Ivana Bacik (Independent)
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I move:

That Seanad Éireann:- recognising the six year old conflict in Syria as one of the world’s gravest humanitarian crises since the Second World War, involving 8 million displaced people inside Syria, 4.5 million people under siege or inaccessible, 4.5 million refugees beyond Syrian borders, 1.5 million people injured and more than 250,000 people killed;

- noting that the parties involved in the war in Syria have received political, military and operational support from foreign countries;

- further noting with concern that UN efforts to broker a ceasefire are being stymied;

- appalled at the Syrian regime’s treatment of its own population; and

- deploring the ongoing attempts to block the Security Council from addressing substantively the crisis in Syria, uphold international law and ensure the protection of the civilian population;condemns the breaches of international humanitarian and human rights law in exposing civilian populations to indiscriminate attack, loss of life and the destruction of essential infrastructure services including basic medical care;

calls:- in particular on all parties to respect the rules of warfare and to allow humanitarian agencies to reach civilians in desperate need of help in Aleppo, and in other areas of need;

- for the protection of all civilians from excessive, indiscriminate and disproportionate military force and terrorism;

- for full accountability for crimes under international law;

- on the Government to continue to use all available diplomatic means and forums to raise this issue, to co-operate with like-minded states in the EU and the UN, and to work towards an end to aerial bombardment, a genuine cessation of violence, and humanitarian aid access throughout the country.