The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has expressed concern over the risk of collapsing critical infrastructure in Syria. In a statement issued Wednesday in Geneva, it stressed that sanctions imposed on the country prevent imports of spare parts to maintain those facilities, so the sanctions regime should include humanitarian exemptions where it has not yet done so.
"The risk of collapse of Syria's critical infrastructure is a serious concern," the ICRC's Geneva headquarters said. "The import of spare parts needed to maintain critical infrastructure in major cities is hampered by international restrictive measures and sanctions, so the ICRC continues to call for clearly defined and permanent humanitarian exemptions in sanctions regimes where this has not yet been done," the statement said. The ICRC recalled that most of the Arab republic's water treatment plants are damaged and operate at "alarmingly low capacity, causing the population to suffer an acute shortage of drinking water."
In connection with the EU's June 14 and 15 conference in Brussels on "supporting the future of Syria and the region," the committee called for "urgent action to alleviate the plight of the people" of that country.
"The cost of inaction will be too high, especially for the civilians," the organization said. "The international community must face the stark reality: the situation in Syria is unacceptable, inaction will have serious consequences for all parties and completely deprive the country of any hope of sustainable recovery," said ICRC Regional Director for Near and Middle East Fabrizio Carboni.
"We must make the preservation of critical infrastructure our priority and promote comprehensive humanitarian efforts," he summarized.
GSV "Russia - Islamic world"
Photo: Stanislav Krasilnikov/TASS
Based on materials from TASS