NEW YORK CITY(RAHNUMA): Syria remains at a “critical, yet promising” juncture, the UN warned on Friday, as senior officials told the Security Council that progress on efforts related to accountability, recovery and the return of refugees risk being undermined by insecurity and economic hardship, coupled with severe gaps in humanitarian funding.
Briefing council members in New York, the UN’s deputy special envoy for Syria, Claudio Cordone, said there had been “progress toward accountability and sustained international and regional engagement” in the past weeks but he cautioned that “unresolved tensions, economic hardship and repeated violations of Syria’s sovereignty persist.”
He highlighted a series of high-profile legal developments tied to crimes committed during the Syrian civil war, describing them as significant steps in the fight against impunity.
On May 10, former security official Atef Najib appeared in court to face charges linked to the violent suppression of antigovernment demonstrations in Daraa in 2011 at the outset of the uprising. Former Syrian president Bashar Assad, his brother Maher Assad and others are being tried in absentia in the same case.
“The charges include the violent repression of peaceful demonstrations, arbitrary detention, torture, including of children, and killings in custody,” Cordone said.
The indictment invokes both Syrian and international law, he added, describing it as “a commendable effort to situate accountability within a broader legal framework which reflects Syria’s international human rights commitments.”
Cordone also pointed to the arrest on April 24 of former military intelligence officer Amjad Yousef, a principal suspect in the 2013 Tadamon massacre in which more than 288 civilians were killed, and the April 29 arrest of former Maj. Gen. Adnan Abboud Hilweh in connection with the 2013 Ghouta chemical attack.
“How Syria addresses these crimes will serve as a key test of the country’s commitment to justice and the rule of law,” he said, stressing that due process and ensuring fair trial standards would be essential in building public trust.
“Suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty and any confessions should be delivered in court,” he added, emphasizing the importance of legal representation and the need for the proceedings to reveal “the full truth surrounding the crimes — one of the central demands of survivors.”
Cordone also warned of continuing instability in the southern province of Sweida, where weekly demonstrations continue amid demands for the release of detainees, the return of displaced persons and greater local autonomy. He said rivalries among Druze factions remained unresolved, and although about 20,000 displaced people had returned to the province more than 150,000 remain displaced, while rehabilitation and education challenges persist.
The deputy envoy voiced “deep concern” about ongoing Israeli military activity east of the ceasefire line, and said Israeli incursions, shelling and restrictions on movement in Quneitra and Daraa were violations of the 1974 Disengagement of Forces Agreement.
“These actions violate Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, threaten Syria’s stability and harm civilians,” he said, renewing the call for Israel to cease such violations, clarify the fate of detained Syrians and release those held “in breach of international law.”
Despite regional tensions, Syrian authorities have continued their efforts to prevent the country being drawn into wider conflicts, Cordone said.
“The Syrian authorities have reiterated that Syrian territory should not be used to widen conflict, and continued to take effective security measures accordingly,” he added.
The UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, Tom Fletcher, described Syria as being at a “critical yet promising moment,” and urged the international community to support both humanitarian operations and the country’s long-term recovery.
“Progress is real but fragile,” Fletcher said. “Violence has decreased. Sanctions have eased. Humanitarian access has improved. Returns of refugees and internally displaced people are increasing.”
However, he warned that humanitarian funding was “falling faster than needs,” and said delays in recovery would “end up costing more lives and more money.”
About 15.6 million Syrians, approximately two-thirds of the population, will require humanitarian assistance this year, Fletcher said, most of them women and children. Present funding levels mean aid agencies will only be able to reach about half of them, he warned.
More than 390,000 people have entered Syria from Lebanon since early March, he added. This included 90,000 since his previous council briefing in April, more than 80 percent of whom were Syrians and more than 86,000 intend to remain permanently.
“At the same time, the prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz means that the cost of food and fuel is rising, with immediate consequences for communities already on the edge,” Fletcher said.
Diesel prices have risen by about 17 percent, he added, while electricity costs have increased by “several hundred percent” in some areas. Subsidized bread prices remain stable but loaves are now 12 percent smaller.
Fletcher thanked donors, including the US, the EU and Japan, for supporting the humanitarian appeal for Syria, but said the response remained severely underfunded. Nearly halfway through the year, only about $480 million has been received in response to a $2.9 billion humanitarian appeal, about 16.5 percent of the requirements.
“Where is the rest of the world?” Fletcher asked. He warned that the funding shortages were already forcing major reductions in assistance. The World Food Programme, for example, has cut emergency food aid by half, reducing the number of people it reaches from 1.3 million to 650,000 while also halting its nationwide bread-subsidy program.
He also highlighted serious public-health concerns despite improvements in vaccination coverage. Nearly 800,000 children under the age of 5 were vaccinated in the past month, including against polio, but outbreaks of diseases continue.
Cases of the parasitic disease leishmaniasis have surged in Aleppo, nearly 150 measles cases were reported during the first four months of the year, and Hepatitis A infections were also increasing. Fletcher linked these trends to limited health care services and unsafe water and sanitation conditions.
More than 3.4 million refugees and internally displaced Syrians returned to their homes in 2025, he said, and a further 315,000 refugees returned in the first four months of this year. Returns were expected to increase during the summer.
“This is the potential success story,” Fletcher said. “But this will only be possible if we have the courage to grasp it.”
He warned that gender-based violence and child-protection risks remain widespread. Nearly 80 percent of respondents in a nationwide survey reported gender-based violence incidents in their communities, particularly domestic violence, while child labor, neglect and forced marriages remain serious concerns.
Many Syrians, he added, still lack civil documentation and face unresolved housing and land disputes, issues he described as major barriers to sustainable returns and social stability.
Fletcher concluded by backing the Syrian government’s “No Tents and Camps” vision, which aims to move the country away from prolonged emergency dependence toward “sustainable, nationally owned solutions.”
He added: “We must act together to support this opportunity and provide principled and transparent humanitarian action.”
