Syrian women and their children stand in front of their tents at a refugee camp in the town of Bar Elias, in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley, June 13, 2023. (PHOTO / AP)
DAMASCUS – Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad said on Thursday that sanctions imposed by the West have thrown the Syrian people into humanitarian suffering, the official news agency SANA reported.
The Syrian minister made the remarks during a meeting with representatives of a number of UN agencies and international humanitarian organizations in Syria, during which he expounded on the severe humanitarian hardships faced by the Syrian people, said the report.
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When touching upon the issues of Syrian refugees, Mekdad briefed on the Syrian government's efforts to facilitate their safe and dignified return, the report added.
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Earlier on Monday, UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen said Syria remained deeply divided despite months of "potentially significant diplomacy" to resolve the crisis in the country. The diplomacy has not yielded any outcomes or political progress for the war-weary population both inside and outside the country, Pedersen told the UN Security Council.