Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Mississauga—Streetsville.
Canada strongly condemns the ongoing violence against civilians in Syria. We call for full, safe and unhindered access by humanitarian actors to all affected populations in need.
Canada remains committed to saving lives and addressing the most critical needs of those affected by the Syrian crisis. Let me take just a moment to bring the House up to date on the humanitarian situation in Syria.
Protests against the regime of Bashar al-Assad started in mid-March 2011 in the southern city of Daraa. Fighting between government forces and armed opposition groups escalated and spread to most parts of the country, plunging Syria into further desperation.
Fierce fighting across large parts of the country has led to the massive displacement of civilians, increasing refugee outflows and decreasing access to basic services.
Violence has reached new heights over the last few months, including widespread shelling, bombardment of cities, mass killings and deliberate firing on civilian targets. According to reports, the conflict is primarily occurring in densely populated areas. The Syrian regime makes no distinction between combatants and civilians in conducting its military campaign against opposition forces, routinely violating international humanitarian law.
There is increasing use of heavy weapons in populated areas by both sides, leading to extensive destruction of infrastructure and massive loss of life. The International Committee of the Red Cross has described the current situation in Syria as nothing short of catastrophic. Countless homes, clinics, hospitals and other essential infrastructure, such as water and sanitation systems, have been destroyed or severely damaged.
Civilians continue to be in the line of fire from this violent civil war. At this point, more people have been killed in the conflict since the start of this year than in the entire first year of the conflict. According to UNHCR, it is estimated that at least 80,000 people have died in the fighting, with many thousands of people wounded. In fact, while initially the number of monthly casualties was 1,000 per month in mid-2011, by July 2012, that number had risen to 5,000 per month.
As of today, nearly one and a half million Syrians have taken refuge in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. The conflict and the humanitarian situation are deteriorating rapidly as violence intensifies and fighting continues throughout the country.
Violence has spread to Damascus and other new, densely populated urban areas. This has led to increasing levels of destruction, casualties and displacement. The number of people affected by the crisis who are in need of humanitarian assistance is estimated to be more than 6.8 million. Within Syria itself, an estimated 4.25 million people have been displaced.
The strain on communities hosting refugees is compounding the other challenges they have. Tension between refugees and host communities is on the rise, mainly because of competition over jobs, housing and services. In both Lebanon and Jordan, energy, water, health and education services are strained to the limit from hosting the Syrian refugees. Both Lebanese and Jordanians are already facing high unemployment, high prices and poverty, so we can imagine how potentially volatile the situation is becoming.
Canada stepped up to the plate to help. On January 30, at the high-level pledging conference in Kuwait, the Minister of International Cooperation announced additional humanitarian support from Canada to help those affected by the conflict. He also made it clear that Canada continues to support the efforts of the international community to bring about an end to the violence. However, he stated that humanitarian assistance is not enough. A political solution to end the ongoing conflict must be found. Canada has repeatedly called on all parties to end the violence.
Canada's support to the World Food Programme is helping to provide food assistance for up to 2.5 million people. We are working with UNICEF to provide approximately 1.2 million children and their families with health services, immunization, nutrition support, water and sanitation, and education.
Humanitarian workers are making heroic efforts to meet the urgent needs of those affected by the violence. We commend their courageous efforts. They are placing their own lives at risk in order to provide life-saving assistance to those affected by the violence. However, these efforts continue to be obstructed. Even humanitarian actors are not immune to the violence and a number have laid down their lives in their efforts to save others.
Delivery of assistance continues to be precarious and constrained by security issues. As a result, several areas have been deprived of humanitarian assistance either because of the violence or because they have been denied access by both government and opposition groups.
Fighting in areas of humanitarian operations and places where relief supplies are stored remains a challenge. That is why Canada is providing operational support to the UN, to ensure adequate security measures are in place to provide humanitarian assistance and improve safety for humanitarian staff. We are receiving reports, however, that despite these conditions, humanitarian assistance continues in both government and opposition-held areas.
The heads of five UN agencies, UNICEF, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the World Food Programme, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the World Health Organization have appealed to the international community to use its collective influence to bring about a political solution to this crisis. They say that the region cannot sustain any more impact from this crisis.
Canada has been a compassionate and generous neighbour to those in need. However, we have repeatedly called on all parties to end the violence. We all know that humanitarian assistance is not enough. A political solution to the ongoing conflict must be found. Canada continues to support the efforts of the international community to bring about an end to the turmoil. The violence in Syria must end.
