Syria | Aid groups criticize UN Security Council over humanitarian crisis

Syrian refugee children play in the backyard of the Al-Rama Public School that has become home to 22 Syrian families at the Lebanese-Syrian border village of al-Rama, north Lebanon

More than 20 international aid groups sharply criticized the United Nations Security Council yesterday, saying it has failed to implement three resolutions passed last year seeking to boost humanitarian assistance to Syrian civilians caught in the country’s civil war.
The 21 humanitarian and human rights organizations delivered a “failing grade” for world powers and the broader international community as Syria’s uprising against President Bashar Assad entered its fifth year. The conflict, which began with peaceful protests before escalating into a voracious civil war, has touched off a devastating humanitarian crisis that has engulfed the broader region.
Since the conflict began, more than 220,000 people have been killed and 1 million wounded. Nearly 4 million Syrians have fled and registered as refugees in neighboring countries, while another 7.6 million people are displaced inside Syria. All told, an estimated 12.2 million Syrians are in need of humanitarian assistance, according to the U.N.
The spiraling crisis spurred the Security Council — usually paralyzed by divisions on Syria — to pass three resolutions last year aiming to increase humanitarian aid. The latest resolution, approved unanimously in December, extended cross-border aid deliveries to Syrians in rebel-held areas without approval from Damascus.
But the aid groups say diplomacy has not translated into action on the ground. Ryan Lucas, Beirut, AP