COVID-19 is borderless threat against all everywhere. The need is dire for a united coordinated effort as to face and defeat this pandemic.
The case in Syria is even more humanitarian given the unjust imposed sanctions and more than 9 years of terrorism against the Syrians and their country.
Many calls and demands were made by different countries and bodies as to lift the unjust sanctions imposed as to help in the fight against such a pandemic.
“We call for complete and immediate lifting of unilateral coercive measures,” Zhang Jun, China’s permanent representative to the United Nations, also president of the Security Council for the month of March, told the council’s video-teleconferencing meeting on the situation in Syria,”
“We are seriously concerned about the negative impact of unilateral sanctions on countries’ capacity to respond to the pandemic, especially for vulnerable countries like Syria,” he said. “Civilians and innocent people are suffering severely from those sanctions.”
“Our position is explained in detail in the recent joint letter to the secretary-general, together with Russia, among others. We hope the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs joins the voice of the secretary-general and high commissioner for human rights in this regard,” said Zhang.
As for the impact of COVID-19, Zhang said that “the potential impact of COVID-19 on Syria is of growing concern, even though the current number of confirmed cases in Syria is comparatively limited.”
“We note that the Syrian government has taken a series of precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the virus. The World Health Organization is actively engaged. We appreciate the efforts,” the envoy noted,” Added Ambassador Zhang.
With this in mind, Syria’s permanent representative to the UN, Dr. Bashar al-Jaafari, called for lifting, asserting that illegitimate economic, coercive measures imposed on Syria and other states, particularly after the spread of Coronavirus in the world.
Al-Jaafari voiced strong condemnation of the unilateral economic coercive measures used by some governments of member states of this organization as a weapon in their sinful war against Syria, and on other member states, which prevent, among other things, the Syrians and their medical healthcare workers from obtaining their basic needs as to prevent this pandemic.
The Persistence of imposing such unjust coercive measures violate international law, the Charter of the United Nations and human rights instruments, and ignore the repeated requests to end them, and do emphasize the hypocrisy that some have adopted in dealing with the humanitarian situation in my country and other countries, concluded Ambassador Al-Jaafari.
Dr. Mohamad Abdo Al-Ibrahim