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Roundup: Grim figures from Syria show urgent need for political solution: UN official

Xinhua, July 29, 2015 Adjust font size:

A political solution is more urgently needed than ever to end violence in Syria, a UN official said Tuesday.

The UN emergency relief coordinator Stephen O'Brien made the remarks when addressing an open meeting of the UN Security Council for the first time since he took up his post on May 29.

O'Brien, also the UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, urged donors and others to step up their financial support to the humanitarian effort in Syria, assuring the 15-nation Security Council that humanitarian needs will only grow until there is a political settlement.

Currently, the response plan for Syria, where 12.2 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance, is only 27 percent funded.

It is estimated that some 220,000 people have been killed in Syria since the start of the conflict in March 2011.

Over the last several weeks, the Syrian government and allied forces have pressed their attack on Zabadani in rural Damascus, leading to an unprecedented level of destruction and death among civilians, O'Brien said.

At the same time, non-state armed groups have threatened to overrun two government-held villages near the northwestern Idlib city, Kefraya and Fouah, he said, adding that he remains "extremely concerned" about the 15,000 civilians caught in the fighting in these areas.

Intense fighting across the country has also caused a surge in displacements, he said, noting that well over 100,000 people fled the southern areas of the northeastern city of Al-Hasakeh following the advances of the Islamic State (IS) militants last month.

In Ar-Raqqa Governorate in northern Syria, more than 70,000 people had to flee as fighting escalated between IS and non-state armed groups. In southern Syria, over 40,000 people fled Dar'a city following an offensive by non-State armed groups launched on the city.

"Altogether, over 1 million people have been displaced from their homes in 2015 so far, many for the second or third time; this adding to the 7.6 million people already internally displaced as of the end of 2014," he said.

Another "tragic milestone" was recorded when the number of registered refugees reached 4 million in early July, making it "the largest refugee population from a single conflict worldwide in over a quarter of a century," he said.

Overall, water availability has been reduced by half around the country since the start of the conflict, resulting in a significant increase in water-borne diseases during the hot summer months, with thousands of cases of acute diarrhoea, Hepatitis A and typhoid reported.

More broadly, the relentless conflict in Syria is gradually destroying the war-torn country's social and economic fabric, eroding the development gains made over several generations: 80 percent of people living in poverty; rampant food insecurity amid rising prices; degradation of vital infrastructure and limited access to basic services, and families and community networks destroyed.

A child born in 2011, entering school this year, will only know war. With the bombing of schools and the fear of young people, this is producing a completely lost generation of educated Syrians, which bodes ill for the future, he said. Endi