement” of Syria’s conflict, a Russian negotiator on Syria said earlier this week.
“We are studying the issue and our stance has been positive so far,” said Badran Jia Kurd, an adviser to the administration that governs Kurdish-led autonomous regions of northern Syria.
They received the official invitation during meetings with Russian officials in northern Syria last month, he said.
Moscow, a key ally of the Damascus government, may host a congress in mid-November to bring together Syria’s ethnic groups and work on a new constitution, Russian news agency RIA said on Monday.
It remains unclear which other groups or combatants in Syria’s multi-sided war would take part in the congress.
The congress, which Russian President Vladimir Putin first mentioned this month, may take place at Russia’s Black Sea resort of Sochi, RIA said.
Russia’s Hmeymim air base in Syria also might be used, Alexander Lavrentyev, a senior Russian negotiator on Syria said on Monday.
The proposal has received backing from the United Nations, Lavrentyev told reporters in Kazakhstan.
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Russia invites Syrian Kurds to congress of Syrian ethnic groups: Kurdish official
Russia invites Syrian Kurds to congress of Syrian ethnic groups: Kurdish official
Sudan once again tops International Rescue Committee crises watchlist
- It is the third time in a row Sudan has headed the list, which was published on Tuesday
- It highlights the 20 countries most at risk of new or worsened humanitarian emergencies
PORT SUDAN:Sudan has once again topped a watchlist of global humanitarian crises released by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) aid organization, as warring sides press on with a conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people.
It is the third time in a row Sudan has headed the list, which was published on Tuesday. It highlights the 20 countries most at risk of new or worsened humanitarian emergencies.
“What the IRC is seeing on the ground is not a tragic accident. The world is not simply failing to respond to crisis; actions and words are producing, prolonging, and rewarding it,” IRC CEO David Miliband said in a statement.
“The scale of the crisis in Sudan, ranking first on this year’s Watchlist for the third year in a row and now the largest humanitarian crisis ever recorded, is a signature of this disorder.”
War erupted in April 2023 from a power struggle between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces ahead of a planned transition to civilian rule, and triggered the world’s largest displacement crisis. More than 12 million people have already been displaced by the ongoing war in Sudan, where humanitarian workers lack resources to help those fleeing, many of whom have been raped, robbed or bereaved by the violence.
Sudan is followed by the Palestinian territories, South Sudan, Ethiopia and Haiti, according to the list.
The IRC said although these countries are home to just 12 percent of the global population, they account for 89 percent of those in humanitarian need. It added that the countries are projected to host more than half of the world’s extreme poor by 2029.
The remaining countries on the list are Myanmar, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, Burkina Faso, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Cameroon, Chad, Colombia, Niger, Nigeria, Somalia, Syria, Ukraine and Yemen.
It is the third time in a row Sudan has headed the list, which was published on Tuesday. It highlights the 20 countries most at risk of new or worsened humanitarian emergencies.
“What the IRC is seeing on the ground is not a tragic accident. The world is not simply failing to respond to crisis; actions and words are producing, prolonging, and rewarding it,” IRC CEO David Miliband said in a statement.
“The scale of the crisis in Sudan, ranking first on this year’s Watchlist for the third year in a row and now the largest humanitarian crisis ever recorded, is a signature of this disorder.”
War erupted in April 2023 from a power struggle between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces ahead of a planned transition to civilian rule, and triggered the world’s largest displacement crisis. More than 12 million people have already been displaced by the ongoing war in Sudan, where humanitarian workers lack resources to help those fleeing, many of whom have been raped, robbed or bereaved by the violence.
Sudan is followed by the Palestinian territories, South Sudan, Ethiopia and Haiti, according to the list.
The IRC said although these countries are home to just 12 percent of the global population, they account for 89 percent of those in humanitarian need. It added that the countries are projected to host more than half of the world’s extreme poor by 2029.
The remaining countries on the list are Myanmar, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, Burkina Faso, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Cameroon, Chad, Colombia, Niger, Nigeria, Somalia, Syria, Ukraine and Yemen.
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