Date: 07/April /2020
More than 70 NGOs, including The Day After, have signed an appeal for an immediate, comprehensive and balanced response to the COVID19 pandemic across Syria.
The signatory organizations have expressed their fears over the imminent threat to the health and lives of the Syrians in all Syria, in light of the fragility of the health sector that have been targeted for years, and the forced displacement of millions of Syrians. And also expressed great fear for the fate of the detainees and the enforced disappeared.
Fears are compounded by the way the Assad regime deals with the current Covid19 crisis, which lacks transparency and serious actions, as no real precautionary measures have been taken.
The signatory organizations of this appeal stated that the Assad regime clearly cannot be trusted with the lives, health and safety of Syrians and demand the following:
- Dedicate any necessary international efforts under WHO leadership to provide an immediate, comprehensive and balanced response to COVID-19, and provide all Syrians across Syria with equipment prevention and control the pandemic, including test kits, Artificial ventilators, medical masks and gloves, and sterilant. Also; not to allow Assad regime to obstruct the humanitarian efforts under any argument or pretext, while re-stressing that there are no legal restrictions preventing WHO and UN agencies from providing required medical to prevent and combat Coronavirus to all Syrian areas. Also, urging countries, with the capacity to donate such supplies to other countries, such as Russia and China, to supply it to Damascus immediately, especially that the supply lines between them and the Syrian regime never stopped for the past whole nine years.
- Increase the support via the cross-border humanitarian aid mechanisms and maintain them to provide the necessary assistance to the population outside regime control areas.
- We demand the international community, United Nations organizations, human rights organizations, and humanitarian organizations to increase pressure on Assad regime to undertake the necessary measures to prevent the spread of the virus and to secure prevention and treatment for all citizens on all Syrian lands, and to monitor it by sharing the real numbers of the infected people in its controlled areas.
- Increase pressure on Assad regime to release more than 130,000 arbitrary detainees in Assad’s prisons, as well as pressure other military actors to release the arbitrary detainees, who are at greater risk today due to the pandemic, and allow the Red Cross to visit all detention centers to check whether the detention conditions cannot allow the epidemic to spread.
- We support the appeal of the UN Secretary-General for a ceasefire, and we call upon relevant international actors to pressure Assad regime and its allies to abide by the ceasefire and focus on protecting the Syrians from the Coronavirus epidemic rather than mobilizing additional military forces on Idlib fronts. Moreover, the pressure is required for the dignified, voluntary and safe return of the displaced and refugees to their homes, where the harsh conditions of their current shelter in the displace increase the risk of infection.
- We call for the immediate implementation of Security Council Resolution no. 2254 completely and without any further delay.
Click here to read the full statement with the names of the signatory organizations.
