The European Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response, Kristalina Georgieva, made a statement calling on parties involved in civil was in Syria to respect non-combatant civilians, especially women and children. Commissioner Georgieva expressed her concern on the situation and security of the people working with humanitarian organisations in the field.

Situation in Syrian has worsened and is sliding into a large scale humanitarian tragedy that brings back awful memories of Ex-Yugoslavia. This is how Commissioner Georgieva highlighted the need for immediate action to give civilians the possibility to leave the areas of fighting in an organised and safe manner without having to fear for their life.

To ensure that humanitarian organizations must be granted access to combat zones in order to proceed with the evacuation of the wounded and civilians. Furthermore, the European Union has recently granted additional funding for humanitarian aid in order to provide food and medical care to civil population in the Syrian conflict. To ensure this aid reaches its objective, Commissioner Georgieva recalled the need to grant access to all impartial and neutral humanitarian organisations, whether they are part of the United Nations, the Red Cross/Red Crescent movement or the non-governmental sector.

To ensure that humanitarian organisations can access conflict zones in safety, parties must respect the humanitarian symbols and cease and desist from prosecution of medical personnel, as well using hospitals as places of detention and interrogation, and any impediment to the provision of medical care under international humanitarian law.

Despite humanitarian aid is not the solution to the conflict, it should not be the victim or hostage of it. Therefore, the European Union appeals to the international community and in particular to the United Nations Security Council to focus on the humanitarian crisis in Syria and support the respect for International Humanitarian Law.