NEW YORK
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Monday that the UN Security Council has been paralyzed by its political divisions over Syria's four-and-a-half-year civil war as he opened the 70th annual General Assembly debate.
World leaders gather in New York this week to address a host of crises, with the Syrian conflict at the top of the agenda.
The conflict has resulted in the deaths of at least 250,000 people and created one of the largest refugee exoduses since the Second World War.
"Syrians are leaving their country and their homes because of oppression, extremism, destruction and fear," said the UN chief.
"Four years of diplomatic paralysis by the Security Council and others have allowed the crisis to spin out of control," he added.
The structure of the 15-member Council is facing criticism for the overriding influence of permanent members whose national interests regularly trump action in humanitarian crises, most notably in Syria.
Four draft resolutions directly addressing the conflict have been blocked by Russia and China, which, along with Iran, have been the principal international allies of Syria's embattled president, Bashar al-Assad.
Ban noted that the responsibility for ending the conflict lies first and foremost with the Syrian warring parties.
"But it is not enough to look only within Syria for a solution. The battle is also being driven by regional powers and rivalries. Weapons and money flowing into the country are fueling the fire," he said.
He said five countries – Russia, the U.S., Turkey, Iran and Saudi Arabia -- "hold the key" to leading international efforts to end the conflict.
"But as long as one side will not compromise with the other, it is futile to expect change on the ground," he added.
"Innocent Syrians pay the price of more barrel bombs and terrorism. There must be no impunity for atrocious crimes. Our commitment to justice should lead us to refer the situation to the International Criminal Court."
Russia and China vetoed a resolution last year that would have referred the Syrian conflict to the Hague-based International Criminal Court. The Assad regime has been accused of killing tens of thousands of Syrians with indiscriminate aerial bombings, including those carried out by using toxic chemicals and barrel bombs.
UN system 'not broken; it is broke'
In the face of suffering not seen in a generation, the UN chief gave a stark warning about funding shortages at the world body.
"One-hundred-million people require humanitarian assistance. At least 60 million people have been forced to flee their homes or their countries. The United Nations has asked for nearly $20 billion to meet this year's needs – six times the level a decade ago," he said.
"The global humanitarian system is not broken; it is broke."
Ban added that the World Humanitarian Summit, which will take place in Istanbul in May 2016, would be a "critical moment to reaffirm solidarity and explore how to better build resilience and address emergencies."
The first-ever global humanitarian summit of this scale will seek to find new ways to tackle the world's humanitarian needs.
"We have about half of what we need to help the people of Iraq, South Sudan and Yemen – and just a third for Syria. Our response plan for Ukraine is 39 percent funded," he said.
Regarding the migrant and refugee crisis, the UN chief said "international law, human rights and basic compassion" must guide the world community's response.
Praising Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan for hosting millions of Syrian and Iraqi refugees, Ban urged European countries to do more to provide asylum.
"After the Second World War, it was Europeans seeking the world's assistance," he said.
The Mediterranean basin is facing its biggest refugee crisis in decades, with thousands of asylum seekers from Middle Eastern and African countries trying to flee war and persecution.
The majority of these asylum seekers are Syrian refugees who are trying to flee the civil war that has made the country the world's single-largest source of refugees and displaced people.
The UN refugee agency says 95 percent of the latest million Syrian refugees have gone to Turkey, which has become the world's largest refugee-hosting country. It is home to more than two million registered Syrian refugees.
