Syrian aid convoys must be allowed to pass

 All non-combatants in Syria must have access to essential supplies as they are struggling to survive, a United Arab Emirates newspaper has said.

"All sides in Syria need to remember that they are all Syrians and as they struggle for political power, 'Gulf News' said in a commentary today.

"They also need to act for the betterment of their country. Their actions in the middle of the brutal civil war will create a legacy that their descendants will live with forever. As they prosecute their military actions, the combatants should try to keep the civilian populations out of the fighting," it continued.

The situation across Syria is getting increasingly desperate as more than 400,000 Syrian civilians are trapped in 18 areas that are tightly besieged by government forces, who have refused to let food or essential humanitarian supplies through and the people are gradually starving to death. It is very important that all sides recognise the urgency of letting aid convoys through so that the non-combatants have access to essential supplies, so that they can survive. But in addition to these very desperate cases, there are 4.6 million Syrians eking out a living in regions of the country that aid convoys find it very hard to reach; thanks to insecurity and obstruction by the combatants.

The UN humanitarian chief, Stephen O’Brien, has told the UN Security Council that the regime forces are a major problem in this regard, and has named a series of areas minutes from Damascus where the regime is enforcing sieges and driving the people to ultimate extremities, as they even eat grass to survive. O’Brian also bitterly criticised the regime forces for removing all medical supplies from whatever aid convoys they let through.

The Syrian civil war is multi-sided and very vicious, but all sides need to remember that in the end they will be part of a peaceful solution. Their leaders may be sick in their rhetoric and hatred, and there may be growing examples of mass killings and ethnic massacre, but the fighters need to know that at some stage they will have to live with their neighbours once more. Therefore the conduct of the war has to happen in the least damaging manner as possible.

The paper concluded by saying the government will not be able to come back with the use of terrifying military power to dominate its population as it has done in the past. It will not be able to try and hide any war crimes, and it will have to live with the consequences of its actions. As such the aid convoys must go through unimpeded.

Source:WAM