United Nations Human Rights Council

24^th Session

Agenda Item 3

Ever-Deteriorating Humanitarian Crisis in the Syrian Arab Republic

Liberal International (LI) welcomes the fifth report of the United Nations Secretary GeneralBan Ki-Moon on the Responsibility to Protect titled “State Responsibility and Prevention”and fully reiterates its commitment to the report’s recommendations and conclusions. LI aligns with the Secretary General’s conclusions of the need to adopt targeted measures forprevention such as a concerted, comprehensive and inclusive review of risks andvulnerabilities to an armed conflict and building national resilience.

Liberal International is at the forefront of the promotion of the Responsibility to Protect(R2P) principle given that it is proving to be a principle of International Law which isfundamentally in tune with liberal values and as such it is at the core of the organisation’shuman rights work.

This statement would like to pay particular attention to the failure of the internationalcommunity to evoke the R2P principle in the Syrian Arab Republic focusing in particularon the terrible humanitarian disaster which has emerged as a result and on steps the international community needs to take in order to alleviate the current crisis.

Recognizing that:

• The conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic has led to more than 2 million refugees atpresent, with further potential for further deterioration and escalation of thehumanitarian crisis
• There is heavy economic and social burden placed on the neighbouring governmentsof Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey and Iraq which are currently hosting over 1.5 millionSyrian refugees, which might lead to political destabilisation of the respectivenations with dire consequences for the entire region
• International humanitarian assistance to the Syrian Arab Republic is oftenpoliticized and does not reach its intended recipients, in particular those that areoutside of the control of the authorities in Damascus
• There are over 4 million internally displaced Syrians who have limited access tohealth, education, food and other essential services
• Current refugee camps set up in Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Egypt and Iraq often lackadequate sanitary and safety conditions, leading to emergence of diseases with lethalconsequence
• Sexual violence and abuse has become prevalent in a number of Syrian refugeecamps
• 60% of the Syrian refugee populations lives outside refugee camps which creates anumber of challenges in securing long-term support and live-hood opportunities
• The humanitarian crisis is to further deteriorate with the approaching of the winterconditions in the region

Stressing on the fact that:

• Germany and Sweden together have received nearly two-thirds of all Syriansseeking protection in the European Union
• Women and children are the most vulnerable category of Syrian refugees oftenfacing physical and sexual abuse and exploitation and thus are at a particularly high risk of long-term displacement
• There is a 54% funding gap in the Syria Regional Response Plan set up by theUnited Nations Refugee Agency, as reported during the summer of 2013 with noindications of improvement
• The number of people fleeing the conflict in Syria has escalated to an average of 6,000 a day during 2013
• 6.8 million Syrians need urgent humanitarian assistance, one third of whom are children
• According to the latest assessment by the World Food Programme more than 4 million Syrians can no longer meet their basic food needs
• At least $3.1 billion are still needed to help the people in Syria and neighbouringcountries for the rest of the year considering the current number of refugees and IDPs
• Absorption and integration rates of Syrian refugees have remained low with little emphasis put on community development and long-term resettlement
• Rape is the number one reason for refugees to flee Syria according to an official report issued by the International Rescue Committee
• The assistance given to the Assad-led authorities by the Governments of Iran and of Iraq and by Hezbollah in Lebanon has further intensified the conflict and destabilized the region

Expressing deep concern that:

• More than 100, 000 Syrians have been killed since the beginning of the conflict
• There is an increased anti-Syrian sentiment and detention of Syrian refugees indirect vicinity of the Syrian Arab Republic
• Countries in the region are tightening the grip on accepting new refugees, with the new law of the Arab Republic of Egypt requiring visas and security clearance for Syrian nationals which poses significant impediments to Syrians seeking to flee the conflict in their own country
• The ethnic and religious minority and/or indigenous groups, such as Assyrians,Armenians, Druze, Palestinians, Kurds, Turkmen, are particularly vulnerable tothreats and attacks from both Government-affiliated and anti-Government armedgroups and represent 5% of the total refugees fleeing Syria
• No measures have been discussed or undertaken with regards to Syria’s post-conflictfuture, given that generations of young people are out of education and social protection schemes

Liberal International Recalls:

• The urgency resolution to its 57th Congress in the Philippines which called on theSyrian regime to stop immediately and unconditionally the violence against its ownpopulation
• Its written statement to the 19th Session of the United Nations Human RightsCouncil (UNHRC) which called on the Syrian Authorities to comply with the provisions of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders and put an end to the violent persecution of innocent civilians
• Its oral statement on the civil war in Syria to the 19th Session of the UNHRC which condemned the brutal actions of the Syrian authorities and it urged the Human Rights Council to recommend to the Security Council to refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court and freeze President Bashar Al-Assad’s assets
• The World Today resolution adopted at its 58th Congress in Abidjan resolution which stressed that the conflict in Syria represents a major threat to regional and international peace and security
• Its written statement to the 23rd Session of the UNHRC deploring the deliberate targeting of children by the armed forces of President Assad and the active deployment of children to the front lines of the conflict by the opposition forces
• The urgency debate on Syria at its 190th Executive Committee meeting in Beirut,Lebanon

Liberal International Calls on:

• The international community to provide urgent support and increase its financial aid to refugee hosting countries in order to secure on-going humanitarian assistance toSyrian refugees
• All UN member states to keep their borders open to offer protection and safety toSyrian refugees
• The European Union to provide swift and easy access to asylum procedures for Syrian refugees and ensure that the Common European Asylum System is applied in a consistent manner across its territory
• The Arab League to intensify its regional support to resolving the crisis by working closely with the European Union, the United States of America and other relevant international actors
• The international community and in particular the G8 countries to increase their financial commitment to the United Nations Refugee Agency in light of the ever increasing number of Syrian refugees and their assistance and protection needs
• The United Nations Refugee Agency to provide an input when political decisions are being made on the long term actions and measures pertaining to the conflict in Syria
• On the international community to create safe channels of communication in order to share more accurate information on what is happening in the communities affected by the violence in Syria
• On President Assad of Syria to cease all killing and violence against his people and neighboring countries, and to leave power with immediate effect.
• On the UN Security Council to take all necessary measures to stop the killings in Syria
• On the Arab League to implement all necessary measures to put an end to theconflict in Syria
• On the United Nations to attempt a political solution offering protection andparticipation of all Syrian groups in the future democratic political solution for Syria, based on full human rights and the rule of law

Liberal International Commits:

• For liberal parliamentarians from around the world to unite and project a commonvoice on the conflict in Syria especially at a time when the world community is splitalong the issue of arming the opposition
• For all liberal parties to act as a catalyst for the world community and proposepeaceful and resourceful ways to ending the atrocities in Syria
• To support the United Nations in its actions to end the conflict in Syria

The full PDF version of the statement as published by the United Nations Human Rights Council can be found here.