UN is failing Syria due to differences between big powers: Ban Ki-moon

Urges China, Russian to look beyond their national interests

The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon admitting the failure of UN Security Council said the divisions between the big powers have prevented it from taking action to end the conflict that has taken hundreds of thousands of lives so far and triggered the biggest refugee exodus in a generation, The Guardian reported.

Talking to The Guardian, Ban urged the two super powers Russian and China, who are blocking Security Council’s actions against the Syrian regime of President Bashar al-Assad, saying they should “look beyond national interest.”

Read: US voices concern to Russia over latest military moves in Syria

Although Ban had stopped short of naming Russia and China, the two super powers on several occasions blocked resolutions critical of the Syrian government, threatening sanctions or pressing it towards a negotiated settlement.

In May last year, Russia and China prevented the Security Council from adopting of a draft resolution that would have referred the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court.

Emphasising on the need for unity “particularly among the permanent members of the Security Council” Ban said, “When they [permanent members] are divided, it is extremely difficult for the United Nations to deliver.”

We have to look for the global interest, he added.

Read: Britain 'to take 15,000 Syrian refugees': report

“When the Security Council members are united we have seen very speedy and tremendous impact in addressing the issues, as we have seen in the case of chemical weapon investigation in Syria.”

Earlier in May this year, UN secretary general while addressing the Humanitarian Pledging Conference in Kuwait expressed his anger and shame at international community’s failure to stop the war.

“I have only shame and deep anger and frustration at the international community’s impotence to stop the war,” he said.

Read: More than 230,000 killed in Syria conflict: monitor

According to a report released in June by the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Syria’s brutal conflict has left more than 230,000 people dead including almost 11,500 children since it broke out in 2011.

By the end of August, more than four million Syrians had fled their country due to the ongoing conflict.

The article originally appeared on The Guardian