UN migration agency chief urges exemptions from sanctions to boost reconstruction in Syria

GENEVA

Exemptions from sanctions are critical for development and reconstruction efforts in Syria following the fall of the Bashar Assad regime, the UN migration agency chief said Friday.

Amy Pope, International Organization for Migration’s director general, said she had just returned from a visit to Syria’s capital Damascus, adding she saw “a country at a junction” with people determined to rebuild their lives, though facing “immense uncertainty.”

“The number one priority is humanitarian assistance. The numbers are stark. More than 90% of the population is living below the poverty line. We have seen 800,000 newly displaced people in recent weeks,” Pope said at a UN press conference in Geneva.

“In some areas of the country, essential infrastructure, from hospitals to schools, has been destroyed or is dysfunctional. Aleppo, for instance, was all but destroyed during the conflict between 2012 and 2016, with over two million people leaving the city,” she said.

Pope said humanitarian needs range from the most basic such as shelter, food, and clean water, “to the complex task of rebuilding a shattered society.”

She noted that while there is a strong desire among displaced Syrians to return to their homes, “doing so prematurely could overwhelm already fragile infrastructure, potentially forcing families to move again.”

The UN migration chief said that up to two weeks ago, for the last 13 years of the Syrian war, the UN faced huge challenges to meet these humanitarian needs because of all the barriers foisted by the Assad regime that prevented the UN from delivering assistance.

“Even before the latest developments, over 16 million Syrians needed humanitarian assistance, more than six million have left the country, and 7.2 million remained displaced within its borders,” Pope said.

“The impact of nearly 14 years of conflict is evident everywhere. I went in as one of the first UN principals on the ground, and we met with the caretaker government, humanitarian, civil society, diplomatic, and donor communities," she said.

The estimated returns will be much larger than already seen, and integrating those who return in parallel with transitional justice will be a huge task, she added.