2023 has been 'another tragic year' for Syria: UN envoy

By Diyar Guldogan

WASHINGTON (AA) - The UN's special envoy for Syria on Thursday voiced concern over the tragic situation in war-torn Syria.

"2023 has been another very difficult year. A year that saw devastating earthquakes, humanitarian needs reaching new highs, the economy plummeting to new lows, and the worst violence in three years," Geir Pedersen told the UN Security Council.

The year saw new diplomatic openings, Pedersen said, but added they did not lead to "tangible changes" on the ground for the lives of Syrians.

"In short: this has been another tragic year for Syrian civilians, who were killed, injured, displaced, detained and abducted in alarming numbers, and who saw no tangible moves towards a better future.

"Instead, on top of everything else, Syrians now face the danger of regional spillover adding further fuel to the fire," he said.

He stressed a "re-intensification of spillover effects" from the developments in the Gaza Strip between Israel and Hamas over the last weeks.

"We have seen multiple airstrikes attributed to Israel across Syria. The Syrian government reported that Israeli airstrikes rendered Damascus and Aleppo airports non-operational," he said, adding currently, only Latakia Airport is functional, affecting both civilian air traffic and the UN humanitarian operations.

"Multiple reports of missiles launched from southern Syria over the Occupied Syrian Golan towards Israel, and of IDF fire, and near-daily attacks on US positions in northeast Syria," he added.

Underlining that violence in all theatres of Syria continues, Pedersen said there is an "urgent need" for maximum restraint by all actors, Syrian and non-Syrian. "No one should delude themselves that this worrying new-normal of ongoing escalation is in any way sustainable," he added.

Pedersen stressed that the conflict cannot be left unattended, and called on all to respect the Syrian-led, Syrian-owned, UN-facilitated nature of the Constitutional Committee.

"I appeal for all to act in a manner that enables the Constitutional Committee to resume, at least initially in Geneva," he added.

"This is the way to stem the tide of violence and fast deteriorating socioeconomic/humanitarian situation and move towards a negotiated political settlement that could enable the Syrians to realize their legitimate aspirations and restore Syria’s sovereignty, unity, independence and territorial integrity in line with Security Council resolution 2254," Pedersen said.

- 'Situation is unsustainable, insupportable'

Also addressing the Council, Lisa Doughten, OCHA Director for the Humanitarian Financing and Resource Mobilization Division, said the situation in Syria is "unsustainable and insupportable."

Doughten added urgent progress must be made towards peace if the people of Syria are to have any hope for a better future.

"Let 2024 be the year in which genuine progress is made. In the meantime, we must all redouble our efforts to keep the people of Syria, and their hopes, alive.

"Our ask has been consistent. We need civilians and civilian infrastructure to be protected. We need sustained humanitarian access throughout the country, through all modalities," she added.

The director also stressed the need for "urgent and adequate" funding to sustain the life-saving humanitarian response.

Syria has been embroiled in a vicious civil war since early 2011 when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and more than 10 million others displaced, according to UN estimates.