Press Release about the Humanitarian Assistance Response Plan for Syria

The Syrian Coalition (SC) appreciates all efforts to provide aid and assistance to the needy of the Syrian people, especially in the difficult times they are experiencing for nearly two years now. The decision to allocate the amount of $ 519 million for Syrians inside Syria, as part of the Humanitarian Assistance Response Plan launched by the United Nations on 19 December 2012, is one the most important of those efforts; however, the coalition expresses its deep concern about the management of this aid, or whether it reaches the real needy inside Syria.

The plan* states that it aims at "supporting the Government of Syria’s efforts in providing humanitarian assistance to the affected populations," and that a “Steering Committee” will be “chaired by the Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs and Expatriates (or whomever he delegates)" and that “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates is the [Syrian] Government focal point in charge of the supervision of implementation of humanitarian projects" in addition to other administrative and logistical tasks!

The SC sees a clear contradiction in dealing with the Syrian regime as a legitimate government doing its job like any other government, at the same time that the United Nations and its various institutions issues reports holding the regime responsible for the serious deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Syria, including the current government that was assigned by the head of the regime based on his interests! The SC wonders how it can be committed to neutrality if it doesn’t have an independent decision? Is it logical to provide aid to a regime responsible for destroying cities, bombing hospitals and bakeries and displacing population, so it can fix the dire situation it had created!

Moreover, preliminary results of the assessment conducted by the Aid Coordinating Unit (ACU) last weeks show an almost complete inability to deliver the aid provided by the United Nations or other international organizations to the northern regions through Damascus. What was delivered hardly covers ten percent of the original need, taking in consideration that more than ten million people live in those areas, ie. nearly half the population of Syria.

The ACU of the Syrian Coalition is working on providing aid to all Syrian people without distinction or discrimination, and confirms its commitment to humanitarian laws and international conventions in this regard. The SC expects to receive the help and support pledged by the States that have recognized it, and fulfil their promises through supporting the ACU to assist it in assuming the tasks expected from it.

The SC also demands that the humanitarian aid to the widows and orphans, the hungry, wounded and displaced in Syria, should not be delivered to them through the same party that caused their suffering and pain, for it would be an added humiliation and degradation.