Roundup: UN, Red Crescent evacuate over 300 in Syria, UN humanitarian chief to visit Syria

The United Nations in Syria and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) have evacuated more than 300 combatants, along with their families and the critically injured, a UN spokesman told reporters here Friday.

The evacuation, from Al Waer neighbourhood in Homs into Idleb governorate, came as stipulated in a local agreement between the government of Syria and the Local Committee of Al Waer, said deputy UN spokesman Farhan Haq at a daily news briefing.

"In an evacuation operation that was carried out on Wednesday, a United Nations team and its partners moved about 700 evacuees from Al Waer, including 30 wounded," he said.

This evacuation, in addition to the previous entry of humanitarian assistance on Dec. 5, made a significant change in the lives of more than 60,000 people with limited access to humanitarian assistance living inside Al Waer and the wider geographic area of Homs, Haq said.

"The UN special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, said that the UN's clear goal is to reach, as soon as possible, a nationwide ceasefire," he added.

Initiatives like this one bring relief to besieged or isolated communities and have great value, he said. "They help the perception that a nationwide ceasefire brokered by the members of the International Syria Support Group is doable and that the UN can and will do its part."

Meanwhile, the UN humanitarian chief, Stephen O'Brien, is scheduled to visit Syria on Dec. 12-14 to review humanitarian work and see for himself the impact on civilians of the intensified fighting and military operations, he said.

"As the fifth winter of this conflict gets underway, more than 13.5 million people need basic aid and protection," he said.

"They face daily deprivation and brutality," Haq said. "Four out of five Syrian families now live in poverty, and millions do not have enough food, clean water or shelter."

During his visit, O'Brien is expected to meet displaced families, as well as key officials and humanitarian agencies and partners, to discuss ways of strengthening access so that more lives can be saved, he said.

The agreement between the United Nations and the Syrian government concerning the Status of the OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) was signed in New York on Friday morning, Haq said.

OPCW stands for the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. The OPCW-UN Joint Mission on the elimination of Syrian chemical weapons has completed its mandate and its operations drew to a close on Sept. 30, 2014.

From there on, the OPCW mission in Syria will continue to deal with the destruction of the chemical weapons production facilities and clarification of certain aspects of the Syrian initial declaration.

"With that agreement, the Syrian government agreed to provide support to the JIM to conduct its activities in accordance with Security Council resolution 2235 (2015)," he said.

"The Mechanism's mandate is to identify to the greatest extent feasible individuals, entities, groups or governments who were perpetrators, organisers, sponsors or otherwise involved in the use of chemicals as weapons, including chlorine or any other toxic chemical, in the Syrian Arab Republic," as determined by the OPCW's Fact Finding Missions, he said.

Under the resolution 2235, the first report of the JIM will be submitted 90 days following its announcement of commencement of full operations. The UN Secretary-General has announced the Joint Investigative Mechanism to be fully operational on Nov. 13, and its first report is expected sometime in February 2016. Enditem