Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) released the following statement following the UN Security Council’s vote to authorize aid convoys across Syria’s borders, without approval from the Assad regime:
“I welcome yesterday’s vote at the UN Security Council. There are 6.5 million internally displaced persons in Syria, according to the UN, 46% of which are children. I have consistently called for a more robust response to this humanitarian crisis, and this vote is a good next step. As I have said before, the Assad regime has used humanitarian aid as a weapon of war by withholding it from its citizens living in opposition held areas.
This move is long overdue, and it is appalling that the Assad regime and its Russian backers have resisted these efforts in the UN for this long. UN humanitarian agencies should move quickly to provide relief to besieged and isolated communities.”