Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-11-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how the Government plans to use its position on the UN Security Council to facilitate diplomatic negotiations on protecting civilians in Syria.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

Protection of civilians in Syria, as well as those who have been forced to flee the country, is a priority for the UK. In the UN Security Council the UK has co-sponsored a number of humanitarian resolutions that call for an end to: indiscriminate attacks on civilians, including the use of barrel bombs; starvation as a method of warfare; and obstruction of the flow of humanitarian aid. Specifically, the UK played a key role in negotiating UN Security Council Resolution 2191, which has allowed the UN and its partners to deliver aid across Syria’s borders to people who were previously denied access, including food for 2.1 million people and medical supplies for 2.5 million people. The UK will use its seat on the UN Security Council to push proactively for a renewal of Resolution 2191.