Press release
Syrian Opposition Coalition
Department of Media and Communications
May 8, 2022
The Syrian Opposition Coalition (SOC) stresses that the UN humanitarian aid being provided to Syrians is essential and indispensable, whether in Syria or in neighboring countries. It said that 14.6 million Syrian civilians depend on humanitarian, according to UN figures.
The UN humanitarian aid being provided to Syrians represents a lifeline for millions of people, including children and women, especially aid related to health, food security and education. The World Food Program (WFP) indicated that three out of five people in Syria suffer from food insecurity.
The SOC stresses the need to deliver humanitarian aid to the needy households by extending the mandate for the cross-border delivery of humanitarian aid regardless of the Russian threats of the use of its veto power in the Security Council. It also stresses that humanitarian aid must not be sent through the Assad regime which uses this aid to support its militia and which will practice political and humanitarian blackmail should this aid by sent through it.
Our people in the regime-held areas are in dire need of UN relief aid, but the corrupt regime institutions are denying aid to those who deserve it. Therefore, the SOC stresses the need to deliver aid through UN agencies that are not affiliated with the regime so as to ensure that our people benefit from the aid without theft or extortion by the regime and its militias. It also stresses that this aid must not pass through the regime’s corrupt institutions which will divert the aid to its barracks and militias.
Despite the critical importance of humanitarian aid, of greater importance is addressing the root cause of this tragedy: namely the murderous regime which has created a miserable humanitarian situation for the whole of the Syrian people.
The Assad regime, Russia and Iran are fully responsible for this humanitarian crisis due to their systematic criminal policies that they practiced against the Syrian people during the previous years.
The SOC also stresses that this aid is not the aim of the Syrian people, but rather a means they had to use to survive the harsh conditions that they are going through. The Syrian people’s main goal is to topple the Assad regime, holding it accountable, and rebuilding Syria so that they can return to their homes and build a new Syria that preserves human freedom and dignity.
