Coordinator of the Syrian National Coalition’s Department of Foreign Relations, Abdulahad Astepho, held two separate meetings with senior advisor on Syria in the German Foreign Ministry and political advisor on Syrian in the Dutch Foreign Ministry on Tuesday. Astepho conveyed to them the Coalition’s concerns about the position of the Friends of the Syrian people regarding the humanitarian disaster in Idlib, whether at the level of taking serious action to stop the crimes of the regime and its backers against civilians or the provision of urgent aid to the IDP.
Astepho pointed out that the situation in Idlib and western rural Aleppo needs serious, firm positions from the international community to establish a ceasefire and alleviate the escalating humanitarian catastrophe, especially in light of the continued military operations by the regime and its backers. The disaster is further compounded by the increasing number of IDP coinciding with the interruption of healthcare services as a result of bombardment.
Astepho stressed the importance of swift action by international organizations to secure humanitarian, relief and medical assistance for the IDP. He stressed that humanitarian response is still weak and does not rise to the scale of the humanitarian catastrophe, warning of a new refugee crisis affecting neighboring countries and Europe.
Astepho also talked about the suffocating economic crisis that the Syrian citizens are going through in all regions due to the decline of the value of the Syrian pound against the US dollar to record low. He stressed that the Assad regime bears full responsibility for the current situation. “The regime continues to deplete the country’s resources in violations against civilians in Idlib and rural Aleppo, killing civilians with rockets, while the rest of the Syrians die of hunger and cold.”
A solution in Syria can only be achieved through a political transition through real support by the international community for a political process leading to the full implementation of the relevant international decisions, most importantly the Geneva Communique of 2012 and UN Security Council resolution 2254, he added. (Source: Syrian National Coalition’s Media Department)
