The Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (PAM) has held a series of high level meetings at the United Nations in Geneva (10 September 2013) focusing on the imminent humanitarian requirements in Syria and its neighbouring countries. PAM Secretary General, Amb. Sergio Piazzi, held discussions with Ms Kyung-wha Kang, UN Assistant Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs, with H.E. António Guterres, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, and with H.E. Lakhdar Brahimi, the UN and Arab League Special Envoy to Syria.
The meetings built on the outcome of PAM’s recent visit to Damascus, and highlighted the role that Parliamentary Diplomacy must play in facilitating humanitarian assistance, promoting dialogue and supporting confidence building among the parties involved in the conflict. All interlocutors acknowledged the unique role being played by PAM and praised its effort aimed at engaging more actively, at the highest level, the Syrian parliament in the peace process.
Full support was also expressed for the PAM regional parliamentary hearing scheduled to take place on 10-11 November in Amman, which will be hosted by the Parliament of Jordan. The meeting, at the request of the UN Agencies operating in the area, will firstly aim at mobilizing the required support to humanitarian assistance in Syria and to the Syrian refugees in the neighbouring countries. Secondly, it will work towards facilitating the resumption of the dialogue between Syrian MPs and their foreign counterparts. The situation of Palestinians living in Syria and the need to support and reinforce peacekeeping operations at the Syrian-Israeli border will also be addressed as indicated by Amb. Robert Serry, United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process. Given the crucial importance of such objectives, the offices of Ms Kang, H.E. Guterres and H.E. Brahimi have committed to cooperate with PAM at drafting the agenda of the Amman meeting, in order to maximize its outcome.
Amb. Piazzi and Ms Kang focused on the obstacles affecting humanitarian access and delivery of relief assistance; implications for Lebanon and other neighbouring countries; and specific tasks for PAM in supporting the humanitarian agenda. Further discussion revolved around the lack of funding for effective humanitarian assistance, pointing at the need to work towards mobilizing the financial support for national institutions as well as regional and international humanitarian organizations.
With H.E. Guterres, who had also just returned from a visit to the region, including Iraq, particular attention was dedicated to the situation of the refugees at the different borders, which were either open (Lebanon), closed or managed (Iraq, Jordan and Turkey), according to the different political positions of the aforementioned countries, including the recent development at the border between Syria and the Iraqi Kurdistan area.
During the discussion, PAM Secretary General also raised the issue of Syrian asylum seekers crossing the Mediterranean and the need to ensure international support to them as well.
H.E. Guterres further referred to the need to depoliticize humanitarian action, which, he added, was being exploited to justify either political or military intervention, thus leaving a negative impact on the relief agencies operating in the country. He also called on PAM to involve its counterparts in the region in order to collectively stress the need to facilitate cross-border operations.
Finally, H.E. Guterres also referred to the need to foster solidarity and burden sharing among the countries hosting Syrian refugees, as a primary objective to address with the support of Parliamentary Diplomacy.
H.E. Brahimi emphasized the need for PAM to continue keeping the Syrian Parliament informed on what is happening at the international level and to make a special effort to facilitate the dialogue between Syrian MPs and their counterparts in Arab countries.
In the coming weeks, PAM will follow-up its UN discussions with a meeting in Brussels, with the Office of Baroness Catherine Ashton, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. PAM has also established contacts with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, in order to coordinate PAM’s activity in support of a rapid and nonviolent solution of the Syrian crisis.