AT Idlib is playing out a new humanitarian disaster, one of the worst in a Syrian crisis which, in almost a decade, has caused countless. The Damascus regime persists in a strategy of military reconquest of the country at any cost, whatever the consequences for civilians.
Since December 2019, its operations in the North West have intensified, with the support of Russia, and in particular its aviation. The incessant air strikes and the dropping of barrels of explosives threw nearly a million Syrians on the roads in a few weeks. The reception structures are saturated, hundreds of thousands of people, mostly women and children, are gathering in makeshift camps, at the mercy of the cold, hunger and epidemics.
In defiance of international humanitarian law, the strikes deliberately targeted hospitals and health centers, of which seventy-nine had to stop functioning, schools and shelters. According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, 298 civilians have died in Idlib since 1st January.
"The fight against terrorism cannot, must not, justify the massive violations of international humanitarian law"
We are perfectly clear about the presence of radical groups in Idlib. We will never take the problem of terrorism lightly: we fight it with determination, and we are engaged on the front line in the fight against the Islamic State organization. But the fight against terrorism cannot, should not, justify the massive violations of international humanitarian law, which we are witnessing every day in north-west Syria.
The United Nations (UN) has warned of the risk of an unprecedented humanitarian crisis if the ongoing offensive continues. We call on the Syrian regime and its supporters, especially the Russian ones, to end this offensive and return to the ceasefire arrangements of autumn 2018. We call on them to immediately end hostilities and to respect their obligations under international humanitarian law, in particular the protection of humanitarian workers and medical personnel, who pay with their lives for their commitment to the benefit of civilian populations.
We also call on Russia to continue negotiations with Turkey, in order to achieve de-escalation in Idlib and contribute to a political solution.
