“The world has to go back to solidarity, has to think again of these people – not with fear, not with suspicion, but with open arms, with an open mind, with an open heart.”
On the third day of his official visit, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi meets two very young Syrian boys who were displaced from their homes by the war for Aleppo. They are living in a shelter inside warehouses in Jibreen, the former industrial district of the city, along with 5,000 other displaced people. ; After four years of fighting, the scale of destruction in Aleppo is massive. Buildings that once housed apartments and businesses have been reduced to shells by aerial bombardments, rockets and artillery attacks. With an estimated 400,000 internally displaced people in and around the city, UNHCR and aid partners are responding to the most urgent humanitarian needs. Close to five million people have fled Syria since the fighting began in 2011. Inside the country, over six million are internally displaced. Many would like to return to their homes and their old lives, but ongoing fighting, the scale of destruction and the poverty the war has left behind make this an enormous task.
ALEPPO, Syria – Expressing shock at the scale of the devastation in Aleppo, Filippo Grandi, the head of the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR today called for accelerated and immediate humanitarian assistance for millions of people trying to rebuild war-shattered lives in Syria.
“There are people here – some of them are returning to these ruins – who need help, immediate help. They are cold, they are hungry, they need to work to earn some money. They need the elementary things in life,” he declared in a statement after touring the ancient city of Aleppo on the third day of a landmark visit to Syria.
Grandi, who on Monday visited Homs, added: “We need resources, irrespective of all the politics around this war. This is absolutely necessary and urgent for millions of people in Syria. We saw it in Damascus, we saw it in Homs, we see it in Aleppo… All the Syrian people need help. We cannot abandon them because the crisis is not over.”
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees said that despite following the conflict closely nothing had prepared him for the immensity of the destruction he witnessed in Aleppo.
“The level of destruction is much bigger than I thought… I didn’t imagine it would be this widespread. You drive for miles and miles you see destroyed civilian houses, destroyed schools, destroyed hospitals. Everything has been ruined,” he said.
Calling for “massive investment” for reconstruction, Grandi said peace and stability had first to take hold – and rapidly — saying people could not wait any longer.
“These ruins speak for themselves. When you see children’s clothes hanging out of windows, kitchens cut in half by shells and rockets, the real lives of people interrupted by war as it was happening, I think this will weigh very heavily on the conscience of the world for generations,” he added.
A resident of east Aleppo talks to UN refugee head Filippo Grandi. She fled her home when the battle for the eastern neighbourhoods erupted. Today she has returned and is receiving UNHCR relief assistance.
© UNHCR/Bassam Diab
Grandi made an impassioned plea to the world to renew solidarity with those suffering from the effects of conflict in Syria and other places such as Iraq, Somalia, and Yemen.
“The world has to go back to solidarity, has to think again of these people – not with fear, not with suspicion, but with open arms, with an open mind, with an open heart. They need help, they need protection while the war goes on. One day, they will come back here, and they will reconstruct these cities. But now, in their hour of need, we cannot forget their plight – we need to help them,” his statement concluded.
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