(AGENPARL) – Mon 17 March 2025 Logo ICRC EN.jpg      International Committee of the Red Cross
** Syria: ICRC president warns “path to peace fragile” and calls on global community to not abandon country at this historic crossroads
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ICRC – News Release
17 March 2025
Brussels (ICRC) – At the Ninth Brussels Conference for Syria, Mirjana Spoljaric, the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), warned that Syria’s path to peace remains fragile and called on the global community to not abandon the country at this pivotal moment and to scale-up support to help Syrians recover and rebuild.
“Syria is at a historic crossroads,” said President Spoljaric. “Peace is possible. We have a shared interest and responsibility to help Syria emerge from the ruinous abyss of war. This is achievable, but it will require renewed commitment by its leaders to uphold international law, alongside sustained support from the global community.”
Fourteen years of armed conflict has had devastating consequences for civilians. Most Syrians now live below the poverty line and rely on humanitarian assistance. Essential infrastructure like water supply and electricity are at risk of complete collapse as swathes of the country are littered with unexploded ordnances. Tens of thousands of families are still searching for missing relatives.
“The families of the missing will continue to live with unresolved trauma unless we work together to find them answers,” President Spoljaric said. “The task ahead is colossal, but we must remain resolute in our commitment to the families. The answers they seek are vital for Syria’s healing and reconciliation.”
Today, the ICRC has about 30,000 open cases of people missing from Syria. More than 2,000 of them were children younger than 16 years old at their time of disappearance. The true number of missing people is much higher. Some progress has been made to start identifying the deceased, including from Sednaya prison, but this work will require significant local, national, and international resources over years.
As many governments significantly reduce their foreign aid budgets, President Spoljaric stressed the importance of ongoing international engagement with Syria: “It would be a mistake to disinvest from Syria now. Humanitarian aid remains a lifeline that millions of Syrians depend on. Severing it now would only deepen their suffering and prolong the country’s recovery.”
She also underscored the importance of States to continue to regularly review sanctions policies and restrictive measures to further facilitate humanitarian assistance and the provision of vital services.
Present in Syria since 1967, the ICRC works to reconnect families separated by the conflict, visits prisons, and promotes respect for international humanitarian law. The ICRC works closely with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) to support essential services like health care, water, and electricity; provide emergency relief to people in in need; and reduce the risks posed by unexploded ordnances.
The ICRC has also been helping the SARC and health authorities respond to the needs left in the wake of the recent violence along Syria’s coast. This includes evacuating the injured, supporting health care facilities with supplies, transferring the deceased to hospitals, and providing emergency relief like water and food to those displaced from their homes.
About the ICRC
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is a neutral, impartial and independent organization with an exclusively humanitarian mandate that stems from the Geneva Conventions of 1949. It helps people around the world affected by armed conflict and other violence, doing everything it can to protect their lives and dignity and to relieve their suffering, often alongside its Red Cross and Red Crescent partners.
** For more information, please contact:
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Public Relations Unit | International Committee of the Red Cross | 19, avenue de la Paix | 1202 Geneva | Switzerland
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ICRC, Avenue de la Paix, 19, Geneva, . 1201 Switzerland