Idlib ‘could become scene of worst humanitarian catastrophe’

Syria’s rebel-held Idlib province could become the scene of the worst humanitarian catastrophe of the 21st century if it faces a large-scale military assault.

The UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs issued the warning during the EU’s third Brussels Conference for states to pledge aid to Syria.

“We are increasingly alarmed by the situation in Idlib,” UN Undersecretary General for Humanitarian Affairs Mark Lowcock said on Thursday.

Idlib is one of the last Syrian provinces outside President Bashar Al Assad’s control. The UN estimates that three million people live there.

This year, the UN is asking for nearly $9 billion (Dh33.05bn) in humanitarian aid to help Syrians inside the country and in the region.

As the conflict enters its ninth year, 11.7 million Syrians need humanitarian aid, five million of them urgently. More than two million children have been out of school for years, and last year was the deadliest yet for Syrian minors, with 1,106 killed, according to Unicef.

Mr Lowcock said that aid workers continued to face “unacceptable levels of violence and attacks” and called for unconditional humanitarian access.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini renewed calls for a UN-brokered political process that would take into account the will of the Syrian people.

“A solution is not only about power politics,” Ms Mogherini said.

“First and foremost it is about people.”

Ms Mogherini said the EU was ready to finance reconstruction once a political transition was under way.

“I personally asked Astana guarantors who are here with us today to strongly support the establishment of the constitutional committee and the confidence-building measures between parties, including the release of detainees,” Ms Mogherini said. The Astana process was launched in January 2017 by Russia and Iran, allies of Damascus, and Turkey, which backs some Syrian rebels.

“More steps will then have to be taken towards an inclusive and reconciled Syria,” Ms Mogherini said. “Justice and reconciliation are two sides of the same coin.”

Representatives of the major host countries for Syrian refugees – Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan – stressed the need for refugee returns, as well as renewed economic support.

“There will be no additional funding allocated [in the Lebanese budget] in 2019 or the following years to address the need of the displaced,” Lebanon’s Prime Minister Saad Hariri said.

He called for increased support of $100 million a year to tackle resource-related issues and waste management.