UN’s Relations with Syria
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Syria acquired her independence in the year 1946 to become a democratic sovereign state. However, a 1949 coup d’état transformed the country into a military state. Two other coups ensued, but a 1954 civilian uprising compelled the army to hand over power to civilians. Since the country has been a one-party state, stability has not been achieved even with civilian rule. In fact, a single-family has held onto power since 1971. When Assad came to power in 2000, some reforms were expected but he ruled firmly, following the steps of his predecessor closely. In the year 2001, the citizens could not stand overt human rights abuses anymore. They staged street protests all over Syria. Assad’s government responded ruthlessly. His military attacked civilians, raped them, and destroyed their homes.
With the situation worsening, the civilians formed rebel groups to fight against the government. By March 2001, the conflict had achieved a civil war status. The war is still ongoing, and 120, 000 civilians have lost their lives so far. The number of internally displaced persons stands at approximately 9 million, an equivalent of about one-third of the country’s population. Many other people fled the country and now live in neighboring states such as Lebanon, Iraq, and Egypt. The number is expected to rise significantly because the conflict is not likely to end any time soon.
The United Nations’ initial involvement came when its refugee agency stepped in to provide relief for the refugees. The relief came in the form of food, medical supplies, and shelter. Later, the Security Council deemed the Syria situation to warrant its intervention. Peacekeeping troops were sent to Syria. For some time, calm was restored as the government reduced the attack on civilians. Nevertheless, people were not yet satisfied as there has been a growing desire to oust Assad. Soldiers who left the military provided logistical and technical assistance to the rebels.
Tense relations between Syria and the United Nations climaxed when claims of use of chemical weapons surfaced. According to the United Nations, Assad’s government has used such weapons against its people on a number of occasions. The August 21 attack at Damascus attracted global attention. The United Nations was particularly outraged. The Geneva Protocol had been breached severely, and international humanitarian law disregarded. The United States wanted to take action against Syria but had to get UN consent first. Moscow was blamed for frustrating efforts to pass a resolution for UN intervention in Syria.
Syria’s increased isolation by the international community has contributed to strain its relations with the United Nations. Human rights abuses including inhumane killings are some of the reasons Syria have severed diplomatic relations with countries who claim membership to the United Nations. The initial indications that relations between the United Nations and Syria were deteriorating came up when UN experts were sent to investigate the use of chemical weapons in Syria. UN believed the use of chemical weapons is a significant threat to human existence (Lawson, 2013).
A point reached during the Syrian crisis when the UN secretary general was forced to speak up. He convened a special meeting of the Security Council, which called for the immediate release of prisoners of war, as well as Syria support for UN chemical weapon experts. Since then, there is evidence that chemical weapons were used on civilians in the capital Damascus. Nevertheless, the government has denied having used any such weapons, and instead blamed the opposing rebels. The UN has not yet been convinced the rebels could manufacture or import such weaponry without the government's knowledge, but has chosen to deal with the issue slowly. Instead of spending a lot of energy investigating who used the weapons, the UN has resorted to destroying all existing chemical weapons first.
The UN can now report of Syria commitment to the Geneva Protocol. The Syrian government has agreed to destroy all chemical weapons in the country. This has seen the development of a cordial relationship between the UN and Syria. By December 31, 2013, it is expected these weapons will be damaged. The voluntary cooperation with the UN Security Council has drawn Syria longtime ally, Russia to support the destruction operation by providing Lorries to carry the weapons to the sea, where the lethal weapons will be destroyed. In fact, Syria has shown exceptional readiness to have weapons that allegedly cost the government huge sums of money destroyed as soon as possible. It is the United States and Chinese experts delaying the operation, citing tensions on the border between Syria and Lebanon. This extreme cooperation has intensified good relations with the United Nations.
As noted earlier, the tension between Syria and the United Nations principally touched on the former use of chemical weapons and other forms of rights abuses. Since the government’s consent to have these weapons destroyed, the relations have improved considerably. The deadline for this destruction has, however, been extended to March 2014 because the whole Middle East region is still volatile. Once the massive destruction is done, it is expected Syria will maintain a cordial relationship with the UN. Russia’s veto power at the UN will contribute greatly to these relations.
UN provision of relief supplies to Syrian refugees in Syria and in neighboring countries is likely to continue, as the civil war might continue for a decade or two. In addition, the United Nations Security Council will continue seeking resolution from the permanent members to give the United States consent to carry out an aggression on Syria.