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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| 'Worst year for Syrian civilians as UN resolutions fail' | 'Worst year for Syrian civilians as UN resolutions fail' |
| (about 4 hours later) | |
| The UN Security Council has failed to implement resolutions to protect and help civilians in Syria, a report by a group of 21 aid agencies says. | The UN Security Council has failed to implement resolutions to protect and help civilians in Syria, a report by a group of 21 aid agencies says. |
| The agencies - including Save the Children and Oxfam - say it has been the "worst year" for civilians since the conflict began in 2011, | |
| Separate analysis by another group of charities says 83% of Syria's lights visible from space have gone out. | |
| The UN secretary general says the long-term aim remains a political solution. | The UN secretary general says the long-term aim remains a political solution. |
| "The bitter reality is that the Security Council has failed to implement its resolutions," said Jan Egeland, secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, one of the groups behind the Failing Syria report. | |
| "Parties to the conflict have acted with impunity and ignored the Security Council's demands, civilians are not protected and their access to relief has not improved," he added. | "Parties to the conflict have acted with impunity and ignored the Security Council's demands, civilians are not protected and their access to relief has not improved," he added. |
| The Failing Syria report says: | |
| Three Security Council resolutions passed last year called for an end to attacks on civilians, an increase in aid, and allowed the UN to operate in Syria without permission from Damascus, among other things. | Three Security Council resolutions passed last year called for an end to attacks on civilians, an increase in aid, and allowed the UN to operate in Syria without permission from Damascus, among other things. |
| The UN did not immediately respond to a BBC request for a comment. | The UN did not immediately respond to a BBC request for a comment. |
| Separately, a UN-backed report by the Syrian Centre for Policy Research said four years of armed conflict, economic disintegration and social fragmentation in Syria have forced some 10 million people to flee their homes and reduced life expectancy by two decades. | |
| On Wednesday WithSyria, a coalition of more than 100 humanitarian and human rights organisations, released satellite imagery showing that the number of lights visible over Syria at night had fallen by 83% since March 2011. | |
| The organisations said they believed such a dramatic drop was because of a number of factors, including infrastructural damage. | The organisations said they believed such a dramatic drop was because of a number of factors, including infrastructural damage. |
| Also on Wednesday, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said a massive increase in medical assistance was urgently required. | |
| Analysis: Jeremy Bowen, BBC's Middle East editor | Analysis: Jeremy Bowen, BBC's Middle East editor |
| The Failing Syria report, from leading human rights and humanitarian groups, is scathing. | |
| Last year was the most bloody of the war so far, and the worst for civilians. It condemns the world's most powerful countries for not having the will to apply their own UN resolutions on the free flow of humanitarian aid to the victims of the war. | Last year was the most bloody of the war so far, and the worst for civilians. It condemns the world's most powerful countries for not having the will to apply their own UN resolutions on the free flow of humanitarian aid to the victims of the war. |
| Britain's former Foreign Secretary David Miliband, now head of the International Rescue Committee, said it was shocking that politicians around the world had given up on solving the Syrian crisis. | Britain's former Foreign Secretary David Miliband, now head of the International Rescue Committee, said it was shocking that politicians around the world had given up on solving the Syrian crisis. |
| The UN and other agencies have established a massive programme of aid. But donations from governments are being cut as the war drags on - at a time when needs are increasing. | The UN and other agencies have established a massive programme of aid. But donations from governments are being cut as the war drags on - at a time when needs are increasing. |
| The war is hard to stop because of its complexity. Foreign intervention of all kinds has deepened the fighting. And what makes it all so much more cruel is that the end is nowhere in sight. | The war is hard to stop because of its complexity. Foreign intervention of all kinds has deepened the fighting. And what makes it all so much more cruel is that the end is nowhere in sight. |
| In its report, MSF said from the estimated 2,500 doctors who worked in Aleppo, Syria's second biggest city, before the conflict, fewer than 100 now remain. | |
| The rest have fled, become internally displaced or have been kidnapped or killed. | The rest have fled, become internally displaced or have been kidnapped or killed. |
| It said this has left a "catastrophic gap in expertise and experience in medical care". | It said this has left a "catastrophic gap in expertise and experience in medical care". |
| The unrest in Syria began in 2011 with nationwide protests against President Bashar al-Assad. | The unrest in Syria began in 2011 with nationwide protests against President Bashar al-Assad. |
| His security forces attempted to use force to crush the dissent, with the opposition taking up arms to fight back. | His security forces attempted to use force to crush the dissent, with the opposition taking up arms to fight back. |