Leadership needed on Syria: Column

There are ways to end the suffering of millions of Syrians caught in the middle of that country's civil war. Yet a dangerous feeling of helplessness has allowed decision-makers and the public to turn a blind eye while children are deliberately left to die. Doctors are unable to treat the wounded because we've failed to get relief to those who need it the most.

Every day our field workers witness the impact of the political paralysis in Syria. Syria is the worst humanitarian crisis since the turn of the millennium. More than nine million people have been forced to flee from the devastation of war. Syria is testing our commitment to ensure the horrors of Srebrenica and Rwanda are not repeated — and so far we are failing.

Last month, I testified at a U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Syria. The U.S. is the world's largest donor to the relief effort and it has the largest diplomatic and political clout. But the tense exchange between the senators and the Obama administration during the hearing focused almost exclusively on if and how the U.S. should support the armed opposition in Syria.

I agree with Secretary of State John Kerry that "there is no military solution in Syria, only political solutions that in turn will require leadership". So far we have not seen the leadership that will foster a political solution nor humanitarian access to the war victims.

Only six months ago, the U.S. and Russia worked together to bring about an agreement to destroy Syria's chemical weapons. With news reports of a chlorine gas attack last week at Kafr Zeita, Samantha Power, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said "We've shown, I think, in the past that we will do everything in our power to establish what has happened and then consider possible steps in response." Where is the commensurate commitment to consider possible steps in response to the deliberate starvation of Syrian women and children?

The way out of the political paralysis starts when the U.S. and Russia, and Iran and Saudi Arabia, go from just blaming the "other side" to putting joint pressure on the Syrian government and armed opposition groups to stop violating international law and start working seriously towards a political solution. Tensions around Ukraine's Crimea should not be allowed to ruin the chances for dialogue on Syria. Today, those who support the Syrian government refer to the supplies and support given to armed opposition groups, while those supporting opposition groups refer to supplies and support given to the government. This will perpetuate an endless arms race with civilians caught in the crossfire.

Leaders with leverage on the warring parties must also unite to ensure that all barriers to relief work are removed immediately, in accordance with international law. The use of medieval siege tactics and the deliberate starvation of hundreds of thousands of people have come to epitomize the brutality of the conflict. In February, the U.N. Security Council unanimously approved a resolution, which calls for unimpeded humanitarian access in Syria and an end to the sieges. However, this resolution has had almost no impact. More than 220,000 people are still trapped in besieged areas, and several million Syrian civilians are prevented from reaching life-saving assistance.

Many of these people can be helped from across Syria's borders, but the ongoing fighting and bureaucratic hurdles hinder relief efforts. The government of Syria and sometimes even the neighboring countries, are denying permission for humanitarian organizations to operate across borders. There also is too little funding for the cross-border operations and they are not coordinated well enough. There are multiple border crossings that should be used for the immediate delivery of aid to civilians in areas controlled by the government and by opposition groups.

Relief agencies are ready to cross Turkish, Iraqi, Jordanian and Lebanese borders to reach Syrian civilians. These aid operations should be facilitated by the governments of these countries, as well as by the U.N. and international donors including the U.S. However, even this relatively easy but massively important task, is not happening to the extent it should, reflecting the lack of sufficient international will and U.S. leadership. A Senate resolution has requested the administration produce a strategy for U.S. engagement in addressing the Syrian humanitarian crisis which I hope will includes these critical issues to begin to end the suffering.

Jan Egeland is secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council.

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