France, fearing massacres, asks UN to monitor evacuation

Syrian demonstrators gather in the opposition-held town of Saqba on the eastern outskirts of Damascus, expressing solidarity with the residents of devastated Aleppo. (AFP)

NEW YORK: France has presented a UN Security Council draft resolution on sending observers to Aleppo to monitor evacuations and report on the protection of Syrian civilians, according to the text obtained Saturday by AFP.
The measure, circulated to the council late Friday, could be put to a vote on Sunday despite resistance from Russia, Syria’s ally and a veto-wielding Security Council member, diplomats said.
The draft text said the council was “alarmed” by the worsening humanitarian crisis in Aleppo and by the fact that “tens of thousands of besieged Aleppo inhabitants” are in need of aid and evacuation.
Thousands of trapped civilians and the last remaining opposition fighters in Aleppo were waiting for evacuations to resume on Saturday.
Syrian regime forces this week moved to assert full control over the east of the city, which had been held by opposition fighters since 2012.
French Ambassador Francois Delattre has warned that Aleppo could turn into another Srebrenica, where thousands of Bosnian men and boys were massacred in 1995 when the town fell to Bosnian Serb forces during the Balkan wars.
The draft resolution would request that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon quickly redeploy UN humanitarian staff already in Syria to Aleppo “to carry out adequate, neutral monitoring, direct observation and to report on evacuations from besieged parts of Aleppo and protection of civilians inside Aleppo.”
Ban would also ensure the deployment of further staff, according to the draft text, which demands that Syria grant access to the observers.
The UN chief would report to the council within five days on whether access has been granted by the Syrian regime, which has repeatedly blocked UN access during the nearly six-year war.
The measure would seek to ensure the “voluntary, safe and dignified passage of all civilians” from Aleppo and other areas under UN monitoring and coordination, with priority given to the wounded and most vulnerable.
The draft resolution demands the protection of all doctors, medical workers, hospitals and ambulances following reports that Syrian forces had bombed all of the medical facilities in Aleppo.
The text specifically mentions the need to protect the border hospitals of Atmeh, Darkoush, Bab Al-Hawa and Bab Al-Salamah, where many of the evacuees would be taken.
The council would also demand that urgent humanitarian aid reach Aleppo, which has been under siege since July.
US Ambassador Samantha Power said Friday that the observers on the ground would provide a “presence as protection.”
But Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said he found elements of the French proposal “questionable,” including whether the observers could be quickly redeployed.
Meanwhile, opposition fighters blamed Iran and its Shiite-backed militias on Saturday of holding up the evacuation deal.
Munir Al-Sayal, the head of the political wing of the Ahrar Al-Sham opposition group involved in negotiations over the deal, said Iran was insisting people be allowed to leave two besieged Shiite villages before letting the Aleppo evacuation happen. He said Russia was failing to restrain its ally.
“Iran and its sectarian proxies are using the humanitarian situation of our people in besieged Aleppo and preventing civilians from leaving until the evacuation of their groups in Al-Foua and Kefyra,” Sayal told Reuters.
The operation to evacuate fighters and civilians from the last opposition-held area of Aleppo was suspended on Friday, its second day, after pro-regime militias demanded that wounded people also be brought out of Al-Foua and Kefraya, and protesters blocked the road out of Aleppo.
Sayal said Moscow’s assertion that most civilians had already been evacuated from Aleppo showed Russia was trying to renege on its responsibilities under the deal. Thousands of hungry and cold civilians needed to be evacuated as soon as possible, he said.
“Russia has failed to restrain the sectarian Shiite militias in Aleppo to complete the deal and Moscow should abide by its commitments,” Sayal said.
“There are still civilians in Aleppo who need to be evacuated in harsh weather conditions and Russian statements that besieged Aleppo is empty is absolving itself from following up on the agreement,” he added.
UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said in a statement on Saturday that all civilians must be allowed out of east Aleppo and Syria’s war must stop immediately to prevent the city’s suffering being repeated elsewhere.
“There is grave risk now that such displacement and suffering will not stop, but will be repeated elsewhere, in other wars. For the sake of civilian protection everywhere, Syria’s conflict must be ended, now, and without delay,” Grandi said. “Civilians should not be hostage to negotiations.”