UN Security Council warns on Syrian security, humanitarian aid

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The UN Security Council on Thursday expressed alarm over deteriorating humanitarian conditions and security in Syria following weeks of conflict that have tested the country’s stability and raised fears of an Islamic State (ISIS) resurgence.

Member states urged Damascus and Kurdish leaders to end the fighting and facilitate humanitarian aid amid severe shortages in the northeast, where the Syrian army and allied armed groups have seized Kurdish-held territory and clashed with Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

With a US-brokered ceasefire set to expire over the weekend, US Ambassador Tammy Bruce said the US is working with the Syrian government and the SDF to integrate the autonomously-run northeast Syria region into the central government and guarantee Kurdish citizenship, political representation and language and cultural rights.

“While risks remain, this integration, supported by US diplomacy, represents the strongest chance yet for Kurds to secure enduring rights and security within a recognized Syrian nation-state,” she said.

Assistant Secretary-General for the Middle East Khaled Khiari warned the situation “remains very tense” with tens of thousands of civilians in the northeast fleeing amid frigid temperatures that have killed two infants, he said.

Countries pressed for Syria to build an inclusive government respecting Kurdish and minority rights, and expressed concern after hundreds of prisoners escaped ISIS detention facilities.

“A robust transition plan for securing and managing the camps and detention facilities is critical and we encourage close international co-ordination to mitigate any shared national security risk,” UK Ambassador James Kariuki said.

The US, which leads the 90-member military coalition against ISIS and has about 1,000 troops in the northeast, did not directly address the prison escapes or humanitarian concerns but noted Damascus is “now both willing and positioned to take over security responsibilities, including control of ISIS detention facilities and camps.” Following the security lapses, the US said it would transfer 7,000 ISIS prisoners to Iraq.

Also on Thursday, the UN announced it would take over camps hosting tens of thousands of women and children of ISIS fighters, which the SDF said fighters abandoned as the Syrian army advanced earlier this week.

Kariuki also said the UK is facilitating humanitarian aid including water, medical care and food “where it is safe to do so and where access allows,” he said, noting fighting has “severely disrupted” aid.

He emphasized that “respect for diverse identities and inclusive, representative governance are essential pillars for long-term stability and prosperity - and for a safer, more secure future for Syria.”

China pressed for stronger international aid and security, saying Beijing “reaffirms its support for Syria’s sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity, and opposes external interference.”

The US and France are supporting diplomatic efforts between the central government and Kurdish leaders and between Syria and Israel which “produced a coordination mechanism,” France ambassador Jerome Bonnafont said.

He called a new decree recognizing Kurdish rights “a step in the right direction” but pressed Damascus to hold trials for abuses against minority Druze and Alawites, who were massacred a few months after the new government came to power last year.

Bonnafont called the prisoner escapes “a source of grave concern.”

“Any and all security failures will be exploited by Daesh who have long sought to free their affiliates,” he said, echoing UK and China’s calls to boost international security cooperation.

“Unimpeded humanitarian access must be fully upheld,” Bonnafont added.

Syrian Representative Ibrahim Olabi blamed the SDF for the violence, claiming the SDF stalled negotiations over the past year.

“At every stage in which we approached the moment of truth and integration, we would witness attacks, mortar fire and drones,” he said, compelling the government to carry out a “limited security operation.”

Olabi highlighted the presidential decree protecting Kurdish rights, proclaiming, “This is the new Syria, which embraces all its sons and daughters without any discrimination.”

Russian Ambassador Vasily Alekseyevich Nebenzya, said minority rights of Kurds, Alawites and Druze should be respected and called for deescalation to protect Syrian and regional security at the session.

The international community has widely called on the SDF to disarm and integrate into the central government. Rudaw UN correspondent Namo Abdulla pressed Nebenzya on this, questioning what has changed given the international community designated Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) - which now leads Syria’s government - a terrorist organization until last year.

“We have new authorities in Syria, and they’re trying to create a unified Syria, to have one country, one authority … if that happens and is fair to the Kurds, that’s fine,” he said.