The top U.N. humanitarian official is pressing for access into Syria to assess the situation in the country as the violent unrest there enters its ninth month.
“I repeat my call to the Syrian government to really let us in,” said Valerie Amos, UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief.
Amos said the United Nations wants to have a better picture of the health and overall situation in the country. Needs assessment is key to determining whether humanitarian corridors proposed by France, among other countries, would be helpful, she added.
>> France calls for humanitarian corridors in Syria
“If, as the government say, they have nothing to hide, then I think allowing us in to see that that is the case and to do a proper assessment of what the implications of this are for the people of Syria is absolutely critical,” Amos said, as quoted by the Jerusalem Post.
Syrian President Bashar Assad and his government are under increasing international pressure to put an end to the brutal crackdown on demonstrators, which the United Nations said has claimed the lives of more than 4,000 people since March.
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