The International Organization for Migration (IOM) on Friday condemned the recent escalation of violence in Syria's Idlib province that has resulted in the deaths of aid workers attempting to provide humanitarian assistance to internally displaced people
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th February, 2020) The International Organization for Migration (IOM) on Friday condemned the recent escalation of violence in Syria's Idlib province that has resulted in the deaths of aid workers attempting to provide humanitarian assistance to internally displaced people.
The organization said that three humanitarian workers died in the past week while trying to provide aid at a health care facility and school.
"We condemn in the strongest possible terms the continued attacks on civilians and humanitarians in Syria," IOM Director General Antonio Vitorino said in the statement.
Vitorino also voiced concern about deaths caused by attacks on civilian targets, and called for an immediate ceasefire.
"I reaffirm the UN Secretary General's call for an immediate cessation of hostilities and reiterate my deep concern about the targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure, including on healthcare and educational facilities. Any violation of International Humanitarian Law is unacceptable," the IOM director general stated.
Earlier in the day, the Turkish Red Crescent (TRC) president and vice president of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies Kerem Kinik told Sputnik that humanitarian groups require at least $400 million to provide six months of basic humanitarian care for nearly 1 million newly-displaced people in northwest Syria.
Syrian government forces launched an offensive in Idlib province in December to recapture territory in the region still controlled by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham terrorist organization (formerly known as Jabhat al-Nusra, banned in Russia). Violence in the region has increased amid tit-for-tat strikes between government troops and Turkish units that maintain observation posts in northwest Syria.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said that Turkey has failed to honor its commitments in Idlib, agreed upon in a memorandum signed in 2018, and is not distinguishing between Syria's armed opposition, which is open for dialogue, and terrorist groups in the region. Ankara has insisted that it implements its commitments.
