De Mistura: Bombing of Besieged Areas in Syria Continues

The United Nations representative for Syria states that Bashar al-Assad has allowed aid to more besieged areas; however, these areas are bombed both before and after the arrival of UN aid. Stefan de Mistura participated in a UN meeting in New York via video conference. According to the Associated Press, Mr. de Mistura stated on June 21 that 'a trend has emerged in recent weeks where the very areas that we have finally managed to provide aid to are now being bombed before and after aid convoys arrive.' The UN representative noted that access to areas that were besieged and suffering from famine, as well as remote areas, has improved; aid is now reaching nearly 300,000 people, a figure that was zero last year. Nonetheless, he emphasized that these efforts still face significant shortages and numerous problems. He also mentioned that the ceasefire between the central government forces and Assad's opponents is facing 'serious challenges' in areas such as Idlib, Latakia, or Aleppo, but overall, fewer battles are occurring compared to the time before the ceasefire began in February. According to Mr. de Mistura, the window of opportunity for creating peace will close very quickly 'if we do not make efforts for the parties to continue to cease hostilities, increase aid, and move towards a common understanding of initiating a political transition, which we hope will have negotiations about its content, not its terms, in July.' Stephen O'Brien, the UN humanitarian chief, also stated that the result of the Syrian civil war, which has entered its sixth year, is a 20-year decrease in life expectancy in the country, the displacement of half the population, and the need for 13.5 million people for urgent assistance, while 80% of the country's citizens now live under the threat of poverty. The UN humanitarian chief emphasized that humanitarian aid continues to face various problems due to a lack of financial resources, despite promises made. He stated that only a quarter of the promised resources from the international community have been disbursed to the relevant organizations. In this context, 'more than 700 doctors and medical staff' have been killed in the Syrian war.