United Nations Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria Geir Pedersen lamented on Thursday the lack of progress in Syria that could reverse the course of the war in the country.
In a briefing to the UN Security Council, he said: “I am alarmed at the trajectory of events, and the lack of progress in reversing them.”
“After 13 years of conflict in Syria, the tragic reality is that developments are going in the wrong direction, including in the security, humanitarian, human rights, economic and political spheres,” he added.
On security, the conflict continues with acute violence on many fronts and continued regional spillover, he said, according to a Security Council statement.
He outlined a slew of concerning events taking place in the past month, including further Israeli strikes, including one that Iran says killed a member of its Revolutionary Guard Corps; further rocket fire from southern Syria into the Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan; an uptick in violence in Idlib, where pro-government air strikes and now drone strikes resumed after a relative hiatus; further Turkish drone strikes in northeast Syria; and new attacks by ISIS which killed civilians, including, once again, large numbers of civilians searching for truffles in the desert.
Moreover, he voiced concern over the conflict in Gaza and its regional ramifications, calling for de-escalation and an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.
Pedersen called for an urgent de-escalation of the conflict in Syria, progressing towards a nationwide ceasefire. On the humanitarian front, a “staggering” 16.7 million people need humanitarian assistance — the highest number at any point in 13 years — he said, emphasizing the need for aid to reach them through all modalities.
He also voiced concern over massive challenges to basic state services across the country, stressing that its long-term impacts for state functioning, and on reaching a political solution, were concerning.
The envoy voiced concern over the estimated 100,000 people who are arbitrarily detained, forcibly disappeared, or missing, calling for their releases at scale, and for information about their fate.
More than half Syria’s pre-war population continues to languish in displacement or exile, for over a decade in many cases, he went on, noting that they are not returning due to unaddressed concerns related to protection and livelihood.
Meanwhile, women’s activists report increased harassment and threats of physical violence, he said, pointing to the recent murder of a local council member in northwest Syria, and calling for their protection.
He outlined other concerning signs, including protestors taking to the streets in various parts of the country, and the presence and activities of six — not five, as used to be the case — foreign armies in the country, including a multitude of armed actors.
“Millions of Syrians are split across these lines of control,” he said, noting a “loud and clear sense of dismay” over these trend lines in discussions with Syrian civil society actors, including his Deputy’s engagements in Istanbul through the Civil Society Support Room.
On the diplomatic front, Pedersen noted engagements with Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad, as well as with Syrian Negotiations Commission President Badr Jamous, and with Russian, Iranian, Turkish, Chinese, Arab, American and European counterparts.
“My message was clear: the political track, blocked and dormant, needs to be unstuck,” he said.
On the Constitutional Committee, recalling that the Syrian government did not accept an invitation to reconvene in Geneva in April, he urged it to start engaging in a deepened and concrete dialogue. “But a way out of the crisis also needs the contributions of international actors who play an outsized role in Syria today,” Pedersen said, adding: “And it needs compromises from all Syrian and international players.”
He therefore called for preparatory talks on a comprehensive compromise across interlinked tracks, with a view to ending the suffering of the Syrian people and realize Security Council resolution 2254.
