Syrians will confront additional hardship due to Ukraine crisis: UN commission chair

GENEVA 

Syrians will confront additional hardship due to the Ukraine crisis, the head of a UN commission said Friday.

Paulo Pinheiro, who chairs the International Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, presented a report to the 49th UN Human Rights Council session being held until April 1 in Geneva, as Syria entered the 11th year of its conflict.

He said the country faces the fight against coronavirus with "very weak medical facilities to face a pandemic."

He said more than 90% of the remaining population in Syria is living in poverty, with 12 million food insecure and an unprecedented 14.6 million in need of humanitarian access.

"Syrians will be confronting additional hardship as a result of the Ukraine crisis. Inflation is already skyrocketing,” he said. "The government has begun rationing essential commodities, including fuel. Prices of imports have shot up and there are concerns in Syria as well elsewhere in the region about the availability of wheat to import."

Pinheiro said civilians' lives continue to be endangered by the regime.
His speech came as the UN special envoy on Syria was on Monday to begin a new round of talks involving the Constitutional Committee seeking a solution to the ongoing war.

"Target killings by unknown individuals on the ground or by state parties to the conflict. operating aircraft, including drones, were carried out across the country, further endangering civilian lives," said Pinheiro. "Idlib and West Aleppo in the northwest are continuously being shelled by Syrian and Russian forces, killing at least 64 children in the second half of 2021.”

He said as living conditions continue to deteriorate, his commission has called for a review of the impact of "unilateral sanctions imposed on Syria.”

"Despite humanitarian exemptions, much more is required to mitigate consequences on the daily lives of civilians, brought about by over compliance, causing shortages."

After his speech, the Syrian regime said it "renews its rejection of the mandate of this commission, and its reports as a platform for shaming and circulating unacceptable and unfounded allegations."