Implementation of Security Council resolutions 2139 (2014), 2165 (2014) and 2191 (2014) – Secretary-General Report (excerpts)

Implementation of Security Council resolutions 2139 (2014), 2165 (2014) and 2191 (2014)

Report of the Secretary-General

I. Introduction

1. This fourteenth report is submitted pursuant to paragraph 17 of Security Council resolution 2139 (2014), paragraph 10 of Security Council resolution 2165 (2014) and paragraph 5 of Security Council resolution 2191 (2014), in which the Council requested the Secretary-General to report, every 30 days, on the implementation of the resolutions by all parties to the conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic.

2. The information contained in the report is based on the data available to United Nations agencies on the ground and reports from open sources and from the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic. Data from United Nations agencies on their humanitarian deliveries have been reported for the period 1 to 31 March 2015. More recent data have been included, when available.

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C. Humanitarian access

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43. …UNRWA continues to provide support to up to 480,000 Palestine refugees on a monthly basis.

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51. In Yarmouk, about 18,000 people were besieged. The conditions inside the camp worsened following the ISIL attacks. There are further shortages of food, water and medical supplies compounding the already dire situation. On 5 March, Syrian authorities granted the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) permission to distribute food parcels to civilians in Yarmouk after a break of nearly three months. Through a new distribution point established to the east of Yarmouk, UNRWA distributed a food parcel sufficient for approximately 10 days to almost 18,000 people in the month of March. The food deliveries were accompanied by WFP-supplied nutritional supplies for 1,197 children. Some 1,198 people were also offered a basic medical consultation. With UNRWA support, approximately 1,512 children also continue to receive informal primary education lessons in Yarmouk. UNRWA has been unable to access Yarmouk since 28 March, following the severe escalation of fighting inside the camp area. UNRWA has provided assistance to people who have managed to flee Yarmouk to the neighbouring areas of Tadamoun and Yalda. Those civilians who remain must be protected and must have access to assistance.

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Safety and security of staff and premises

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59. Five Palestinian Red Crescent Society staff members were injured when the Palestine Hospital in Yarmouk was hit by mortar shells on 1 April.

60. On 30 March, a Palestinian Red Crescent Society staff member was shot and killed by unidentified assailants while on his way to perform his duties at the Palestine Hospital in Yarmouk camp.

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61. A total of 30 United Nations staff members, 26 of whom are UNRWA staff, continue to be detained or missing. The total number of humanitarian workers killed in the conflict since March 2011 is 73. That included 17 staff members of the United Nations, 42 staff members and volunteers of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, 8 volunteers and staff members of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society and 6 staff members of international NGOs. Of the 73, 6 have been killed since 1 January 2015.

III. Observations

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71. I would like to make a special plea to the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic for protection and assistance to the especially vulnerable Palestinian refugee population in the Yarmouk camp in Damascus. Caught between the Syrian armed forces and the worst of the extremist groups, they have little way out — and aid can find little way in. Their suffering has been largely out of the spotlight. In a single lifetime, many have suffered displacement twice. Since the conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic began, their plight has been particularly acute.

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