26 May 2014
Ban Ki-moon’s latest report urges UN Security Council to authorise delivery of aid without Syrian consent
On 22 May, in a confidential report, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged the Security Council to authorise the delivery of food and medicine to Syria without Al-Assad’s consent. In what the NY Times has named Ban Ki-moon’s strongest push to date to bypass Syria’s government so as to deliver aid, the Secretary General indicated that the Syrian government is failing in its responsibility to look after its own people.
Syria has consistently rejected appeals by the UN to permit aid deliveries, arguing that, as a sovereign nation, it is within its own rights to admit or deny entry to anyone and has so far been supported in this view by Russia, its main ally with veto power within the Security Council.
The Secretary-General’s report contested such assertions and evoked R2P rhetoric, stating – according to the NY Times – that: ‘On the contrary, it is an affirmation of the sovereign responsibility of the government to ensure that its citizens do not suffer in such a tragic and unnecessary way.’
Source: The New York Times | U.N. Chief Urges Aid Delivery Without Syria’s Consent
Source: Gulfnews | Ban Ki-moon’s confidential report urges Security Council to send aid without Al Assad’s consent