Kuwait warns of continuing escalation of humanitarian catastrophe in Syria

Kuwait underlined, during a UN conference, that what it described as "a humanitarian catatrophe" in Syria was witnessing "continuous escalations" in light of carelessness towards international laws on the protection of civilians during times of war. "HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah was the first to warn of that humanitarian disaster during the donors conference on Syria, which was held in Kuwait last January," Ambassador Jamal Al-Ghunaim, Kuwait's Permanent Delegate to the Arab League and international organizations, said during the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) executive committee meeting. "Kuwait's call to hold the donors conference on Syria came as a response to the suffering of Syrian people due to the aggravation of the crisis in that country and its devastating outcomes," he said. The event gave an opportunity to mobilize and coordinate support for Syrian refugees, living under tough circumstances in countries neighbouring their own, through international community pledges of over USD 1.5 billion, noted the Kuwaiti chief delegate. At the event it hosted, HH Amir announced Kuwait's contribution of USD 300 million to support the humanitarian situation of Syrian refugees, he said, and the amount has been handed over in full to UN organizations and other international bodies operating in these relief efforts. The Kuwait-held conference also expressed the international community's extreme sorrow over the anguish felt by the refugees, as well as its acknowledgement of the volume of the responsibility it shoulders, he added. It also "sent a clear message to the Syrian people that the international community is standing by their side and feels their suffering," he concluded