The world 'shrugs' as more than 100 people killed in airstrikes in Syria in 10 days
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet is "ringing the alarm" at the apparent international indifference' towards the rising death toll of Syrians in a series of airstrikes, the UN has said.
Ms Bachelet said the campaign of airstrikes in Syria have been met with a "collective shurg" internationally.
“Intentional attacks against civilians are war crimes, and those who have ordered them or carried them out are criminally responsible for their actions,” she said.
At least 103 civilians have been killed, 26 of whom are children, in airstrikes over the past 10 days in Idlib and other locations in Syria. The United Nations Human Rights Office has documented the killing of 450 civilians, including those killed by airstriked over the past ten days.
Ms Bachelet said:
Several hundreds of thousands of children, women and men have been killed in Syria since 2011. So many that it is no longer even possible to give a credible estimate.
"During the early years of this murderous conflict, when the casualties were in the tens, then hundreds, then thousands, the world showed considerable concern about what was happening.”
"Now, airstrikes kill and maim significant numbers of civilians several times a week, and the response seems to be a collective shrug, with the Security Council paralyzed by the persistent failure of its five Permanent Members to agree to use their power and influence to stop the fighting and killing once and for all.
“This is a failure of leadership by the world’s most powerful nations, resulting in tragedy on such a vast scale that we no longer seem to be able to relate to it at all.”
She added that the UNHRO is gathering information on the last three attacks carried out by non-State armed groups on government-controlled areas on July 22 and 24.
There were three attacks alone on July 24.
Medecins Sans Frontiers have described the conflict since 2011 as the 'biggest displacement crisis since the Second World War'. Approximately half of Syria's pre-war population, 6.6 million, are displaced, while 5.6 million are refugees.
According to the UN, 80% of Syrians are living below the poverty line, and half the population are unemployed.
