In an update, the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, said that more than 25,000 people have been newly uprooted from the northeastern city of Manbij, where shelling and airstrikes have been reported. OCHA noted that hostilities have been intensifying over the past week, particularly in eastern Aleppo and around the Tishreen Dam....
The findings from the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria detail crimes against humanity and war crimes that left a legacy of trauma for countless Syrians, representing some of the worst violations of international law committed during more than a decade of brutal conflict. “We stand at a critical...
Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix was joined by Major General Patrick Gauchat, Head of the UN Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) who is temporarily in charge of the UN force in the Golan, UNDOF. Mr. Lacroix is currently in Lebanon, where the UN Interim Force in the country UNIFIL, monitors...
For years, UN human rights bodies have been documenting, monitoring and publishing reports on abuses, and bringing Syria’s dire human rights record to the world’s attention. The fall of Bashar al Assad in December 2024 was largely greeted with euphoria by the Syrian people, but images of hundreds of people...
“I arrived, I have to say, with a heavy heart, given the compounded traumas over decades in both countries, but I see signs of new beginnings,” said Volker Türk – speaking in the Lebanese capital, Beirut. On Wednesday, he was in Damascus for his first ever visit to Syria where...
icardo Pires, UNICEF Communication Manager for Emergencies, told journalists from Damascus that in the last nine years, at least 422,000 incidents involving unexploded ordnance – or UXO – were reported in 14 governorates across Syria, “with half estimated to have ended in tragic child casualties”. “Girls and boys in the...
In his daily briefing in New York, UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told journalists that there have been significant casualties reported in Jabalia al Balad and Khan Younis. Meanwhile, Israeli authorities continue to deny UN-led efforts to reach people with vital assistance, he told correspondents. North Gaza The Israeli siege of...
That’s according to Najat Rochdi, the UN Deputy Special Envoy for Syria, who is in Damascus meeting several members of the transitional authorities to ensure all Syrians are able to participate in the country’s future, which is struggling to cope with an acute humanitarian crisis and faltering economy. In an...
Commissioner Hanny Megally led the team, which met with officials, including in the Ministries of Justice and Foreign Affairs. Discussions covered justice for victims and families, the protection of mass graves and evidence, and continued engagement with the Commission, which was established by the UN Human Rights Council in August...
Leading calls for the international community to “move from words to action” to help the country’s most vulnerable returnees urgently, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said that many families have little shelter and few economic prospects. “In recent weeks, there has been talk in high-level international circles of the need...
While the war in Gaza grinds on with dozens of civilians already reportedly killed and injured so far this year – and as the fragile ceasefire in Lebanon largely holds – hopes are still high for a successful transition of power in Damascus following the overthrow of the Assad regime,...
In an update covering July to September last year, the UN Mission in South Sudan – or UNMISS – expressed concern about the steep increase in abductions and combat-related sexual violence, compared with the same period last year. UNMISS’s human rights division said that 299 non-combatants were killed between July...