Senior officials within the UN fear the organisation's role in Syria echoes its past failures during the end of the armed conflict in Sri Lanka where tens of thousands of Tamils were killed, reports The Guardian.
The UN's role in the siege of Madaya has come under particular scrutiny after correspondence revealed the UN was aware of the crisis since last July, but had hesitated to label it so due to a difficult relationship with Damascus.
See full report by The Guardian here.
Human Rights Watch’s deputy director for the Middle East and Africa, Nadim Houry, was quoted by the paper as saying:
“One is left with a strong sense that the lessons from the UN’s experience in Sri Lanka have not been learned. Maintaining one’s standing with the Syrian authorities while responding to humanitarian imperatives is very challenging. But when it takes images of starving people to finally get concerted action, you know the system has failed. Some things, like access to besieged areas, should not be up for negotiation.”
The UN's role in the siege of Madaya has come under particular scrutiny after correspondence revealed the UN was aware of the crisis since last July, but had hesitated to label it so due to a difficult relationship with Damascus.
See full report by The Guardian here.
Human Rights Watch’s deputy director for the Middle East and Africa, Nadim Houry, was quoted by the paper as saying:
“One is left with a strong sense that the lessons from the UN’s experience in Sri Lanka have not been learned. Maintaining one’s standing with the Syrian authorities while responding to humanitarian imperatives is very challenging. But when it takes images of starving people to finally get concerted action, you know the system has failed. Some things, like access to besieged areas, should not be up for negotiation.”