BEIRUT: More than 13 million Syrians are in need of aid despite a relative drop in violence in their war-torn country in recent months, the UN said on Tuesday.
Upwards of 330,000 people have been killed since Syria’s conflict erupted in March 2011 with anti-government protests, and the violence has displaced over half the population, both internally and abroad, as refugees.
“Entering the seventh year of the crisis, the scale, severity and complexity of needs across Syria remain overwhelming,” the report by the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said.
“Some 13.1 million people in Syria require humanitarian assistance. Of these, 5.6 million people are in acute need,” OCHA added.
The figure represents a slight drop, from 13.5 million people in need in 2016, according to the UN.
Earlier this year, government allies Russia and Iran and rebel backer Turkey signed a deal to set up four so-called “de-escalation zones” in Syria.
The zones have brought a relative drop in violence across the country, though there has been an uptick in clashes and strikes in recent weeks in the Eastern Ghouta region near Damascus.
The implementation of the zones has also done little to increase humanitarian access, despite repeated calls from UN officials and others for sustained access to people in need.
The UN said 40 percent of the needy were children, adding that people in besieged or so-called “hard-to-reach” areas were particularly vulnerable.
While the report noted there “has been a reduction in violence in some areas,” it added that the impact of the truce zones “has been mixed” for civilians.
It also warned that up to 1.5 million Syrians could be newly displaced over the course of the coming year, though it also expected to see up to a million existing internally displaced Syrians return home.
The report predicted ongoing fighting in certain areas, including Idlib province in northwest Syria where a de-escalation zone is currently in place.
Idlib province is dominated by a former Al-Qaeda affiliate, and observers expect the area to eventually be attacked by either Syria’s government or outside forces.
The UN also saw little respite in sight for Eastern Ghouta, another truce zone, where violence has escalated despite the “de-escalation” deal.
The fighter-held area has been under government siege since 2013, with food and medical shortages leading to a malnutrition crisis and deaths.
“Civilians in UN-declared besieged areas, particularly in East Ghouta, are likely to remain deprived of sustained humanitarian assistance and have limited access to basic commodities and services,” the report warned.
13m Syrians need aid despite violence drop: UN
13m Syrians need aid despite violence drop: UN
UNESCO fears for fate of historical sites during Iran war
- “UNESCO is deeply concerned by the first impact that the hostilities are already having on many world heritage sites,” Assomo said
- Tehran’s Golestan palace, damaged in US–Israeli strikes, is testimony to the grandeur of Iran’s civilization in the 19th century
PARIS: UNESCO said it is deeply concerned about the fate of world heritage sites in Iran and across the region, after Tehran’s Golestan palace, often compared to Versailles, and a historic mosque and palace in Isfahan were damaged in the war.
The United Nations’ cultural agency on Wednesday urged all parties to protect the region’s outstanding cultural sites, saying four of Iran’s 29 world heritage sites had been damaged since the start of the US and Israeli war with Iran.
“UNESCO is deeply concerned by the first impact that the hostilities are already having on many world heritage sites,” Lazare Eloundou Assomo, director of the World Heritage Center, told Reuters, adding he was also concerned for sites in Israel, Lebanon and across the Middle East.
Tehran’s Golestan palace, damaged in US–Israeli strikes, is testimony to the grandeur of Iran’s civilization in the 19th century, he said.
The palace was chosen as the Persian royal residence and seat of power by the Qajar family and shows the introduction of European styles in Persian arts, according to the UNESCO website. The last Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, held a coronation ceremony there in 1969.
“We sometimes even compare it with the Versailles Palace in France, for instance, and it has suffered, unfortunately, some damage. We don’t know the extent for the moment. But clearly, with the images that we have been able to receive, we can confirm ... it has been affected,” Eloundou Assomo said.
Photos of the interior of the palace have shown piles of smashed glass and shards of wood on the floor, and shattered woodwork.
Isfahan was one of Central Asia’s most important cities and a key point on the Silk Road trading route. Its Masjed-e Jame (Jameh Mosque) is more than 1,000 years old and shows the development of Islamic art through 12 centuries.
Buildings close to the buffer zone of the prehistoric sites of the Khorramabad Valley have also been damaged, UNESCO said.
UNESCO has shared coordinates of key cultural sites to all parties, Eloundou Assomo said, and was monitoring damage.
“We are calling for the protection of all sites of cultural significance ... everything that tells the history of all the civilizations of the 18 countries in the region,” he said.
