Protecting Humanitarian Workers

EDM number 523 in 2016-17, proposed by Kirsten Oswald on 11/10/2016.
Categorised under the topics of International development, Middle East, Military operations and United Nations.

That this House expresses its outrage at the bombing of a UN aid convoy on the outskirts of the Syrian city of Aleppo, killing an estimated 20 civilians and destroying 18 UN trucks and their cargo of vital supplies destined for communities in areas controlled by opponents of the Assad regime; further expresses particular concern at evidence that this was a revenge attack by Russian or Syrian government forces for an air strike the previous weekend by the US-led coalition against Daesh, which was intended to target Daesh fighters, but resulted in the death of Syrian soldiers whose presence in the area had not been made known to the coalition; notes that Ban Ki-moon used his farewell address to the UN general assembly to denounce the attack as a sickening, savage and apparently deliberate attack and described the bombers as cowards, with UN officials indicating that they may be guilty of a war crime; calls on all parties to the Syrian conflict to make every effort to protect the safety and security of participants in UN and other humanitarian efforts as they assist civilian populations trapped between multiple warring factions; and invites António Guterres, the incoming UN General Secretary, to adopt as a top priority a programme of action, including a strengthened war crimes regime, to tackle the ever-growing impact of conflicts on civilians and the challenges facing UN staff and others attempting to support populations remaining in conflict zones.

This motion has been signed by a total of 35 MPs.